On Culture: Does defending the status quo work?

Friends and partners,

I’m struggling to write the opening of this newsletter. Talking about “troubled times” or using any other platitude to describe the moment we’re living through seems trite when so many of us are worried about our families, our jobs, and our country. I imagine that many of you are also struggling and having difficulty figuring out how to talk about everything that’s going on.

In the spirit of helping us make sense of what’s going on, I want to share an article written by FrameWorks CEO Nat Kendall-Taylor for The Contrarian.

SHOW ME THE ARTICLE

What’s going on?

In his article, Nat explores how a system is rigged narrative has been weaponized and used to justify efforts like firing public servants and ending aid programs around the world. Importantly, the article also talks about how we can (and must) counter those efforts through narratives of our own.

As Nat points out, just because a system is rigged narrative is being wielded by the far-right to perpetuate inequities doesn’t mean we shouldn’t engage with the idea that our systems are rigged. In fact, that’s one of the reasons we should.

First, the system is rigged. We’re living that reality every day—from the disproportionate impacts Black homeowners face following the Eaton Fire in California to an immigration system that targets unaccompanied children to unilateral decisions that will make it easier for corporations to dodge taxes. Second, our research shows that acknowledging that the deck is stacked against most of us can be a powerful tool in fighting back.

What isn’t working?

When we defend the status quo and argue to “restore faith in our institutions,” the message falls flat largely because most Americans already see that the system is rigged—they can feel the effects of structural racism and the consolidation of power among a wealthy few. Declining trust in the potential of our public institutions has real consequences, but attempting to redirect attention away from the ways they aren’t working isn’t convincing.

What can we do?

Instead, we need to reach out and acknowledge that our systems are rigged—and offer explanations of how and why they’re rigged to counter the harmful and misleading narratives we’re currently being inundated with. Then we need to offer actual solutions for un-rigging the system that make our society more just.

We’re all being pulled in many directions right now. We may be trying to address what’s being done to immigrants, to trans kids, to our public health infrastructure, to our freedom of speech…but—and—all of these efforts depend on our ability to identify and address the many ways that our systems are rigged to benefit those in power at our expense. We can’t cede the narrative to those determined to make our society ever more tilted and unfair. Instead, we must tell the story about the work that’s required to unrig the system. That makes our shared narrative more powerful—and can help us fight back against attempts to keep us silent.

In solidarity,

Clara Blustein Lindholm