I got a video yesterday from a group in
California that are trying to refocus
the Democrats and I want to tell you a
little bit about it today and take it
apart and analyze it if we're all in
luck given the importance of a stable
intelligent functional two-party
political system in the US and in
consequence everywhere else in the world
the video will make a reasonable case
for something approximating a return to
normad of political debate an image and
word I'll show you the whole thing first
and then we'll take it apart
we stand for the working men and women
always have and always will and we
define ourselves by what we've done to
help them get their shot at the American
dream Social Security the GI Bill the
Civil Rights Act Medicare saving an auto
industry 23 million people with health
insurance for the first time in their
lives and all along it was American
workers farmers and factory workers
immigrants and engineers of every color
speaking every language who are building
the highest standard of living the world
had ever seen
whose innovations were changing history
whose courage made America a beacon of
hope and freedom for those living in
tyranny around the world working people
made America work then something
happened some people in Washington took
the side of the powerful against
American workers the game got fixed for
an entire generation income flatlined
big donors made sure lawmakers cared
more about Wall Street than your street
back in the 80s a CEO made 30 times what
his workers made now they make 300 times
since the Great Recession almost all of
the income gains have gone to the top
point
Oh 1% not 1% point but 1% instead of
raising your salary they buy back stock
to increase their own bonuses they merge
companies and reduce competition so they
can make even more money
all while your cable bill gets bigger
your cell phone bill gets higher your
internet gets slower the seat on your
flight gets smaller their taxes get
lower and your health bills get raised
who's looking out for you
the people in power are so busy giving
tax breaks to the wealthiest that they
blow up the deficit and leave nothing
for roads and bridges nothing for
veterans or Medicare
nothing for job training something has
to change
and we're going to change it a new
generation of leaders who know what
needs to be done and who have the will
to stand up to those who would hold us
back
we want our America back the land of
decency and fairness of generous hearts
and big dreams and the freedom for
anyone who wants to work hard to make
those dreams come true I don't care what
your politics are I don't care what God
you pray to Oh what color your skin is I
don't care if you ride a tractor and run
a business and I hope your business is a
big success as long as everybody plays
by the same rules the same rules the
same rules because this is America this
is America this is America and this is
our generations great calling to rise to
the challenge like those who had the
courage before us to build a future for
all Americans not just the few to fight
for the higher pay working people have
more than earned to fight to make health
care available to everyone who needs it
to stop those who would try to cut the
Social Security and Medicare benefits
that are rightfully yours
to protect the environment instead of
selling it to the highest bidder to
fight for a government free of
corruption where your representatives
work only for you to build a future that
is just and free full of hope an
opportunity a future our children thank
us for leaving them
because democracy is built not bought by
the strong and the free
[Music]
you
so that's the statement the story the
appeal to voters and the establishment
of direction we want to take a look at
the images assess the text determine
what's in the video and equally
importantly determine what is not so
I'll give you some background first this
is about the group that's created it
after the election in 2016 we created a
political organization to work on the
important issue of expanding the reach
of Democrats and focusing on shared core
values future majority that's the name
of the organization under the leadership
of mark riddle continues to work on a
vast scale to rebrand and define the
party particularly in red and purple
states and districts in an effort to
shore up our base speak to swing voters
and turnout those voters who we lost in
the last election built not bought
created by Marshall Hershkovitz Greg
Hurwitz and Kelly curry is the
cornerstone of a new initiative that
answers the question what do Democrats
stand for the four minute film
celebrates the singular importance of
working people in the creation of modern
America while calling out the big donor
influences that have eroded our
democratic institutions over the past
few decades it is a patriotic optimistic
solutions-oriented affirmation of core
American values decency Fairplay the
belief in a boundless future that seemed
too often forgotten in our partisan era
it's a call to action to build a future
that is just and free full of hope and
opportunity first is the name of the
video itself built not bought this is
obviously a direct appeal to the idea of
Labor as opposed to capital and is in
