Don’t Progressives Understand We Are Angry?

I write a lot about narratives. I complain about narratives too. Too often, the narrative about any public subject becomes more toxic than the problem itself. Some problems never get solved because the narrative about them is all wrong. I find myself arguing about narratives more than I do actual policy with people. In the game of perception, the best perception wins.

The title of this article comes from a discussion I had a while ago with a conservative reader who, exasperated in our discussion of current events, shouted out, “Don’t progressives understand we are angry?” I didn’t have a reply at the time and the discussion ended after that moment, but that quote stuck in my head for a long time. And I’ve been trying to come up with some kind of answer.

The easy answer is that Progressives aren’t concerned about the anger of people who disagree with them. They sincerely believe that they are agitating for a better society for everyone, even the people who disagree with them. But I also think there is something deeper at play.

Progressive Messaging

When we think about narrative in the news media, we have to think about how people find out about certain movements, how those movements get attention and why. One of the problems with Progressives is that they are decently good at…