Vibes, Values and Policies Create Our Political Reality
Political reality, like the creation of a powerful story, has a couple of core components
👋🏼 Hey, I’m Joanna! I’m a communications consultant sharing insights and ideas relating to democracy, wellbeing, AI, culture, spiritualism and the human condition…read on if this has piqued your interest.
With the US Presidential election in full autumn swing, I’m declaring summer 2024 to be the summer of vibes, the absence of policies and the reemergence of values. Strangely, these three things – vibes, values and policies – are being spoken about in a piecemeal way, whether it’s the Democratic Party’s fixation on vibes, Kamala Harris’ new focus on values or the scant use of the word “policy” and the detail of policies being proposed by both Harris and Trump.
Yet vibes, values and policies mean very little in practice when not spoken about or utilised together. We know and feel this. Political reality is created by all three because they contribute to the story which is politics. So why aren’t we having a conversation about it?
If you take one away – even the recent and hotly contested topic of “vibes”, essentially the emotion and feeling directing the energy and flow of political intuitions, beliefs and desires – you become unconscious of the reality of politics. If you remove the latter, policies, the plan of detailed thought, facts and legislation put forward by a political party, you are left with post-truth politics not grounded in reality. Without values, politics become a hollow shell that crumbles and collapses before it gets off the ground. Each provides meaning and gives energy, shape and structure to the other, just as a good story has premise, plot, characters, prose and themes.
Most people are more comfortable and confident talking about vibes and values over policies because they feel they can identify with vibes and values, they’re more personal and universally understood and expressed across life. Meanwhile policies seem complex, remote and formal in comparison. I get it.
But this perception doesn’t capture the full essence of policy, or the joy of creating it. If vibes represent a breath of fresh air, and values represent the strong bonds between you and a good friend, then policies are the plans which will get you and your friend into a lovely coffee shop to buy and enjoy the experience of drinking a delicious latte together. This is why vibes, values and policies are so intertwined and important in politics. They bring everything together and create momentum and action.
Separating vibes, values and policies is like attempting to discuss nature without alluding to the four elements which create and sustain it – earth, water, air and fire. We wouldn’t understand nature if we didn’t discuss the interconnectivity of all four elements and how they combine together to enable the world to function in the perfect and orderly fashion it does. The wind raises the clouds to form the rain, which nourishes the earth to grow plants, fruits, flowers and trees which in turn creates wood that ignites fires. There is a connecting system which explains and directs the other forward.
Like the cycle of nature, politics also has a rhythm and cycle which keeps it moving forward with purpose and meaning.
Dissecting and breaking down the components of what makes and creates political reality can help bring clarity if done so thoroughly and thoughtfully. And through clarity we can be more mindful and aware of how to make political reality more meaningful, inspiring and effective. But we still need to remember that we need all three. Without all three, there is no political reality. Instead, it replicates something which suggests political reality such as Trump’s “political stunt” at Arlington National Cemetery where political activities are forbidden by law. By breaking the law (policies) Trump is contradicting political reality which is rooted in a law-abiding system which respects the rule of law and government.
The unusual thing about the importance of this trio is that it is, at its core, basic to understand. Some may say it’s common sense. But the problem is the way we speak and perceive it, our levels of political literacy and our responsibility as independent citizens to seek out and make sense of the vibes, values and policies put forward by political candidates. We can’t expect it to be spoon-fed to us by media outlets whose main agenda is capturing eyeballs and attention through information, any information whether it’s useful or not. Democracy requires the active attention of participants, not the passive interaction of bystanders. That includes voters like you and me.
Headlines such as “Kamala Harris’ Campaign Is Heavy on Vibes, Light on Policy” point out the importance of policy, but fail to frame it in a wider context. This is one of the reasons why policy may not be the biggest turn on for voters – there’s no story highlighting why it’s important, how it applies to them personally, and why it’s critical they should be paying attention.
For policy and academic types like me or Brian Klaas who recently pointed out that “We talk about politics endlessly, but almost never debate policy”, intelligent policy is essential. To reawaken interest in policy, and the vibes and values underpinning it, we need to redirect our attention and curiosity into problem-solving and away from political problem-bickering.
There’s a huge appetite for this – just look at the popularity of wellness, health and growth-based podcasts that are topping the media charts. One of the key ingredients for their success is their ability to tell stories by connecting the dots of guest’s personal journeys. Just imagine if this was applied to politics. Policy would become less of a distant, remote and numbing concept. Instead, it could make people more sensitive and receptive to its importance in political reality and their own personal reality.
For example, would a new economic policy for America’s middle class reduce their rate of tax so that they can spend this extra money on having a holiday with their family which in turn could improve their wellbeing and relationships, their sense of happiness and optimism? How will this impact them over the course of lives? I’m gagging to read stories of how policies – both individual policies and the whole policy agenda of a government – weave together to improve the quality of people’s lives. Where are these stories, and why aren’t they being told?
Political reality is a co-creation of things. It’s not all about vibes, even if they do provide a sense of awe, wonder and hope. The emphasis on vibes, a particular Gen Z phenomenon during this US presidential election is, I think, a call to our innate humanness and desire to connect with other likeminded people with “good vibes” against the messy campaign backdrop of misinformation, distraction, division tactics and excessive and artificial political spin-doctoring. In this sense, the word “vibes” is a gamechanger for politics as this summarises if a politician is indeed trustworthy, likable, knowledgeable and knowable for who they are and what they stand for.
Explaining and analysing this helps us contextualise our understanding of politics. When we have context, we have a story and an understanding of how things work and why. Knowing what the essential components are that create political reality – vibes, values and policies – lets us focus our attention on the most important pieces of information and stops us from being distracted from the stuff that doesn’t, and won’t, change our political reality, at least not for the better.
I agree Patrick, policy is the crux of politics. I love that description “policy without vibes won’t persuade” because it’s incredibly true. We need more human stories about where policy has worked well so that it will bring it to life for voters.
Providing context.
This is great, Joanna