Dreamer
Regular Member
I've always felt that the one big point that the 2A movement (for lack of a better term) misses on almost EVERY front is that many of us have a fundamental misunderstanding of how Public Relations works.
We want our arguments to be based on fact, truth, and what's right. We stand on the foundation built by brave, honorable, and intelligent men and women over the centuries who worked hard to secure the core fundamental human rights for ALL people. We often feel that because we have truth and "right" on our side, that those things alone will suffice to sway public opinion. And in a perfect world, full of rational, intelligent, and thoughtful people, it would.
However, nothing could be further from the truth.
We live in a world where the latest basketball scores are more important to most people than deep issues like civil rights. Most people know more about pop stars than they do about their own Mayor. People can tell you more about the detailed inner workings of the latest PS3 game than know who actually owns the Federal Reserve Banks...
Public Relations isn't about "truth" or "whats right". Is has little to do with provable facts, empirical analysis, or hard data. Public Relations is ALL about perception. It's based on identifying the emotional triggers that make people act before they think. It's about identifying the fears of the public (death, poverty, being seen as uncool, etc.) and then developing a message that uses those fears to over-ride critical thinking. It's a dirty, messy, and sometimes duplicitous and downright unsavory operation, this PR business. The art and science of molding public opinion can be used for good or evil. It can be used for society's benefit, or for ransacking and pillaging.
Unfortunately, PR has been most effectively deployed in the hands of the evil in the last hundred years of history. Truly effective PR brought us the Bolshevic revolution, the National Socialists, Pol Pot, and the terrible wars of "ethnic cleansing" in Africa, Asia, and Central Europe.
PR also has been used in the hands of the misguided, the power-hungry, and the petty tyrants. PR brought us Prohibition. PR gave us the Gulf of Tonkin. PR gave us the assault weapons ban. PR destroyed the hemp industry. PR is replacing incandescent light bulbs with mercury-filled environmentally-toxic CFLs. The outcomes of PR often don't make any sense, and are often actually counterproductive to the well-being of most of society...
But there have been shining sparkles of hope that PR can be used for good.
Public Relations brought the Colonies their independence. PR brought us the Civil Rights movement. PR gave women and minorities the right to vote. And in many states, PR is making great strides with regards to the People's RKBA.
And if the movers and shakers of the 2A movement in states like MD, NY, CA, and IL would think outside the box and read a little Edward Bernays, or Georgina Cavendish, or Harold Lasswell, we could harness this powerful tool to our benefit. We need to study up on how PR really works. It has NOTHING to do with the unvarnished truth. You can't stand on a pile of facts and statistics and expect the general populace to listen to what you have to say. Public Opinion just doesn't work that way...
This is not to say that we need to lie to the public. No, not at all--in fact, what we need to do is show them the truth of the issue, but like a pill they don't want to take, we need to wrap it in something the general public understands, sympathizes with, and will respond emotionally to. And that wrapping CAN'T be statistics and dry academic studies.
When a company tries to sell you detergent, do they tell you what's in it? Do they tell you how much dirt it actually takes out of your clothes? No. They show you dirty clothes that have been washed in the other guys stuff and it still has stains. They show you shirts with "ring around the collar". They base it on embarrassment, social status, and being concerned with the way you live and look.
When the FBI released its 2009 UCR, and it showed that crime in MD was down 11%, what did Governor O'Malley say? Did he say that violent crime in MD was STILL almost THREE TIMES the national average? No, even though that is a FACT. He said that crime was down, and MD was safer.
Did he lie? No. Maryland IS safer--but it's still almost 3 times more crime-ridden than the national average, so an 11% reduction is cold comfort if you know the whole story. What he DID do was use people's emotions to increase the power, authority, and reach of MD law enforcement, and to further justify decades of civil rights abuses with regards to the right of Marylanders to defend themselves, to exercise a free press, and to communicate freely.
