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George Lakoff’s Framing Memo

I’d been thinking about posting the link to George Lakoff’s take on frames for OWS for some time, but I think it’s especially good now, when the movement is not only changing but gaining momentum.

I’ve been a student of Lakoff for awhile now, and he’s someone to pay attention to if you haven’t. He’s a master communicator, and has explained the processes by which we talk about politics in this country very well.

Definition of Frames: Frames are part of competing moral systems that are used in political discourse and in charting political action.

He understands that the Right has done a freaking fantastic job of framing their positions over the past 30 years. Their authoritarian reason for being lends itself to this – i.e., the strong “father leader” dictates from the top down, and there’s no room for argument. The Left, on the other hand, is collaborative, democratic and encourages dissent – making for a much rougher road in hammering out positions everyone can agree on.

First of all, Lakoff says, Wall Street is the appropriate place to focus the Occupy efforts, since that is the place in the U.S. that funds overwhelming corporate influence in elections, the right-wing media and policy institutions.

“It appears to me that OWS has a progressive moral vision and view of democracy, and that what it is protesting is the disastrous effects that have come from operating with a conservative moral, economic, and political worldview.”

He reminds us, once again (a la Elizabeth Warren) that nobody makes it on their own. Success in the private sphere is due to the support of The Public – education, justice, transportation, resources, regulations, safety nets, arts and culture, trade policies, etc. This is the “frame” from which all OWS policy might follow.

Possible Moral Frames for OWS Include:

• Democracy should be about the 99% – therefore, no corporate money should be in politics. We need publicly funded elections, however we can do it.
• Strong Wages Make a Strong America – money spurs growth and makes individual lives better
• Global Citizenship – America was the moral beacon of the world. It can be that way again.
• Nature – we are destroying the planet through activities that spur global warming and pollution. It is our duty as The Public to preserve nature for the future.

I urge you to read and process Lakoff’s thoughts and consider them in your own thinking about OWS and what it all should mean.

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