RECOGNIZING THE EMOTIONAL DIMENSION OF A POLITICAL MESSAGE

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

One of the things I’m seeing the Bernie Sanders camp get right is a recognition of the importance of short messages that appeal to the emotions. I’m seeing a lot of memes (those online posters many of us like to reblog) to that effect, and I suspect many of them are created and distributed by his supporters rather than his staff.

I’ve previously posted my lament that liberal candidates in this country typically sound like they’re giving a lecture – reading everything but the footnotes – rather than speaking passionately from the heart. Great analysis but it’s hard to reconcile that with your feelings when you’re trying to balance the family checkbook. The right-wing, in contrast, well, just listen to Donald Trump riding roughshod over reality. Which would you rather hear in a locker room or a bar? And which are you more likely to remember and repeat? Well, maybe not Trump unless he was performing live mic comedy. Seriously!

Hillary Clinton has her reasons for sticking close to her “talking points,” and I do respect her for that. But the short takes are backfiring for her, as Bernie’s backers are demonstrating.

Just look at how he’s countering the “socialist” label. The graphic of a Social Security card says simply, “Got one of these? You’re a card-carrying socialist.” Bingo! Eight words. And unless you’re in the One Percent, it’s obviously important to your future. What can the so-called conservatives point as their accomplishments? Nothing so dramatic, for sure.

ADJUSTING FOR INFLATION, OF COURSE

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

The cover of a small paperback kicking around our house these days keeps catching my attention: How I Feed My Family on $16 a Week.

I know it’s an old book. When I was head cook in the ashram, back in the early ’70s, I faced similar constraints and ours was a vegetarian diet. This one has a subtitle that amuses me – (And Have Meat, Fish or Poultry on the Table Every Night). From a vegetarian point of view, it’s all flesh – that is, all three are meat with no distinction.

That aside, I looked for the original price of the book, $1.75, and the copyright, 1975. Prices have gone up in the intervening years. In this case, those groceries would cost $70.52 today if the general inflation calculator holds. Some food items, like seafood or lamb ribs, have shot up much more. Others, though, like boneless chicken breasts, have gone down in relative terms. Still, as the food economist in our household points out, you couldn’t do these recipes on that adjusted budget these days – it would be mostly beans and no meat. The bottom line’s less than a food-stamps allotment.

And I thought I was doing well on $40 a week for just me – 30 years ago, when I gave myself a sabbatical. Hate to think what that would cost now!