A steaming plate of . . . lasagne?

I just ran across a presentation by a Libertarian from Oregon, who said "Politicians are the members of the organization who make change comfortable to the average voter”.

Over and over, this is what it boils down to – we must make voters comfortable with change, otherwise they are not going to vote for change. They will continue to vote for what they know, what they are comfortable with.

What makes them feel safe.

We’ve all heard it, “better the devil you know, ????”

This is where the works of Dr. Mary Ruwart and Michael Cloud are so valuable. In translating the ideas of Liberty, and the mechanics of change into comfortable plans that voters will buy.

Marketing ideas, selling Liberty to consumers: the voters.

Until Libertarians and the LP learn to do this more effectively, we won’t be successful in the marketplace; the voter booth.

I’m not talking about watering down the message, I’m talking about framing it in more attractive terms.

If we were talking about feeding people, it might look this way . . .

A man who has spent all day shoveling snow will fall upon a steaming plate of lasagne, no matter that it fell apart as it was served, and the noodles, sauce, cheese are all stirred together. He’s hungry, starving for that plate of food, and it will not matter to him that it is served on a plain, thick white plate that has drips of sauce running across the edge where the lasagne was spooned onto it. It is hot, the smell is enticing, and it will taste better than anything he can imagine. Give him more, more, more!

At the next table, we have a woman who lives on diet pills and too much coffee. She has little appetite, may have never experienced ravenous hunger, and is afraid that lasagne will take three days to remove from her hips, if she does eat it. She will be enticed by a tiny portion, beautifully served on a fine china plate, surrounded by a large salad of succulent greens, lightly dressed in a low fat dressing. It’s beautiful, fits her diet plan, and is healthy.

In either case, the product, whether lasagne or freedom, is the same, the presentation is worlds apart.

Persuading soccer Moms to partake of a few bites of freedom is the way to win. Mom takes a bite and carries it back to the nest, where the children are allowed a little more freedom; they learn about living in a world that is more free. Dad gets his taste, and encourages Mom and kids in an even more free lifestyle. Next time Mom steps up to the lunch line, maybe she throws caution to the wind and has two bites. Kids, being freedom loving little anarchists, have already sneaked the pan of lasagne out of the fridge and devoured it, cold, with their grimy little hands.

In the end, it’s not how many pounds of freedom we sell, it’s how many people we persuade to take a tiny bite that counts.

For freedom is potent stuff – it infects a host, reproduces like a virus, and then it spreads.

Me, I'm Not Comfortably Numb