The Nation - Mad Men vs Math Men
You can read my new article "Mad Men vs Math Men" on The Nation website here. It discusses what the left should do post election.
posted by Danny at
10:58 AM
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1 Comments:
It's all about identity. People want to feel a part of something bigger than themselves yet they want to feel unique. Madison Avenue has been selling people things to identify with for a long time. After Goldwater lost on the issues, the right began consciously creating a brand for people to identify with.
Part of this was starting a myth that most Americans were in favor of ideas falling to the right of the news media. Weak individuals wanted desperately to feel a part of the American mainstream so if that meant being a "conservative" that was just fine with them.
Thanks to Madison Avenue, something like 90% of European-Americans honestly believe that they are "upper middle class" and thus entitled to "The American Dream." Claims that "liberals" and "others" are threatening that entitlement make both people who have little confidence in their abilities and people who identify with the left furious. Unfortunately people who are furious do stupid things that are not in their self interest.
Finally, the ad man behind this branding campaign was none other than Roger Ailes.
His use of the English language is based on the work of SI Hayakawa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._I._Hayakawa
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