Editorials & Other Articles

Sam1

(498 posts) Wed Jun 11, 2014, 05:18 PM Jun 2014

The Values Ratchet - By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 11th June 2014

although about UK it applies to the US

Any political movement that fails to understand two basic psychological traits will, before long, fizzle out. The first is Shifting Baseline Syndrome. Coined by the biologist Daniel Pauly, it originally described our relationship to ecosystems(1), but it’s just as relevant to politics. We perceive the circumstances of our youth as normal and unexceptional – however sparse or cruel they may be. By this means, over the generations, we adjust to almost any degree of deprivation or oppression, imagining it to be natural and immutable.

http://www.monbiot.com/2014/06/10/the-values-ratchet/

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The Values Ratchet - By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 11th June 2014 (Original Post) Sam1 Jun 2014 OP

Monbiot is assuming that the Democrats and Labor want to do the right thing yurbud Jun 2014 #1

yurbud

(39,405 posts)

1. Monbiot is assuming that the Democrats and Labor want to do the right thing

Reply to Sam1 (Original post)

Fri Jun 13, 2014, 01:45 PM

Jun 2014

From their complicity with Bush wars and tax and budget priorities through Obama's Wall Street directed administration, it is clear that Democrats want nothing of the sort.

They simply understand that you need a different pitch to sucker the educated.

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