Dr. Forbush Thinks

I was listening to Geoff Nunberg yesterday on Fresh Air. He has a new book out called:

“Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show.”

The title alone should get everyone thinking. This is because this is the image that the right uses to paint the Democrats as everything that is wrong with America. It should get Democrats thinking about why they have allowed the Republicans to perpetuate this lie. And it should get Republicans thinking about why they believe the lie. And, it should get everyone thinking about how this new form of discrimination is creeping into American culture.

First of all, if you actually look at the marketing data the above statement isn’t even true. It turns out that Republicans actually drink more Lattes and eat more Sushi than Democrats. As far as Volvo ownership and New York Times readership goes, it is split down the middle. Most of the people who actually pierce their bodies are actually opting out of society politically and they are making their statement, unless you actually count the ear piercings. And I don’t think that Liberals are the only ones going to the Hollywood movies.

But, that isn’t really the point. The point is that this stereotype of a “liberal” is out in the general public, and it is being used as a hate tool. It is being used in the same way that Nazis were vilified during World War II and the Russians were vilified during the Cold War. In fact, the stereotyping of groups seems to be a common thread among conservatives, (and of course that is stereotyping by myself, but it seems to be quite true. Doesn’t it?) Conservatives tend to paint pictures of groups they don’t like. For example, think of a typical African American. If you don’t personally know an African American you may be tempted to accept the conservative stereotype. After all, it is much easier to accept a stereotype than to actually go out of your safe little neighborhood and meet an African American. What about the rest of the list, Hispanics, Homosexuals, Asians, or even Femonazis? Isn’t it the case that conservatives are more likely to know the stereotype of these groups than to actually know a member of the group? (There I go again stereotyping the conservatives again.)

Well, now maybe we can begin to see the problem liberals, progressives or Democrats have fighting against the stereotypes in our society. Liberals tend to believe that people are people and they shouldn’t be judged by their cultural stereotype. (That is part of the ideology, not a stereotype.) But, because it is part of their ideology it is difficult to attack a cultural deficiency. So, one needs to be nuanced in the differences between culture and stereotype. For example, some cultures regard education as a high priority and others regard education as a low priority. If a culture regards education as a low priority, then should we stereotype all people from that culture as uneducated? Obviously not, because if the priority of education is low, it still doesn’t mean that members of that culture are automatically stupid or uneducated. However, some members of the culture may not even care if you called them uneducated, because the culture doesn’t value education.

So, we come to the problem where the conservative culture advocates behaving in an anti-social way, and there is very little that liberals can do to counter the argument without the appearance of stereotyping the conservatives. The common man wants the stereotype in order to make a judgement, but advocating a stereotype is a flawed way of dealing with this problem in the liberal ideology. It is suggested that stereotyping the conservatives would lead to advocating the stereotyping of all groups.

Well, the liberals fell into this trap years ago. The conservatives were able to build a complex stereotype of the “liberal.” The liberals avoided building a stereotype, and now they have very little to use as a weapon in this political battle. Since the 2000 election, liberals have been building a stereotype of the average conservative, but it isn’t always agreed upon. Are the conservatives wealthy, Christians? Are the conservatives big business tax evaders? Are the conservatives religious zealots or greedy sleaze balls? Are the conservatives warring hawks or out of control hunters? Are the conservatives southern Bar BQed rednecks or Wall Street egomaniacs?

The answer and the solution lies in the fact that the Democrats or the liberals don’t have a uniform narrative? This narrative is a story describing the liberal’s place in the world. What do liberals aim to do? How do they aim to do it? And, why does it matter? The story needs to run off the tip of every liberal tongue, and it needs to be referenced in the reason for every action or project. It certainly needs to be a message as to what the liberals are trying to do to make the world a better place, and why the Republicans are destroying the world that we have. Every liberal knows why they have been attracted to the cause, but they need to echo that in the narrative of how liberals will make the world a better place. But, the most important part of the story is that everyone agrees with the main parts of it and it can be transferred to “Everyman.”

Well, I haven’t read Geoff Nunberg’s book, but I certainly need to add it to my list. I have an idea of what it say’s but hopefully when I do read it then it will lead me to even more insight into this problem.




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Don't forget what Stephen Colbert said, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias."


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