Take charge of the political narrative by knowing your values and framing the debate. Presentation discusses George Lakoff's framing principles discussed in the book"Don't Think of an Elephant!"

1. Progressive Narratives

2. Progressive Narratives
Take charge of the political
narrative by knowing your values
and framing the debate.

3. How can people believe this?

4. How People Think
• People think based on various forms
of information. Factual information is
shaped in our thoughts by emotions
and values that are deeply
embedded in our psyche.
• We process information according to
our worldview, which is shaped by
metaphors and frames.

5. It’s not what you say, it’s
what people hear.”
“You can have the best message in the
world, but the person on the receiving end
will always understand it through the
prism of his or her own emotions,
preconceptions, prejudices, and
preexisting beliefs.” ~ Frank Luntz

6. George Lakoff
•Linguist at Berkely who studies cognitive
science.
•How we “think” is carried out by neural circuits
in the brain. Most thought is unconscious,
shaped by experiences that are embedded into
our memories through metaphors and other
mental associations.

7. Mental Frames
•Frames are mental structures that shape the way
we see the world. As a result, they shape the goals
we seek, the plans we make, the way we act, and
what counts as a good or bad outcome of our
actions.
•In politics our frames shape our social policies and
the institutions we form to carry out policies. To
change our frames is to change all of this.

8. Framing
•Framing is about getting language that fits
your worldview. It is not just language. The
ideas are primary—and the language carries
those ideas, evokes those ideas.
•Not making slogans. Understand
underlying values and frame ideas
accordingly.

11. “Guernica” by Picasso

12. Values
Framing is about shaping your
communication around values,
telling a story, encouraging
visualization of an idea, and
allowing the facts to illuminate it.

13. CAT
•Facts: The domestic cat (Latin: Felis catus) is a small,
typically furry, carnivorous mammal. Cats are similar in
anatomy to the other felids, with a strong flexible body,
quick reflexes, and teeth adapted to killing small prey. Cat
senses fit a crepuscular and predatory ecological niche. Cats
can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for
human ears, such as those made by mice and other small
animals. Like most other mammals, cats have poorer color
vision and a better sense of smell than humans.

15. CAT
Mia Meow is a soft, furry creature who
loves to chase birds through the window.
She purrs and loves to snuggle, but she is
also fiercely independent and strong
willed. Her human artist companion
enjoys painting portraits of her triangular
face and whispy whiskers.

17. Facts Matter
•Facts matter enormously, but to be meaningful
they must be framed in terms of their moral
importance and underlying values.
•You can only understand what the frames in
your brain allow you to understand. If the facts
don’t fit the frames in your brain, the frames in
your brain stay and the facts are ignored or
challenged or belittled.

18. Authenticity
•Framing can be manipulative and
deceptive. Ultimately, truth catches up to
you, however.
•Progressive framing – authenticity and
truthfulness are essential for frames to
prevail in the long run.

19. Negative Framing
Negating a frame actually activates it and puts
an opposing narrative into play.
DON’T THINK OF AN
ELEPHANT!

21. When we negate a frame,
we evoke the frame.
•“I’m not a PAID PROTESTER!”
•“It’s not FAKE NEWS!”
•“Hillary is not a CROOK!”
•“Obamacare is not FAILING!”

22. Conservatives’ Communication System
•Conservatives, using marketing techniques, figured out the
importance of framing, and they figured out how to frame every issue.
They figured out how to get their frames out there by getting their
people to repeat them in the media all the time.
•Conservatives invested in training institutes and think tanks that train
literally tens of thousands of conservatives a year and run constant
programs around the United States and in fifteen foreign countries.
•Trained conservative spokespeople receive regular talking points and
are booked by booking agencies on radio, TV, and other local venues.
•Progressives have no comparable communication system.
•Lakoff proposes that progressive citizens learn to frame more
effectively and compel leaders to follow suit.

23. Nation as a Family
Two different worldviews
based on the metaphor of the
nation as a family.

24. The Strict Father Family
The strict father model begins with a set of assumptions:
•The world is a dangerous place, and it always will be, because
there is evil out there in the world.
•The world is also difficult because it is competitive.
•There will always be winners and losers.
•There is an absolute right and an absolute wrong.
•Children are born bad, in the sense that they just want to do
what feels good, not what is right. Therefore, they have to be
made good.

25. The Strict Father Family
• Father is the ultimate authority. None
higher.
• Authority must be maintained above all.
• Father knows right from wrong.
• Children learn morality by being punished
for
disobedience. Punishment is morally
required.
•Morality requires discipline. If you are

26. The Strict Father Family
•Father protects and supports financially.
•All responsibility is personal responsibility: you are
responsible for yourself and not for others.
• Adults are responsible for their children; not for
other people’s.
•Communication is one-way: No back-talk.

