TwiLeXia
03-21-2008, 06:45 PM
How do we make the Revolution permanent? I have some ideas.
I read this book called The Tipping Point a few years ago, by Malcolm Gladwell. One of his main ideas is the tipping point, and how epidemics, fashion trends, and viral phenomena cross that threshold from being simply an idea, to spreading like wildfire. I feel like the revolution needs to cross that threshold.
There are three "rules of epidemics," or "agents of change."
1. The Law of the Few Basically, the success of our revolution depends heavily on a few number of people. You can decide if you are one of them, (or two) and see if you are able to specialize in that role:
a. Connectors, who have a special ability to bring people together... these include Trevor Lyman, Brent Sanders, Murray Sabrin (anyone else running for office) and of course Ron Paul. Do you have the ability to bring ideas together, create a consensus, and generally lead the revolution? If so you should see if you can run for public office, or join a meetup group where you can lead.
b. Mavens, who supply the revolution with information and news. This includes people like Bradley in DC who reports articles about Dr. Paul as well as others who help with the information and arguments for Dr. Paul's position. I consider myself a Maven, I usually bring ideas and information to the table. Are you a "maven?"
c. Salesmen, who are adept in persuading others and making people agree with them. Ron Paul of course is the ultimate salesman, but many of us supporters are very good at persuading others. Me, not so much. Are you a salesman? If not, maybe you should do a little less persuading. I feel like some of us non-salesmen do more damage than benefit.
Now that you've decided your role in the revolution, read on to find out how we can make the revolution tip.
2. The Stickiness Factor Are our advertisements, our slogans, our sayings, our presentation, and our ideas memorable? Are the advertisements memorable? Non-memorable advertisements are nearly useless. But those that are... and I believe the High Tide Promo is one of them, is something that will "stick" with anyone who sees it. And these are the most valuable ones of all.
Let's also consider if our slogans are memorable. Obama's "Yes We Can" is pretty memorable, but what about our slogans? You decide.
How about our presentation? Do we present the revolution in a memorable and extraordinary fashion? How we present the platform of Dr. Paul is just as important as the platform itself. Shoving the message into another's face and disagreeing with everything they say, may not be the best way to present Dr. Paul.
3. The Power of Context This is what I believe is the biggest problem. Is the environment right, the conditions right, for our revolution to spread like wildfire? Our biggest complaint is of the "sheep" in the US, voting for people they don't understand. So how can we change that? How can we change public opinion, how can we create the right context for the revolution to succeed. I like to think of the revolution as a ship. If we try to ram the ship through a mass of land, we will inevitably fail. Maybe we need to make a canal or a passageway first... and that means building the foundation. Without that, trying to push the ship even an inch over will be futile.
So how do we reach that threshold? I believe it lies with making our message more "conceivable." The harder you try to ram the ship, the more afraid and skeptical the rest of society becomes. On the other hand, if you soften up the message a little bit, make it more agreeable with society's current notions and values, then perhaps in the future we wouldn't even need to push the more "extremes" of our message forth. For example, one of the very extreme messages (in my view) is abolish the Federal Reserve and Department of Education. People have gotten used to them, and so saying to abolish them is futile. But maybe calling for reform of the Fed and Dept of Education, or a limiting of their power, could be more conceivable to people. And then later, after they agree that these agencies need to be reformed, they will start thinking, why don't we just remove them altogether? That's how you build the canal.
I personally think it's very harmful when non-salesmen attempt to "sell" Dr. Paul's message. If you can't do it in a persuasive, polite, respectable, and memorable way, don't do it at all. You might just be building antagonism, skepticism, and ridicule.
I also think that connectors need to bring people together to decide on one idea and activity, rather than have hundreds and thousands of them floating around. Finally, the "mavens," or information-gatherers, need to find relevant, concise information to supply the salesmen with ammunition.
If we can soften our message and allow our ideas to trickle into mainstream thought, we can dig the canal for our ship. Then, we simply need to create powerful, memorable advertisements and slogans that will stick with people's minds forever. Then, the message itself will do the rest.