The 2A movement needs to USE the art and science of PR. We need to appeal to the insecurities of people. We need to educate people that the police are NOT there to protect them, and illustrate the GRAPHIC DETAIL of how that works, like in the Warren v. DC case. We need to show them that personal responsibility is a VIRTUE. We need people to think that fending for themselves is DESIRABLE. We need women to believe that they CAN'T depend on the police, or their husbands to keep them safe, and that being strong, and self-sufficient is empowering and liberating. We need minorities to think that they CAN make their own communities safe from crime and that depending on the government only makes the problem worse. We need minorities to remember that they got were they are today in America BECAUSE their forefathers stood up and took their destiny in their own hands, and were NOT reliant on any "authority" for their success.
These things are all true. But people will only believe them if there is a direct personal connection--an emotional appeal to the things in life that make them feel uneasy, or unsafe, or helpless.
That is how the "anti" side has gained so much ground. They have brainwashed people to believe that the only way they can be "safe" is to hand over their personal responsibilities and fundamental human rights of self defense to the government.
It's time we start approaching this issue like activists, instead of academics. The general public doesn't read John Lott or Clayton Cramer. They don't read the UCR. They can't be bothered with statistics, and studies, and boring tables.
But they DO respond to fear. They DO respond to social status. They DO respond to threats of racism, classism, and elitism against their communities--by the government or evil organizations. We need to appeal to that. We need to make "gun control" appear to be so socially unacceptable, so racially motivated, so morally repulsive that NOBODY would want to support it.
That is the task we have before us.
This isn't news to some folks, especially pro-2A people with backgrounds in other civil rights arenas, or with backgrounds in advertising or psychology.
Amd I'm sure that this idea is lost on a lot of the "legal eagles" in the movement, because their world is so rooted in statutes, interpretations, and the intricacies of language.
I think this concept IS lost on a lot of the "old timers" in the movement, because to them, self-defense is just "common sense". They can't understand why the public can't see that. What they are missing is that "common sense" is no longer very common...
But there ARE a lot of new people coming into this issue with a lot of enthusiasm, skills and abilities, and THEY may not have thought of this. They may not have backgrounds in activism, or psychology, or public relations, or advertising. And they need to know that our most POWERFUL tool is NOT dry statistics (although facts ARE an important part of the equation). It is Public Relations, in all it's weird, wonderful, artful glory...
Because today, it's ALL about perception.
We need to send the message to the "anti's" that we've seen behind the curtain.
Now it's OUR turn to point "Oz" back toward the direction of Freedom.
We want our arguments to be based on fact, truth, and what's right. We stand on the foundation built by brave, honorable, and intelligent men and women over the centuries who worked hard to secure the core fundamental human rights for ALL people. We often feel that because we have truth and "right" on our side, that those things alone will suffice to sway public opinion. And in a perfect world, full of rational, intelligent, and thoughtful people, it would.
However, nothing could be further from the truth.
We live in a world where the latest basketball scores are more important to most people than deep issues like civil rights. Most people know more about pop stars than they do about their own Mayor. People can tell you more about the detailed inner workings of the latest PS3 game than know who actually owns the Federal Reserve Banks...
Public Relations isn't about "truth" or "whats right". Is has little to do with provable facts, empirical analysis, or hard data. Public Relations is ALL about perception. It's based on identifying the emotional triggers that make people act before they think. It's about identifying the fears of the public (death, poverty, being seen as uncool, etc.) and then developing a message that uses those fears to over-ride critical thinking. It's a dirty, messy, and sometimes duplicitous and downright unsavory operation, this PR business. The art and science of molding public opinion can be used for good or evil. It can be used for society's benefit, or for ransacking and pillaging.
Unfortunately, PR has been most effectively deployed in the hands of the evil in the last hundred years of history. Truly effective PR brought us the Bolshevic revolution, the National Socialists, Pol Pot, and the terrible wars of "ethnic cleansing" in Africa, Asia, and Central Europe.
PR also has been used in the hands of the misguided, the power-hungry, and the petty tyrants. PR brought us Prohibition. PR gave us the Gulf of Tonkin. PR gave us the assault weapons ban. PR destroyed the hemp industry. PR is replacing incandescent light bulbs with mercury-filled environmentally-toxic CFLs. The outcomes of PR often don't make any sense, and are often actually counterproductive to the well-being of most of society...
But there have been shining sparkles of hope that PR can be used for good.
Public Relations brought the Colonies their independence. PR brought us the Civil Rights movement. PR gave women and minorities the right to vote. And in many states, PR is making great strides with regards to the People's RKBA.