27. The Nurturant Parent Family
The Nurturant Parent model begins with a set of assumptions:
•Worldview is gender neutral. Both parents are equally responsible
for raising the children.
•Children are born good and can be made better.
•The world can be made a better place, and our job is to work on
that.
•The parents’ job is to nurture their children and to raise their
children to be nurturers of others.
•Nurturance: empathy, responsibility for yourself and others, and a
commitment to do your best not just for yourself, but for your family,
your community, your country, and the world.

28. The Nurturant Parent Family
•Parents have equal responsibility.
•Parents use and teach empathy and responsibility
for oneself and for others.
•Well-being and fulfillment are major goals.
•Parents gain authority by earning respect and
respecting their children.
•Open two-way communication
•It takes a village ….

29. Who is our audience?
Things to keep in mind:
1)Strict father world view is not the majority.
Most people have both world views with one that is
dominant. – biconceptual.
2)We won't change diehard strict fathers, and
trying to do so is a waste of time.
3)You cannot change someone's world view. You
can broaden an existing world view.

30. Who is our audience?
Our goal is to broaden the world view of those
who are in the middle, and to empower other
progressives with communication skills so that
they, too, can broaden the awareness of people
in the middle.

31. Continuum

32. Continuum

33. Why is framing so
important?
• Because framing can misdirect people
into voting against their best interests,
leading to major social consequences.
• The conservative framing around
“Trickle Down Economics” is still
resonating, despite causing a huge
wealth gap between the wealthy and
the middle class.

34. Why should we use framing
Conservatives have mastered the use
of reframing.
Why is this important? Because it has
helped them win! And when they
win, America loses.

35. Piketty Wealth Gap

36. Wealth Gap History
• Before 1913 most of the US wealth was
reinvestment wealth. Andrew Carnegie and
JD Rockefeller.
• In 1913 we went through 2 wars and a
Great Depression which ate up a lot of
reinvestment wealth.
• From the end of WWII to 1980, productive
wealth became greater portion.
• In 1980 Reagan tax cuts to wealthy shifted
income back to reinvestment, which has
been growing exponentially.

37. Piketty Insight on Wealth Gap
• Economist Thomas Piketty in 2014
discussed the difference between types
of wealth
– Productive wealth
• Generated by work
• Producing and selling things or services
• Measured by the GDP.
– Reinvestment wealth
• Generated by receiving returns on investments
then reinvesting those over and over as wealth
grows exponentially.
• The more you have the more you harvest

38. Productive income vs. Wealth

39. Why is this important?
• Wealth = greater political leverage
• Wealth = greater control over public
discourse by controlling the media
• Wealth = control over the rights of
others through control of legislatures
and voting rights

40. How did they do it?
• Frank Luntz has developed many
conservative frames you may recognize:
– Changed Global Warming to Climate Change
because it was less “scary”
– Created the myth of Clean Coal
– Energy Independence is better than more fracking!
– Changed Tax Cut to Tax Relief
– Horrified people with partial-birth abortion which
isn’t a thing.
– Called the top 1% job creators
– Labeled government spending as waste
– His slogan is “It’s not what you say, it’s what
people hear.”

41. How to turn the tide
Reframe conversations by leading
with our values!

42. Values
• Conservative
– Personal Responsibility
– Obedience
– Safety/security
– Order/structure
– Freedom
– Independence
– Respect
– Family
– Bold, powerful
– Tradition
– Feels true
– Patriotism
– Absolutes/black and white
– Direct causation
– Power
• Progressive
– Nurturance
– Empathy
– Protection
– Fairness
– Freedom
– Opportunity
– Open communication
– Community
– Prosperity
– Progress
– Truth/facts/honesty
– Patriotism
– Complex
– Systematic causation
– Authenticity

43. Reframing for Patriotism
• Conservatives: Patriots give the president
a chance and not question his war
policies. Constitution should criminalize
flag desecration. Protests that interfere
with others should be criminalized.
• Progressive: The greatest testament to
one’s love of country is when one works
to improve it. Our first loyalty is to our
democracy and not to any one political
leader.

44. Reframing for Taxes
•Conservatives: We are over-taxed. I
don’t want my taxes going to keep
freeloaders on welfare. Businesses send
jobs overseas because American taxes
are too high. Tax and spend is wasteful.
•Progressive: Taxes are an investment in
the future. Better education, health,
safety, infrastructure, and defense
benefit us all. When our money is pooled,
it can go further.

45. Reframing for Rule of Law
• Conservative: If these thugs wouldn’t talk back to
police they wouldn’t get shot. Criminals deserve
strict punishment for their crimes. Civil liberties
come second to order. The president is the highest
authority and can’t have conflicts of interest.
• Progressive: Police must also obey the law the gives
all citizens a right to a fair trial. In taking a person’s
life on the street, they are stripping them of their
Constitutional rights. Criminals should be
accountable and justice doled out fairly and
equitably. Access to courts and representation
should be available to all. Corporations must also be
accountable for the injuries they inflict.

