Fear, Anger, Hope and Inspiration Will Decide Health Care Battle

[KoKo]

Fear, Anger, Hope and Inspiration Will Decide Health Care Battle

Robert Creamer
Political organizer, strategist and author
Posted: July 30, 2009 08:35 AM


Hope and change will not win out if we don't engage populist anger. But success also requires that we paint a clear, positive picture of a future where ordinary Americans no longer have to worry that they may not have access to health care.

People aren't engaged and motivated by statistics or "policies." The prospect of an "insurance exchange" will not inspire people to take a risk on change. To win this battle we need to get people to imagine what it would be like if they no longer had to worry that if they got sick and then lost their job, they might also lose their health care. We have to remind them that 14,000 people are losing their health insurance every day -- and they could be next. They have to visualize the insurance company CEO who gets the $73 million golden parachute and received a salary of $5,585 an hour ($12.2. million per year).

In fact, to win this -- or any other major political battle -- we need to remember that changing people's opinions and motivating them into action is mainly about engaging their emotions -- hope, fear, anger, inspiration. That means we need to make the issues at stake palpable. People need to experienced them in the concrete, not as abstract concepts. They need to be turned into images, stories and symbols that can make people see, feel, hear and taste the issues, not just think about them.

That brings us to inspiration. President Obama's ability to inspire is an enormous political asset. Being inspired is basically the feeling of empowerment -- empowerment to overcome odds -- to overcome fear. In the same way a blast furnace turns iron ore and coke into steel, inspiration transforms fear and anger into hope.

We need to inspire the country that change is possible and will bring about a better health care system. We need to inspire Members of Congress that they can overcome their fear of insurance companies and special interests, and make history. We need to keep our own base inspired in order to keep them mobilized.

In fact, our ability to compete with the insurance companies and the merchants of fear is entirely contingent on our ability to keep our base engaged and energized. That is one of the critical reasons why, in order to be successful, a health insurance reform plan must include a strong public health insurance option.

MORE and a Good Read at........
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/fear-anger-hope-and-inspi_b_247617.html

[grilled onions]

1. When Health care Is No Longer Considered A Luxury...

When everyone has equal care no matter how much money you have,employed or not,young or old,healthy or not. It should be one of our basics of a sound life. They have twisted the wording around as entitlement, a free ride, a tax burden on the wealthy. Rumors of huge lines in every medical establishment,horror stories of refusals of decent care. They have done their homework and they have done it well. They are good at it. They have been playing this snow job for a long time. They refuse,they cherry pick,they hire the finest lobbyists that our money can buy and put the average citizen thru a wringer for every scrap of health care we get. But they have so many beaten down that those "victims" actually fear that it could be much worse all the while they don't see the paperwork,the refusals of treatments,the hurdles needed to keep their coverage and hope they never get sick enough to really need major coverage for fear of being tossed into the insurance alley of no return shunned for actually needing costly care.

[KoKo]

2. Nice post...

:thumbsup: