If Your Email Subject Lines Read: I'm Sweating, Pummeled Non-stop, Seriously Behind, This is a Disaster or It Can't Get Any Worse …
...what's the message being received?
Imagined by Gemini AI
These sound like the headlines in the final Pompeii Gazette published just before Mt. Vesuvius wiped out the city, but they’re not.
They’re the subject lines of some of the countless emails I get in my inbox from candidates running for some public office, somewhere in the US.
And the only reason I’m taking the time to write about this is that, as a human being who has been pummeled by crazies over the last 10 years, I need change to happen.
I want some of these people to win. To replace those who are making our lives far more difficult than they need to be. I want sanity to return to our government.
But these are the subject lines used to get attention, not inform or resolve. Like igniting a road flare while standing in line at Starbucks because the barista is taking too long with your latte.
They’re designed, I guess, to stand out when 10 million other people are clamoring to sell us something.
But these are terrible ideas. They’re defeatist. I don’t know about you, but they make me numb, as hope slowly drains from my body.
They are used to get money. Lots of it. Constantly. Endlessly banging on about the dire straits we’re in, and yes, we are in dire straits, but we’re also emotional beings, and the reaction you want from us is not running away from elections and voting, but running towards them.
As citizens, we appreciate warnings.
The Bridge is Out.
Road Detour Ahead.
Thank you, we’ll take an alternate route.
But we don’t need to be reminded every 15 minutes. We don’t need to feel like the only thing we can do is sell our cars and our collection of Harry Potter first editions and give it all away to politicians.
Who are dangerously close to behaving like addicts in search of their next fix.
The latest estimate I read is that the midterms will gobble up in excess of $12 billion in media buys. That’s just media buys, not desks, phones, pizzas, and takeout for the volunteers. Just messages telling us who is good and who is bad.
It’s easy to make fun of politicians. They deserve it. They got themselves into this position. But at a certain point, it’s no longer cathartic. The giggles don’t make up for the fear we’re feeling if nothing changes.
We need to change the narrative. How we communicate. We need to stop being reactive and being made that way by algorithms pushing our buttons.
Give donations where needed. But also give your thoughts, and even your anger, for a political process that needs to change as well.