Go Deep, Not Thin, to Win

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/visions/go-deep-not-thin-win



***SNIP


Our view is that successful leaders, organizations and social movements are doomed unless they fully embrace these insights:

1) People act from their hearts as much or more than their heads and are often unaware that they are doing so;

2) Non-economic needs for meaning, connectedness, recognition, and agency are every bit as important as economic needs, and;

3) Building healthy organizations and mobilizing huge numbers of people to acquire political power require understanding and addressing these “softer” and more intimate longings in every area and at every level of our work.

6 Progressive Biases That Keep Us from Winning

In our experience, progressives can’t seem to shed certain old biases in order to fully explore the consequences of broadening their appreciation of the real needs and interior conflicts that animate human beings. These biases are evident everywhere in our leaders, staffs, members, organizations, and movements:

Bias #1: If you tell people the truth about the true causes of what ails them, they will want to join you in a movement for change.

[Scuba]

1. Recommended reading: Drew Westen's "The Political Brain". Shows how Democrats have ...

... blown election after election by allowing the R's to control the narrative and use emotional appeals where our side does not. Bottom line: failure to call out the R's bad behaviors in debates, in ads, etc. has been costing our side elections. And these failures have been so consistent one could easily assume it's intentional.

[xchrom]

2. +1

[treestar]

3. Article doesn't really back this up, but it seems to be true

Bias #2: You can’t really systematically address people’s needs for recognition, meaning and community until you address their need for economic security.

The psychological literature, as well as the history of social change movements, decisively put the lie to this belief.

We are always wondering why the hell the right votes against its economic interests.