The Little Blue Book: The Essential Guide to Thinking and Talking Democratic

Liberal TV commentators tend to practice the same pattern. First they will recite a quote or show a film clip from a conservative, repeat the conservative claim out loud, and only then cite the facts contradicting the claim. Activists do the same. An Occupy Wall Street sign read, “Obama is not a brown-skinned anti-war socialist who gives away free

As an example of superordinate-level and basic-level wording in public discourse, consider the environmental debate. The word environment is an abstract category. There is no one clear image that comes to mind when hearing it; there is no complex motor planning or visual imagery activated. Contrast this with the words forest, soil, water, air, and

Moral values are primary. They define what the issue areas are and place limits on possible policies. What about abstract ideals such as freedom, justice, fairness, equality, loyalty, accountability, authority, sanctity, and even caring? These are what linguists call contested concepts. They are ideas that appear to have a very simple, generally ag

The brain is structured in terms of what are called cascades. A cascade is a network of neurons that links many brain circuits. All of the linked circuits must be active at once to produce a given understanding. Simply put, the brain does not handle single ideas as separate entities: a bigger context, a logical construct within which the idea is de

To sum up: Use your own language; never use your opponent’s language. Be aware of what you believe and repeat it out loud over and over; never repeat ideas that you don’t believe in, even if you are arguing against them. Be positive. Be authentic. Bring it home. Say it simply.

One finding of cognitive science is that words have the most powerful effect on our minds when they are simple. The technical term is basic level.11 Basic-level words tend to be short. Basic-level words are the ones children learn most easily, making up our most basic conceptual repertoire. Basic-level words are easily remembered; those messages wi

What we are trying to achieve with this book is a neural alternative that is open to important truths: the central role of the Public in American life, the overwhelming power of corporations in our public life, the predatory nature of privatization, the disastrous reality of humanly caused global warming, and the powerfully negative effect of extre

Democrats need to be talking nonstop about the Public as the necessary foundation of the Private. Undermining, weakening, or eliminating the Public would be a disaster for the Private as well, destroying the sanctity and safety of American private life and the basis of most businesses. Conservatives never mention this fundamental truth of American

Here is what to say: American democracy is built on the ethic of citizens caring about other citizens. Its moral mission is to protect and empower everyone equally by the provision of public resources. The Public is the foundation for the Private—for decent private lives and for private enterprise that works. No one makes it on his or her own witho