Here’s a thought experiment: Close your eyes and think of all the food commercials you’ve ever seen on TV. (Naturally, as an American, there’s gonna be a bunch. ‘Murica!) Try to remember what the actors and actresses were doing.
Okay, out of all the gazillions of food commercials, how many showed people anticipating their meal (especially the first bite), preparing their food, or in the active act of eating?
Huge number!
Alrighty, how many of those commercials featured people when they were done with their meal — perhaps reclining contently, because they just had a lovely dinner?
Almost none. (Only antacid commercials.)
It’s counterintuitive, because hanging out with friends and family after a fantastic meal is a GREAT feeling. You’d assume it would have marketing value. Like, if an alien landed on earth and was trying to market to humans, if E.T. took that approach, you’d understand why. It’s not an unreasonable assumption.
It just doesn’t work in the real world.
People will pay a premium to anticipate something, but afterwards, you better brace yourself for steep depreciation. It’s just how our brains are wired. Smart, savvy leaders use human nature to their advantage and market accordingly.
Dumb ones write for The New York Times.
In an absolutely cuckoo-for-Cocoa-Puffs column today, David Brooks of The New York Times openly and explicitly called for a mass uprising — and capped it with a coded plea for a communist revolution.
Why?
Marketing. This is how he hopes to advance the anti-Trump movement:
It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising. It’s time for Americans in universities, law, business, nonprofits and the scientific community, and civil servants and beyond to form one coordinated mass movement. Trump is about power. The only way he’s going to be stopped is if he’s confronted by some movement that possesses rival power.
The American people could’ve stopped Donald Trump on Election Day. They didn’t. Instead, they stopped Kamala Harris and elected him president. (And note to Brooks: This “Stronger Together” theme isn’t new. About eight years ago, it was the centerpiece of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.)
These movements began small and built up. They developed clear messages that appealed to a variety of groups. They shifted the narrative so the authoritarians were no longer on permanent offense. Sometimes they used nonviolent means to provoke the regime into taking violent action, which shocks the nation, undercuts the regime’s authority and further strengthens the movement. (Think of the civil rights movement at Selma.) Right now, Trumpism is dividing civil society; if done right, the civic uprising can begin to divide the forces of Trumpism.
After Kamala was clobbered in November, there’s been no shortage of ideas amongst liberals on how to fight back. Trouble is, all their ideas suck.
Ezra Klein has a plan. So does David Hogg. And not to mention Bernie Sanders and AOC. Even ol’ James Carville is promoting a revival plan.
But this David Brooks proposal is next-level sinister. Even in the smokiest of the smoke-filled rooms at the DNC (and that ain’t tobacco smoke!), opting for a national uprising and full-bore communist revolution is one helluva liberal moonshot.
Brooks justifies his bat[spit] crazy idea by blaming Trump, of course:
[Trumpism] is a multifront assault to make the earth a playground for ruthless men, so of course any institutions that might restrain power must be weakened or destroyed. Trumpism is about ego, appetite and acquisitiveness and is driven by a primal aversion to the higher elements of the human spirit — learning, compassion, scientific wonder, the pursuit of justice.
And just in case you weren’t 100% clear about his goal:
Stop Trump. Foil his efforts. Pile on the lawsuits. Turn some of his followers against him.
Since the American people failed to stop Donald Trump via the democratic process, David Brooks wants to overturn the election by making the results null and void. He’s selling a battleplan of lawfare, public upheaval that “shocks the nation,” and loud, angry bands of protesters that render the federal government inoperable.
This is far darker than “election denialism.” At least then, during disputes over outcomes, there’s still a consensus that the election itself was sacred — that in the United States of America, democracy still matters.
The New York Times doesn’t even care that they lost!
Forget about democracy. They’re going for mob rule. And they wanna control the mob.
If you want to know where this is all leading, pay close attention to the dog whistle at the end of Brooks’ column. He’s been writing for a very long time, and I promise you, his choice of words was deliberate.
“Workers of the world! You have nothing to lose but your chains!” is the rallying cry of communist revolutionaries. Been that way since the days of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Vladimir Lenin. Everyone knows what it means; everyone knows was it represents. There’s nothing vague about its usage. It’s the slogan that precedes the revolution.
Here’s Brooks’ final paragraph. Decide for yourself:
I’m really not a movement guy. I don’t naturally march in demonstrations or attend rallies that I’m not covering as a journalist. But this is what America needs right now. Trump is shackling the greatest institutions in American life. We have nothing to lose but our chains. [emphasis added]
Curious way to close a column about mass uprisings, eh?
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