According to Stephen Duncombe liberals just can't cut it when it comes to marketing the party. Bush and the rest of his pals on the right have done a fantastic job of giving Americans an 'image' that appeals to people on a broad basis. Now of course being the worst President ever has dampened that image considerably, but think about this in terms of elections.
The Democratic Party took power in the Congress last year because they were anti-Bush, not because people liked their ideas. Democrats definitely do have plenty of ideas and they are far superior to the Republicans dream of ultimate corruption because we are the people's party and root our policies in truth. It is definitely more desirable to be on the left if you tend to think this way. The only problem is, how do you market those ideas to the huge part of America that does not even get involved? Stephen Duncombe has an idea with his new book, Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy.
From the Village Voice:
Dream could have simply been an elegy to that pre–9-11 era—a nostalgia piece for the recent past. Instead, it reads like a manifesto inspired by a pop culture fever dream. Seizing upon references high and low, Duncombe makes the case that spectacle can be an ethical and sophisticated means of appealing to, even seducing, the American public. Rather than bemoan the fact that people are obsessed with Paris Hilton and condemn video games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, both of which Duncombe discusses with a mix of awe and critical glee, liberals need to determine why that obsession exists—pop culture as road map into the American mind. "We can't afford to ignore it," Duncombe said. "If we do, we're writing off the passion of a hell of a lot of people."
The idea, which Duncombe dubs "dreampolitik," is that progressives, armed with strategies derived from sources as vast as advertisements, celebrity-gossip magazines, and the casinos on the Las Vegas strip, would then be able to enact a politics that enthralls a broader sweep of Americans. The left needs to start appealing to people's hunger for hope and attraction to fantasy life. What's more, Duncombe said, they have to let go of the belief—"naive at best, arrogant at worst"—that intellectual arguments should be enough to win people over, and that spectacle, as the Bush administration employs it, is something to which they shouldn't have to resort, a tawdry means to an end. "It's a pathos of the left," he said. "We're worried about selling out, but no one's buying." Besides, the point isn't that liberals move towards conservatism; it's that they become savvier and, ironically, more realistic about what it takes to win.
I believe Stephen has a point. In the America we live in, it is all about marketing to get your product across, whether it is a new line of clothing or a different way to help America. Despite our dreams that a vast proportion will look at Democratic proposals for the facts is wishful thinking, it needs to be spruced up. The '100 hours' plan was a nice start, but this thing needs to be humming 24/7.
|