Buy “Don’t Buy It”!

It seems as though progressives are always yammering on about “messaging” and “narratives” but to my ears it often ends up sounding strained and inauthentic when they get down to specifics. I’m not indicting anyone in particular, but as someone who does think that words and arguments matter, it’s a bit frustrating. And as anyone who reads this blog knows, I truly loathe all the metaphors politicians and pundits commonly use to describe our economy and the government functions that affect it. So, I was pleasantly surprised to read this new book by Anat Shenker-Osorio called Don’t Buy It: The Trouble with Talking Nonsense about the Economy and finally see someone explain why all the metaphors and narratives we currently use are all wrong and then suggest some new ones that might actually work.

In the forward she discusses my most hated trope — the “sacrifice” theme — which she ties, rightly, to religious rites and themes of human sacrifice. And she dissects all the common economic metaphors such as the economy as an (ailing) body that needs to be brought back to good health, the economy as a natural element like weather or water, and the economy as a moral enforcer. All of these elements imply that “the economy” is actually some sort of deity that we must worship and/or accept but never question or interfere with. She tackles all those themes with progressive definitions of what the economy is and what it’s function in our lives does. This isn’t stern daddy/nurturant parent “ways of knowing” stuff but more practical approaches to how to talk and think about these issues outside the narrow confines of conservative Luntzian discourse.

And then to demonstrate how to put these ideas into action she suggests four audacious policies that take the discourse and really turn it on its head:

Create less work for each and more for all (by work sharing)
Base what you owe in student loans on what you make
Ensuring the right to live in your house
Make manufacturing inequality expensive

All of these are radical ideas within our current cramped political options. But they didn’t come out of thin air. Shenker-Osorio cites many economists and academics as well as real world examples of where it works to back up her arguments. I particularly like the last one: adjust the corporate tax rate to the ration of CEO pay to the average worker. If these guys want to continue to pay giant salaries to themselves while they screw their workers, the company is going to have to pay a premium so that society can pick up the slack. Maybe the shareholders are fine with that. And maybe they aren’t …

It’s also a fun and savvy read, unlike some of he other books of this genre, full of accessible pop culture references and vivid imagery. I’m sure I’ll be using some of these concepts in my writing. It’s vitally important to challenge the (highly successful) conservative shaping of our discourse over the past 30+ years and this book has a bunch of really good ideas about how to start doing that. If you’re interested in this subject, I recommend it.

Also, for those in LA, Anat will be appearing at the Last Bookstore at 3pm tomorrow for a book signing.

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