And if the movers and shakers of the 2A movement in states like MD, NY, CA, and IL would think outside the box and read a little Edward Bernays, or Georgina Cavendish, or Harold Lasswell, we could harness this powerful tool to our benefit. We need to study up on how PR really works. It has NOTHING to do with the unvarnished truth. You can't stand on a pile of facts and statistics and expect the general populace to listen to what you have to say. Public Opinion just doesn't work that way...
This is not to say that we need to lie to the public. No, not at all--in fact, what we need to do is show them the truth of the issue, but like a pill they don't want to take, we need to wrap it in something the general public understands, sympathizes with, and will respond emotionally to. And that wrapping CAN'T be statistics and dry academic studies.
When a company tries to sell you detergent, do they tell you what's in it? Do they tell you how much dirt it actually takes out of your clothes? No. They show you dirty clothes that have been washed in the other guys stuff and it still has stains. They show you shirts with "ring around the collar". They base it on embarrassment, social status, and being concerned with the way you live and look.
When the FBI released its 2009 UCR, and it showed that crime in MD was down 11%, what did Governor O'Malley say? Did he say that violent crime in MD was STILL almost THREE TIMES the national average? No, even though that is a FACT. He said that crime was down, and MD was safer.
Did he lie? No. Maryland IS safer--but it's still almost 3 times more crime-ridden than the national average, so an 11% reduction is cold comfort if you know the whole story. What he DID do was use people's emotions to increase the power, authority, and reach of MD law enforcement, and to further justify decades of civil rights abuses with regards to the right of Marylanders to defend themselves, to exercise a free press, and to communicate freely.
The 2A movement needs to USE the art and science of PR. We need to appeal to the insecurities of people. We need to educate people that the police are NOT there to protect them, and illustrate the GRAPHIC DETAIL of how that works, like in the Warren v. DC case. We need to show them that personal responsibility is a VIRTUE. We need people to think that fending for themselves is DESIRABLE. We need women to believe that they CAN'T depend on the police, or their husbands to keep them safe, and that being strong, and self-sufficient is empowering and liberating. We need minorities to think that they CAN make their own communities safe from crime and that depending on the government only makes the problem worse. We need minorities to remember that they got were they are today in America BECAUSE their forefathers stood up and took their destiny in their own hands, and were NOT reliant on any "authority" for their success.
These things are all true. But people will only believe them if there is a direct personal connection--an emotional appeal to the things in life that make them feel uneasy, or unsafe, or helpless.
That is how the "anti" side has gained so much ground. They have brainwashed people to believe that the only way they can be "safe" is to hand over their personal responsibilities and fundamental human rights of self defense to the government.
It's time we start approaching this issue like activists, instead of academics. The general public doesn't read John Lott or Clayton Cramer. They don't read the UCR. They can't be bothered with statistics, and studies, and boring tables.
But they DO respond to fear. They DO respond to social status. They DO respond to threats of racism, classism, and elitism against their communities--by the government or evil organizations. We need to appeal to that. We need to make "gun control" appear to be so socially unacceptable, so racially motivated, so morally repulsive that NOBODY would want to support it.
That is the task we have before us.
This isn't news to some folks, especially pro-2A people with backgrounds in other civil rights arenas, or with backgrounds in advertising or psychology.
Amd I'm sure that this idea is lost on a lot of the "legal eagles" in the movement, because their world is so rooted in statutes, interpretations, and the intricacies of language.
I think this concept IS lost on a lot of the "old timers" in the movement, because to them, self-defense is just "common sense". They can't understand why the public can't see that. What they are missing is that "common sense" is no longer very common...
But there ARE a lot of new people coming into this issue with a lot of enthusiasm, skills and abilities, and THEY may not have thought of this. They may not have backgrounds in activism, or psychology, or public relations, or advertising. And they need to know that our most POWERFUL tool is NOT dry statistics (although facts ARE an important part of the equation). It is Public Relations, in all it's weird, wonderful, artful glory...
Because today, it's ALL about perception.
We need to send the message to the "anti's" that we've seen behind the curtain.
Now it's OUR turn to point "Oz" back toward the direction of Freedom.