Tell me what you think.
I read this book called The Tipping Point a few years ago, by Malcolm Gladwell. One of his main ideas is the tipping point, and how epidemics, fashion trends, and viral phenomena cross that threshold from being simply an idea, to spreading like wildfire. I feel like the revolution needs to cross that threshold.
There are three "rules of epidemics," or "agents of change."
1. The Law of the Few Basically, the success of our revolution depends heavily on a few number of people. You can decide if you are one of them, (or two) and see if you are able to specialize in that role:
a. Connectors, who have a special ability to bring people together... these include Trevor Lyman, Brent Sanders, Murray Sabrin (anyone else running for office) and of course Ron Paul. Do you have the ability to bring ideas together, create a consensus, and generally lead the revolution? If so you should see if you can run for public office, or join a meetup group where you can lead.
b. Mavens, who supply the revolution with information and news. This includes people like Bradley in DC who reports articles about Dr. Paul as well as others who help with the information and arguments for Dr. Paul's position. I consider myself a Maven, I usually bring ideas and information to the table. Are you a "maven?"
c. Salesmen, who are adept in persuading others and making people agree with them. Ron Paul of course is the ultimate salesman, but many of us supporters are very good at persuading others. Me, not so much. Are you a salesman? If not, maybe you should do a little less persuading. I feel like some of us non-salesmen do more damage than benefit.
Now that you've decided your role in the revolution, read on to find out how we can make the revolution tip.
2. The Stickiness Factor Are our advertisements, our slogans, our sayings, our presentation, and our ideas memorable? Are the advertisements memorable? Non-memorable advertisements are nearly useless. But those that are... and I believe the High Tide Promo is one of them, is something that will "stick" with anyone who sees it. And these are the most valuable ones of all.
Let's also consider if our slogans are memorable. Obama's "Yes We Can" is pretty memorable, but what about our slogans? You decide.
How about our presentation? Do we present the revolution in a memorable and extraordinary fashion? How we present the platform of Dr. Paul is just as important as the platform itself. Shoving the message into another's face and disagreeing with everything they say, may not be the best way to present Dr. Paul.
3. The Power of Context This is what I believe is the biggest problem. Is the environment right, the conditions right, for our revolution to spread like wildfire? Our biggest complaint is of the "sheep" in the US, voting for people they don't understand. So how can we change that? How can we change public opinion, how can we create the right context for the revolution to succeed. I like to think of the revolution as a ship. If we try to ram the ship through a mass of land, we will inevitably fail. Maybe we need to make a canal or a passageway first... and that means building the foundation. Without that, trying to push the ship even an inch over will be futile.
So how do we reach that threshold? I believe it lies with making our message more "conceivable." The harder you try to ram the ship, the more afraid and skeptical the rest of society becomes. On the other hand, if you soften up the message a little bit, make it more agreeable with society's current notions and values, then perhaps in the future we wouldn't even need to push the more "extremes" of our message forth. For example, one of the very extreme messages (in my view) is abolish the Federal Reserve and Department of Education. People have gotten used to them, and so saying to abolish them is futile. But maybe calling for reform of the Fed and Dept of Education, or a limiting of their power, could be more conceivable to people. And then later, after they agree that these agencies need to be reformed, they will start thinking, why don't we just remove them altogether? That's how you build the canal.
I personally think it's very harmful when non-salesmen attempt to "sell" Dr. Paul's message. If you can't do it in a persuasive, polite, respectable, and memorable way, don't do it at all. You might just be building antagonism, skepticism, and ridicule.
I also think that connectors need to bring people together to decide on one idea and activity, rather than have hundreds and thousands of them floating around. Finally, the "mavens," or information-gatherers, need to find relevant, concise information to supply the salesmen with ammunition.
If we can soften our message and allow our ideas to trickle into mainstream thought, we can dig the canal for our ship. Then, we simply need to create powerful, memorable advertisements and slogans that will stick with people's minds forever. Then, the message itself will do the rest.
Tell me what you think.