Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist: the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.

I think a lot about the MAGA movement. A LOT. Like, a lot A LOT. Specifically, the ways in which it has seeped into our collective consciousness. While I’d love to say that I’ve found the magic bullet for removing or blocking said seepage, that’s the thing about zeitgeist-ness, for good or bad, it seeps, then it sticks, then it stains and becomes impossible to erase.

I think a lot about the MAGA movement. Specifically, how they’ve impacted the zeitgeist in ways that capture the imagination and passion of roughly half of the voting public. There are people much smarter than me that can dive into the psychology, the social science, and the political organization of it all, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things we can glean from MAGA and other zeitgeist-y movements in history.

While we don’t have control over what zeitgeist-ness will grow or go viral, what messages will stick, and what specific cultural phenomena will capture our collective imaginations, we CAN control what seeds we want to plant. I like to call theses seeds “Zeitgeist Artifact Germinations” or ZAGs for short.

Disclosure: I’m an alumnus of Gonzaga University, and I relish any moment where I can work the word Zag or Zags into my conversations.

I think a lot about the MAGA movement. Specifically, the MAGA artifacts (ZAGs):

• The red hats

• The “Make America Great Again” slogan

• The evolution of the slogan into an easy to pronounce acronym

• The evolution of the acronym its own word with its own meaning that identifies and brands a political party and community of people

• The simplicity of messaging

• The meeting of emotional needs

• The hashtags

• The imagery

• The shock value

• The peer pressure

Artifacts aren’t necessarily good or bad, but they are effective at impacting the zeitgeist. Consider the ZAGs of the Me Too movement (hashtag, articulating pain, the fall of high profile figures), the hippie era (the slogans, the music, the art, the protests), the anti-fur movement (paint, peer pressure), Black Lives Matter (hashtags, viral videos of brutality, kneeling, marches and protests) to name a few. If you’ve ever seen the movie Wag the Dog with Dustin Hoffman, it’s an entire move of planting ZAGs to propagandize a false narrative. While I’m not suggesting we use our ZAGs in ways that lack integrity, I do think that movie contains fun examples of the types of artifacts that can capture the imagination.

In that spirit, I think ZAGs need to have four components:

• Simple: Simple to say/do and simple to understand.

• Inexpensive: the less expensive it is (in money, time, resources), the more people will be able to participate.

• Everyday: Everyday is an adjective that means normal, regular, average folks, commonplace, (think “Everyday People”). What “everyday” is NOT: it’s not fancy. It’s not overly designed. It’s not happing someplace far away—ZAGs must be doable in folks’ immediate environments (both online and in real life).

• Every Day: This is a phrase that contains an adjective and a noun, and means it can be seen/done/said/shared every single day.

With those components in mind, here are some ZAGs I’ve conjured, surmised, embraced, or am currently amplifying:

Trumpflation

Think about Obamacare. There are entire swaths of the country that still don’t know that Obamacare is the ACA, and people love or hate Obamacare simply because it contains Obama’s name. Whether Obamacare is good for the country, bad for the country, or whatever roller coaster it goes on in the course of history, it will forever be Obama’s to own.

We should be using the word “Trumpflation” in relation to everything related to our tanking economy. I tend to fall into the trap of wanting to explain the minutiae of inflation, economics, tariffs, bird flu, supply chains etc. thus breaking the first rule of ZAGs: keep it simple to understand. A single word, that associates Trump with everything from inflation, to the price of eggs or gas, the rising prices of everything no matter the underlying reason. This single word associates Trump with pain everyone is feeling in their pocketbook and bank accounts.

BONUS: #Trumpflation is a very easy hashtag to remember, use, and share.

Stickering it to the Man

Remember the stickers that started showing up on gas pumps blaming Biden for the rising prices post COVID and post Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? Regardless of the underlying geopolitical and geo-economic complexities, the average person pumping gas probably doesn’t connect the dots between COVID and inflation, but could connect the pain at the pump with Biden, an association that was reinforced by that sticker every time they filled their tank.

Guess what? We can do stickers too. Gas Pumps, grocery stores, parks, Teslas, people, etc. The possibilities are endless given how far the tendrils of the Trump/Musk presidency has reached into our day-to-day lives.

Disclosure: Pockets & Sedition has its own set of vinyl, outdoor stickers we’re using (click here to see our sticker shop). While we are endlessly grateful for our customers, paid subscribers to this Substack newsletter, and anyone else helping us reach our pro-democracy goals, we certainly applaud anyone stickering it to the man whether you’re using the Pockets & Sedition stickers or not.

Disclaimer: While stickers are squarely on the side of non-violent protest, much like the throwing of paint onto folks wearing real fur coats, it can start to enter legally iffy areas regarding defacing property. So sticker at your own risk based on your local laws and/or your own levels of risk tolerance.

BONUS: Stickers are incognito as they can be carried around in wallets, purses, and POCKETS. If you read our first Substack post/article/newsletter about where the name Pockets & Sedition originates, Stickering is our modern day version of Dangerous Coats.

Less Sticky Stickering

You can do something similar using Post-Its or flyers. These options are more likely to be removed or ripped down, but may be a more suitable the more risk averse among us.

BONUS: I there’s something you want to say that isn’t already on a printed sticker, you can write whatever you want on a Post-it in the moment,

Memes

Lean into famous memes, and make them political. We like to use imgflip.com since they have an extensive meme library that we can customize.

If you want to create a brand new meme, by all means create, create, create. Just remember, you can control the creating and planting of the ZAG, but it’s going to take a spark of virality outside of your control for it to start to infiltrate the zeitgeist. Nonetheless, plant as many meme seeds as you want, who knows what might take hold?

BONUS: Resistance doesn’t have to be gravely serious all the time. In fact, things that make us laugh are much more likely to have impact than something that isn’t very memorable.

Existing Organizations

Peaceful protests and marches, boycotts, town halls, coordinated events and displays of solidarity, calling your elected officials at every level of government—there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Plug into the organizing efforts of Indivisible.org, ACLU, NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law Center, your regional Democratic Party headquarters, local and national unions, or any other organization that aligns with your goals and values.

Pockets & Sedition is planning on participating in a nationwide “Fund Our Families Not Billionaire Tax Cuts” banner display during the congressional recess. I don’t know if it’s still something that’s available, but here’s the form if you’d like to request a banner. If nothing else, it at least it will express interest in doing more of these in the future:

https://form.jotform.com/250646196977069

BONUS: In this day and age, automations abound for communicating with officials, receiving communications from organizations, and spreading information through your own channels.

Pay Attention and Amplify

I think a lot about the MAGA movement. One of the things at which I think they are especially adept, is distilling their messaging down to something very simple that everyone in the MAGA world can amplify.

We can do the same. Pay attention to the news, elected officials, party leaders, influencers, etc. Ask yourself: What is simple? What is catchy? What evokes strong positive or negative emotions? Is there something teetering on the edge of zeitgeist-y? If you don’t know where to start, Governor Tim Walz is one of the best in the world at expressing these kind of quips IMHO.

Then AMPLIFY. Share it on social media, say it in everyday conversations, get it on the radar of other activists and influencers, use it in calls and emails with your elected officials, put it into a meme, make it a TikTok dance, make a cat video using it, use it in your blog, write it in an op-ed, include it in a letter to the editor, or other easily accessible media.

BONUS: There is no shortage of avenues for communicating talking point, slogans, and simple messages.

EXTRA BONUS: Governor Tim Walz is the most delightfully wholesome and meme-able public figure out there if you’re looking to combine your ZAGs.

YOU DO YOU

You have talents, gifts, and skills. Find ways to gift those talents and skills out into the world. You’re a lawyer? Do a little pro-bono work. You’re an artist? Paint/write/sing/dance/sculpt protest pieces. You’re a salesperson? Go help a local organization with their marketing, branding, and value proposition. You’re a comedian? Create some biting jokes or political satire. No matter what you do outside of politics, there is a way for you to contribute those skills inside this political landscape.

BONUS: You already have everything you need to contribute and plant ZAGs. Even the tiniest contribution of your talents, gifts, and skills to the zeitgeist makes a huge impact.

Final Thought

Whether we’re stickering, memeing, or replacing all economic jargon with “Trumpflation,” let’s go ZAG the heck out of this zeitgeist.