re: #117 publicityStunted

Just look at the difference between “Staunch Conservatives” and “Main Street Republicans”

Too bad it’s the former who control the GOP :(

That’s actually a great graphic.

There’s a big label and branding issue at the moment. Labels and brands are so integral to the American, and to a lesser extent the human, way of thinking that the battle over what label you have, what brand you identify with, and what other people mean by that brand is a huge one.

Consider the problem at hand, that of the Conservative cult. It is obvious to everyone that only a very few of those who consider themselves conservative here on LGF have anything in common with members of this cult. They know it, we all know it. Yet both use the same word - conservative - as their label and brand. Moreover, both lay claim to that brand in the public sphere of usage; that is, both kinds of people expect that when others use the word ‘conservative’, they mean them. Now what? It’s like apples and oranges, but instead of having the words for apples and oranges, we have to refer to these two very different things as ‘fruit’.

There’s no easy solution, because American culture does not give up brands easily. Brand loyalty is much more important here than elsewhere - it’s key to one’s very identity. ‘I’m a Chrysler guy.’ ‘I’m an Old Spice guy.’ ‘I’m a Steelers fan.’ ‘I’m a Republican.’ ‘I’m a Democrat.’ And so on. We know ourselves by the labels we identify with, and we expect others to know us by those labels too. Now, I understand certain things by the word ‘conservative’. None of those things are associated with the Conservative cultists. But what I personally think doesn’t change the public sphere of usage. I have to understand that if I use the word ‘conservative’ in communication, others will understand that to mean something, and unfortunately, I think that the battle for brand recognition is being won by FOX and the like, rather than what conservatism actually is. If patterns continue much as they have been, in ten years ‘socialism’ will mean something different in the public sphere too, at least here in the US, where brand loyalty and brand recognition is relentlessly built every day.

I don’t really have a solution. I just know that I am careful about using words that I know are brands, rather than just words. ‘Conservative’ is one. If someone says, “I’m a conservative” to me, I have to consider a lot of context to understand what the word means, because it’s a brand, and I have to know what it means to him.