keeping with the traditional Democrat
emphasis on the contribution of the
working class
I think it skews a little left in an
unfortunate manner strategically because
the amazing infrastructure around us was
built and
since people need to be paid for their
labor and because capital contributes
just like labor but perhaps that's a
forgivable rhetorical flourish let's
turn from that to the opening shot
[Music]
we stand for the working men and women
we open moving forward to a Sun dappled
mountain Vista that indicates the
possibility of upward movement progress
then we switch to an image of a typical
American nuclear family I like the
choice of that image a lot to open the
opening scene of a film is particularly
important and the fact that these
filmmakers chose to highlight a typical
American nuclear family strikes me as a
reasonable intelligent cautious and
somewhat traditional initial choice and
we define ourselves by what we've done
to help them get their shot at the
American dream
Social Security the GI Bill a civil
rights act Medicare saving an auto
industry 23 million people with health
insurance for the first time in their
lives this is followed by a 20-second
section detailing the Democrats
contribution to the higher standards of
living currently enjoyed by
working-class people in the United
States this seems to me to be handled
with reasonable credibility and all
along it was American workers farmers
and factory workers immigrants and
engineers of every color speaking every
language who are building the highest
standard of living the world had ever
seen
whose innovations were changing history
whose courage made America a beacon of
hope and freedom for those living in
tyranny around the world
working people made America work I like
this section quite a bit and found it
surprising it was surprising because of
the unabashed appreciation shown by the
film makers for the effort put in by
American working-class people to produce
a higher standard of living there's some
genuine appreciation for the fact that
this occurred and I see this as standing
it quite marked contrast to the altie
typical dialog on the radical left
concentrating on the pernicious effects
of modern culture by image and word the
filmmakers in this section testified the
utility of the efforts of people in the
working class to producing the
productive and relatively wealthy
society that exists in the United States
and elsewhere today so I thought that
was really good I also think it's
important not to miss the positively
radical inclusion of a young boy playing
an army helmet with an airplane that's a
bit of respect shown both to the way
boys typically play and the military all
simultaneously so that's quite something
then something happened some people in
Washington took the site of the powerful
against American workers the game got
fixed for an entire generation income
flatlined big donors made sure lawmakers
cared more about Wall Street than your
street back in the 80s a CEO made 30
times what his workers made now they
make 300 times since the Great Recession
almost all the income gains have gone to
the top point zero one percent not one
percent point but one percent instead of
raising your salary they buy back stock
to increase their own bonuses they merge
companies and reduce competition so they
can make even more money
all while your cable bill gets bigger
your cell phone bill gets higher your
internet gets slower the seat on your
flight gets smaller their taxes get
lower and your health bills get raised
who's looking out for you I think that
the section we just watched is the
weakest part of the film and I think
it's inclusion was an error although
there are reasons to decry excess
inequality
I thought the emphasis on the unnamed
they and the images of wealth as
unearned luxury were unsophisticated
cliched and unnecessarily divisive it is
absolutely necessary for the Democrats
and for all those who wish for a return
to politics as usual to distinguish
between the majority of wealthy
individuals in the u.s. who earned their
money honestly
and through benefit to society freely
chosen by consumers and the minority who
gathered their position through unsavory
or counterproductive means there is
almost nothing more important than
distinguishing between the successful
who earned their success and those who
managed it through exploitation and
conflating the two is an assault on the
ideas of competence aspiration and
accomplishment as such I truly believe
that all this section was a regressive
mistake a call to resentment as a reason
for civic engagement and an insult to
the hard-working people of the US whose
accomplishments were celebrated just
prior to the deliverance of this darker
message the people in power are so busy
giving tax breaks to the wealthiest that
they blow up the deficit and leave
nothing for roads and bridges nothing
for veterans or Medicare nothing for job
training something has to change
now I found this section problematic to
the people in power well for a lot of
the last while those people were also
Democrats and the tone in this section
of the film we just watched implies that
it was someone other than the people who
are addressing you her responsible for
