Historically, politicians and pundits and others engaged in persuasive speech have leaned on a set of tropes and tactics that are intended to sort of short-circuit your thinking processes and appeal to you at a level more subtle than surface perception.
That sounds like the lead-in to a wild-eyed conspiracy theory, but long before Ed Bernays began codifying and industrializing the tactics of salesmanship, they were cliches that we all know in nearly every field of human endeavor.
Speaking particularly of the political realm, for example, there are a series of “rally ’round the flag” calls that we are all so familiar with that we don’t even notice them. It’s always about what we have do to for “working people,” or “families,” or “the middle class,” or “our community.” Sometimes that chord is at a more dissonant pitch: “real Americans,” nationalism, racial supremacist movements.
What we are beginning to recognize – and a great example of the sorts of change and literacy CUSTODE aims to advance – is that this qualifying process, ultimately, is rooted in ideas, values, and behaviors that we as a social species are now in the process of rejecting as obsolete.
Tribalism, othering, exclusion, and stigma aren’t always about naming and targeting a particular identity group. All that’s required is an “us” and a “them.”
Consider the following tweet from Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA):