A fellow progressive once accused Babel-on-the-Bay of using bumper sticker solutions. What he did not realize is that the era of the bumper sticker is long gone. Maybe he had failed to note that automobiles no longer have real bumpers. Getting adhesive off a painted surface can be expensive.
But what he was really complaining about was the simplicity of words used to make our point. We have always been a strong believer in the adage that if you cannot write your proposal on the back of your business card, you need to rethink your proposal.
It is why in a career of writing business and political material there was always a demand for our services. If you are allowed a little pride in your accomplishments, we could always reduce the complex to something easy to understand. It was why when heading up the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada our medical director always joked that he wanted to do the fund raising while we explained the disease and prospects for a cure.
But the point is that while bumper stickers still work, the problem is the closest thing to bumper stickers today is called Twitter. As we have noted at times: Twitter must be for twits. Like the rest of the Internet, you always have to consider the source. Just like blogs, any idiot can write them and they often do. Sometimes you think the Internet was invented for the dumbing down of the human race.
It is amusing to note that the blog repeatedly chosen as best in an accumulation of Canadian progressives continues to be by a chap who likely spends more time using Adobe PhotoShop than MicroSoft Word. His cartoons can be quite funny.
Mind you, the current situation in the United States might also be proving the point. When our morning line called Donald Trump at 25 to 1 on the American presidency, it was because he is a longshot and far from a good bet. It is just frightening to think of.
Trump has reduced the race to the lowest common denominator. It is a race to the bottom of the barrel. He has no interest in the truth or reason. He is nothing but a massive, self aggrandizing ego who appeals to the angry, the bigots and other losers. The only problem is there are quite a few.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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