the current mess I think this part of
the film would have been a lot stronger
had the Democrats taken some
responsibility for the corruption that
they're decrying instead of attributing
its existence to unnamed others lurking
somehow in the background this was a
great opportunity in the course of the
film for the Democrats to note their own
contributions to the current state of
affairs and to promise to do better and
we're going to change it a new
generation of leaders who know what
needs to be done and who have the will
to stand up to those who would hold us
back they're that invisible enemy made
its appearance again it's not good to
look for the cause of trouble outside
it's an ethical error it's another place
where the film makers missed an
opportunity to take responsibility on
the part of the Democrats for what's
happening around us today so that's an
ethical mistake we want our America back
the land of decency and fairness of
generous parts and big dreams and the
freedom for anyone who wants to work
hard to make those dreams come true I
don't care what your politics are I
don't care what God you pray to Oh what
color your skin is I don't care if you
ride a tractor and running business and
I hope your business is a big success as
long as everybody plays by the same
rules the same rules the same rules
because this is America this is America
this is America
I like this section a lot and again
found its inclusion quite surprising
there's even a bit of nostalgia for the
past
something never seen on the progressive
landscape there's emphasis on generosity
certainly but also real consideration
given to aspirations big dreams
something that has been woefully lacking
in the discourse generated by the left
this is reiterated in the statement and
the freedom for anyone who wants to work
hard to make those dreams come true
which is again remarkable for its
unabashed insistence
there's a relationship between hard work
and success and that success in itself
is desirable admirable and worth
pursuing then there's a positive
disavowal in my opinion of identity
politics with each speaker alone and
identified visually as an individual an
insistence on Fairplay an analogue of
equality of opportunity not outcome and
this direct statement from a policeman
no less and I hope that your business is
successful very radical in the time
where success is all too often
reflexively equated with privilege and
oppression
I think the ethos in this section stands
in powerful contradiction to that
presented earlier where wealth and
success was negatively portrayed which
attitude is going to prevail it's
obvious to me that the latter message is
most desirable and also most likely to
generate a favorable majority response
people vote their dreams not the
realities and it is perfectly reasonable
for the Democrats to reconstitute
themselves as the party that can make
the dreams of individuals come true even
if those individuals occupy a lower rung
on the economic ladder and to do so by
insisting upon a fair playing field the
same rules and to note finally that this
characterizes America this borders on
stating that a shared value structure is
a necessary precondition for social
harmony and for the possibility of
progress and upward mobility much more
of this on the part of the Democrats is
necessary and would be widely applauded
and welcomed and this is our generations
great calling to rise to the challenge
like those who had the courage before us
to build a future for all Americans not
just the few
to fight for the higher pay working
people have more than earned to fight to
make health care available to everyone
who needs it to stop those who would try
to cut the Social Security and Medicare
benefits that are rightfully yours to
protect the environment instead of
selling it to the highest bidder to
fight for a government free of
corruption where your representatives
work only for you to build a future that
is just and free full of hope and
opportunity a future our children thank
us for leaving them because democracy is
built not bought by the strong and the
free the film ends positively with a
call to the future to build something
promising it smart once again in my
opinion by the reference to those who
had cut benefits and sell the
environment to the highest bidder more
politics of resentment but uses positive
imagery of infrastructure productive
work and aspirational engagement
presents a promise to fight corruption
and closes with something positive about
both strength and freedom it could have
been better for the reasons I outlined
but it could have been a lot worse
there's much less of the radical leftist
tilt towards identity politics that has
characterized so much as the recent
democratic conversation there's a strong
sense of shared American society and
values there's tremendous emphasis on a
fair playing field and the importance
and promise of hard work not something
typical of those who insist for example
on equity or equality of outcome and who
claim that our whole societies of
patriarchal tyranny in my estimation
this film is a welcome move towards
classical liberal values and away from
the divisive politics of political
correctness and naive but dangerous
utopianism