This video is the first of a broader series about Democrat messaging # Points to Include - Meritocracy is foundational to the US and its "mythology" - Did meritocracy (the word) used to have a negative connotation to it? (Did it flip like the "bootstraps") - It connects to the American Dream (TM) - Republicans have become fixated on this idea that DEI has become a threat to America's existing meritocracy by artificially boosting undeserving minorities into positiions that would otherwise have been held by stronger candidates/students/etc. - The feeling that the system is unfair is really resonating with people and connects to this - Review Republican rhetoric about meritocracy (productivity, the boot straps, etc.) - Around the 70s productivity and GDP began to spike - Barriers that kept black people and women out of the workplace began to fall, so a ton of new people entered the workfore - Refer to allocation of talent paper - [[DEI - The Allocation of Talent and US Economic Growth (2019)]] - There can exist no true American meritocracy as long as barriers exist that disallow certain groups of people from competing in the workforce. As shown in the above paper, when women and black people were finally able to enter the marker, MORE QUALIFIED candidates were able to take the roles the generated the most income/utility for themselves, which caused a spike in GDP and productivity across the nation 1960-2010 changes in real wages - +39% white women - +57% black women - +44% black men - -4% white men **What is modern DEI?** - What do Republicans think DEI is? - What is DEI actually? - How does modern DEI remove frictions and create more of a meritocracy? - How does it help veterans and white men in rural areas - People feel the Republican narrative is true for reasons unrelated to DEI - What (*why*?) do Republicans seem to blame marginalized groups for all problems? ## Other Additions - Go over Trump appointees, their credentials, and compare them to those who previously held them other Biden - This admin is the least meritorious adminstration that has ever existed - These people do not actually mean "meritocracy", they mean jobs for loyalists, white men in the in-group, yes-men, etc. They really just want to go back in time where the previous frictions exist, so their pathetic mediocre selves can go back to having jobs that they don't deserve ### Dem Messaging About DEI Regardless of what Democrats would do, R's are always going to use their made-up white-victim reactionary narrative - Democrats make it too easy for R's to run with this, because they never explain how DEI fits into classic American values - They focus instead of shaming people for slavery, and other things they have no tangential connect to, and other social shaming - Democrats should instead focus on how DEI is American, and that they embody real American values and helping people move toward the American Dream - NOT Republicans DEI messaging so NOT be so focused on compassion and empathy, it should be explained within the framework of the American Dream and meritocracy "The Righteous Mind" talks about the values associated with Democrats versus Republicans, with Democrats always focusing on empathy and compassion We don't have DEI because we *feel bad* for certain groups of people and think that giving them a handout might heal some of our white guilt, DEI exists to remove the frictions preventing the most talented people from landing positions that they should let, which improves America as a whole DEI is not a weapon yielded by wokescolds # Potential Sections - Hook intro - What is meritocracy - What is DEI (Republican definition vs actual) - Is DEI actually causing harm? - What does research say about reducing friction for struggling minority groups? - "How does it help *me?*" - The Trump Admin is the most pro-DEI admin ever by their own definition of DEI - Why is Democratic messaging always so fucking bad? - Democrats ceding the messaging about DEI being a weapon for wokescolds to spread white guilt - DEI is about bringing us all closer to the meritocracy of the American Dream, ALL of us -