46. Reframing for National Security
• Conservatives: It’s a scary world where
terrorists want to harm us so we must
respond with military force and keep them
out of our country.
• Progressives: Terrorism is an complex
international problem that will require
cooperation with nations around the world.
We should recognize that terrorism is fed
by poverty, which is often a byproduct of
climate destabilization and foreign energy
policies that have funded terror.

47. Reframing for Health Care
• Conservative: Obamacare takes away our freedom
of choice by forcing us to buy something we might
not want. It is a government takeover of health
care. We should let the free market principles of
competition determine the costs health care.
• Progressive: Affordable health care is a right. We
care about the lives of all Americans. Healthy
Americans benefit everyone. When people are
healthy, they are able to work and be productive
members of society. When Americans are healthy,
they are less likely to live in poverty and less likely
to need government assistance. It is much more
cost efficient to provide preventative care than to
pay for expensive emergency room visits.

48. Reframing for Reproductive
rights
• Conservatives: Abortion is the immoral taking of an
innocent life. It must be banned.
• Progressives: Promoting life means reducing the
number of unwanted pregnancies to begin with. This
is most successfully accomplished through
comprehensive and accurate education and access to
free contraception. All women have the right to make
choices on their reproductive rights. Access to
contraception and abortion helps women stay out of
poverty. A woman should have the right to choose
what is best for her life.

49. Reframing gun control
•Conservatives: Liberals want to take our guns. Don’t
tread on my 2nd amendment rights. Good guys with
guns would prevent violence.
•Progressives: Guns can be dangerous and to protect all
Americans, we should ensure they stay out of the
hands of dangerous people. Common sense gun
legislation can help make guns safer for everyone. Our
children are safer from accidents when we establish
protections for gun safety. To fully comply with the 2nd
amendment, gun ownership should be well-regulated
and protect Americans with background checks,
licensing, and mental health verification.

50. Reframing Progressives
• Conservatives: Tax-and-spend liberals want to take
hard-earned money and give it to freeloaders. Coastal
elitists have no family values and don’t understand hard
working “real” Americans. Liberal media is fake news.
• Progressives: Progressives love liberty and the rights
enshrined in our Constitution. Hard working
progressives fight for unions and workers rights.
Courageous progressives risk their lives to fight for civil
rights. Caring progressives with strong family values
gave our elderly Social Security and Medicare. Patriotic
progressives want to preserve the beauty and majesty
of our land for the enjoyment of all Americans. The
majority of the respected media outlets work diligently
to fact-check and report truths that can be objectively
proven.

51. Reframing Other Topics
• Conservatives: “Illegals” are criminals and trespassers
• Progressives: Immigrants work hard and provide value to
society, often doing jobs that Americans won't. Deporting
those who are not dangerous breaks up families and often
leaves children dependent on our system. Immigrants
brought here as children seek the American dream and
should have a path to citizenship.
• Conservatives: Businesses are job creators who “give”
people jobs. Health Care is an added benefit.
• Progressives: Workers are profit creators, without whom
businesses couldn’t run. They are equal partners in the
success of the business. Pensions are not a gift, they are
delayed payment for work already done. Health care is
earned by employees and benefits everyone.
• Conservatives: We are over-regulated.
• Progressives: Regulations are public protections.

52. Reframed Messaging
Examples
•Tax burden < pulling together for everyone’s benefit
•Regulations < Protections
•Illegals < Dreamers
•Gun control < common sense gun safety
•Paid protester < caring citizen
•Fake news < truth in journalism
•Obamacare is failing < ACA is saving lives.
•Redistribution of wealth < leveling the playing field
•Job creators < workers are profit creators

53. Keep in mind
1.Simplicity - use small words
2.Brevity - use short sentences
3.Credibility
4.Consistency
5.Visualize
6.Avoid negating conservative frames
7.Repetition

54. Progressive Reframing
• Requires diligence and thought.
• Doesn’t rely on quick slogans.
• Must be repeated over and over and
over.
• Must be proactive not reactive.
• Must understand where the audience is
coming from, understand their values,
and frame the argument in a way that
aligns with one of those values and
progressive values.

55. What can you do?
• Read “Don’t Think of an Elephant!” and Lakoff’s
blog and follow him on social media.
• Strive to use progressive frames and avoid
repeating conservative ones in your everyday
conversations.
• Consider framing when talking with the media
about resistance activities and when developing
messages for activities, use progressive frames
in Letters to the Editor.
• Push political leaders and the media to use
progressive frames.

56. Resources
• “Don’t Think of an Elephant” by George Lakoff
• Lakoff’s blog: www.georgelakoff.com/blog