No, we are not talking about the notion in criminal law that combatting minor crimes and cleaning up neighborhoods reduces more serious crime. That is a theory which, in practice, led to all kinds of police misconduct, mostly illegal and unconstitutional. Not that broken window.
What we are talking about is a whole different kind of window – the Overton Window.[1] The brainchild of a policy analyst named Joseph Overton, the theory proposes that the viability of a political policy depends on where it falls on the scale illustrated below:
Overton proposed that politicians seek to remain somewhere near the center of the window, in the range of what is socially acceptable. More to the point, “Shifting the Overton window involves proponents of policies outside the window persuading the public to expand the window.”[2] While there may be some debate (i.e., experts deny, I disagree) as to whether politicians actively work to shift the window, there can be no mistake that the window DOES shift. How else can you explain that the average Democrat of today would be generally aligned with policies favored by Eisenhower-era Republicans?
So, incrementally, bit by bit, conservatives (and their fundamentalist brethren) have moved the window rightward, and now they have a problem. The center has become so radicalized that the only way to move it further right is to argue in favor of unthinkable proposals – proposals so shitty and unacceptable that only soulless, self-involved, misogynistic/misanthropic sociopaths (and idiots) (looking at you, MTG) could favor them. In sum, the window is broken. I have no doubt Overton would agree – “Unthinkable” can only be policy when it is imposed by force.
When we have a man running for North Carolina Governor who demands “some folks need killing . . . it’s a matter of necessity” and you realize that YOU are one of the people he’s talking about, well, the window is broken. (See: Matter Of Necessity). How about a candidate for state Secretary of Education who, following the January 6th insurrection, called on the then-President to order a military coup to keep him in office?[3] Does she sound like someone who has the best interests of you and your school children in mind?
Those people are weird.
As a concept, the Overton Window has reached a dead end, literally and figuratively. When we look through the window now, we find ourselves at the edge of neo nazi abyss. Beyond lies misery, destruction, dictatorship, oligarchy, and death. No one is laughing.
Please vote accordingly.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window
[2] Ibid.
[3] https://www.mediaite.com/politics/stunning-unearthed-video-shows-gop-nominee-to-run-north-carolinas-schools-calling-on-trump-to-enact-military-coup-to-stay-in-office/
This is the second Michigan connection in the past week. My Big Brother knew Overton somehow. I remember he said their institute was on one of the islands in the Great Lakes and it was incredible; Overton was actually a really nice guy; and, interestingly, he would not agree with the Overton Window has come to be used for pretty close to the same reasoning as you. At some point, it stops becoming the same issue. “So we need an Overton Venn Diagram?’ I asked. [Brother Dave: “No Shawn.”] “Overton Storm Window?” [No Shawn] Overton Boarded-Up Window for issues like segregated drinking fountains or The California Raisins? [Sighs] “Overton Side View Mirror” for moral panics when things appear to be a way bigger deal than they oughta be? [“That I will ask.”]
Not to worry Tom. All set to vote and vote solid BLUE! Save the state and save the country.