Interesting analysis. The propaganda book described by the article says we must have:
“freedom to be safe in our homes and neighborhoods”
...and I find this particularly Orwellian. When is freedom ever passive? We are free to act one way or another, to make choices, but not to passively sit there and be given something. We are not free to “get” safety. We *are* free to secure our own safety. We are not free to “get” healthcare. We *are* free to pursue good healthcare. So by the simple act of inverting freedom from active to passive voice, we are being enticed to look to others rather than ourselves for the fulfilment of these new so-called freedoms, which are not freedoms at all, but crude temptations to surrender our truest freedom, which is to act on our own behalf, and in our own interests, by our own gifts and determinations, none of which can be reconciled with passive dependency on others.
Safety is not passive either, but the Illogic of Progressivism and the Social Gospel has so permeated society that many people think safety should be intrinsic and brought by governmental force.
Using seat belts in cars and wearing crash helmets on motorcycles are not passive acts. These devices must be designed, purchased and operated to be beneficial, with time, treasure and trade offs at each of those steps.
Traffic law enforcement is anything but passive. Look at the steps taken for fire prevention and control over the history of civilization. Even cavemen piled rocks around their fire lays.
The reason this propaganda style is so effective today is government schools teaching government values, but that is for another day.
#1: ALWAYS FOCUS ON EMOTIONAL AND VALUE-DRIVEN ARGUMENTS ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE, NOT THE POLITICAL FOOD FIGHT IN WASHINGTON OR WONKY STATISTICS.It’s critical that you ground your messaging around gun violence prevention by making that emotional connection. Don’t skip past emotional arguments and lapse into a passionless public policy voice... [emphasis mine]
I guess the passive voice is reserved only for the masses.
Cordially,