Thread by @oldbooksguy

This is Joe Overton

The famous "Overton Window" is named after him

It's the best mental model for understanding how political change ACTUALLY happens

A thread...

1/ Overton was a libertarian political scientist. In the 1990s, while raising funds for rightwing thinktank "Makinac Center," he kept meeting donors who didn't understand what thinktanks actually do. He coined a new concept to solve this problem: Window of Political Possibilities

2/ Overton argued that politicians are not leaders but followers

Since they want to get re-elected, they'll only turn those proposals into policy which already have some public appeal

A totally unpopular idea? Political suicide. Outside the "window of political possibilities"

3/ Overton argued that a think-tank's job is not to convince politicians, but their VOTERS

A great think-tank will—using research, writing, films, and advocacy—slide the window of political possibilities until their preferred proposal goes from unthinkable to acceptable

4/ You can't expect politicians to not respond to public will. Even Napoleon said: "Public opinion is the thermometer a monarch should constantly consult." But what you can do is persuade, nudge, seduce, and pull the public over to your side. This is why "Culture Wars" matter

5/ The best way to boil a frog is slowly

The best way to turn an unthinkable idea into a popular law is not via the parliament but the public square

Politics is downstream of song lyrics, viral tweets, movie plots, museum exhibitions. First normalize, then legalize...

6/ In 2003, Joe Overton tragically crashed his one-seat aircraft and died. He was only 43. His think-tank colleague Joseph Lehman renamed the "Window of Political Possibilities" into the "Overton Window"

The rest is history...

7/ Moldbug writes: "Cthulhu only swims left." That is, with local variations, the Overton window in modern politics only shifts leftward. She/her pronouns went from a tumblr micro-trend to official Kamala Harris speeches in less than 10 years. Is Moldbug right?

8/ 2024 is proof that with the right combination of free speech, ungovernable billionaires, & feisty schizo edits, Cthulhu can swim right. Yesterday's sacred truism is the butt of today's joke. Much that was revered in 2018 is mocked in 2024. The Overton Window has shifted right

9/ When people online say "Just be Normal Bro" - they're saying "Just be inside the Overton Window Bro"

THAT is where most people are ever going to be - inside the Overton Window

The window itself can never be destroyed - people need psychic orientation. Too much light blinds..

There are decades when the Overton Window slides by micrometers...there are weeks when it slides by a mile

Poast well, friends! For you, too, can slide the window...

Thank you for reading!

I appreciate your time fren

For more such poasts, follow me: @oldbooksguy

And consider reposting:

https://x.com/oldbooksguy/status/1850552770295738422