Overton Window

The news today was obscene. 
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I came across an idea a few days ago:  Overton Window. The realm of acceptable political ideas is called the Overton Window. Think tanks can come up with an idea and say it over and over again and at some point, it becomes an acceptable political idea for discussion. 

I think activist groups can come up with ideas outside the window and repeat it over and over until it becomes acceptable. 

This year we seem to have had many ideas go from unacceptable/radical to acceptable. 

(Of course, in the previous four years we had many other ideas go from despicable/unacceptable to acceptable.)

I am astounded at how rapidly one of these ideas went from radical to acceptable. Change has been taking place at an ever more rapid pace and this year change is a hurricane. 

Only 10% of voters are undecided. I thought maybe RBG's death would sway some but there aren't really any to sway. 

I'm having wild story ideas. Example:  Imagine someone getting therapy now remotely, as most people do, but something has gone weird and she is talking with a therapist from a year ago. The therapist decided to be bleeding edge and make therapy available to people who lived in really isolated areas of the country and offer it online. As the current person describes everything that happens, session after session, everything we've seen and experienced, the therapist would grow ever more concerned and probably start prescribing insane doses of medicine! Because no one would ever believe our current reality. (I have trouble believing it myself.)

I bought this mask on my first trip overseas, to Benin, decades ago. I taught a class on installing solar panels. I learned so much. After the trip I visited my grandmother in rural Montana (oh what a long trip). A member of her social cohort pulled out an ancient encyclopedia and demanded I show her where Benin was. I let her know there was no Benin when that encyclopedia was written. 

Actually there was, but it was called Dahomey. 

The project we (finally!!) won is in Benin. 

At the beginning of the pandemic we all thought Africa was doomed. One of the projects we were on the cusp of winning was cancelled. People kept asking how I felt about that and I kept saying that as a taxpayer I supported the decision because who knew what situation that country would be in when this was over and what their needs would be. Of course, this won't be "over" for a much longer time than we were processing then. But also, the country hasn't been as impacted as we were afraid. Most African countries closed their borders, restricted travel, mandated masks, and put into place measures they learned from ebola or HIV. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/22/africa-has-defied-covid-19-nightmare-scenarios-we-shouldnt-be-surprised/?fbclid=IwAR3ZIYlle9ryeirzEmamivF3MNjjqbah5X9biuij-BF7SlkLMyOf5j3UXHo