Slide presentation that summarizes and expands upon the book called, Wedged: How You Became A Tool Of The Partisan Political Establishment, And How To Start Thinking For Yourself Again by Erik Fogg and Nathaniel Greene (MidTide Media, 2015).

1. GETTING UNWEDGED
This presentation is pulled directly from the book,
Wedged:
How You Became A Tool Of The Partisan Political Establishment,
And How To Start Thinking For Yourself Again
by Erik Fogg and Nathaniel Greene
Copyright 2015. Published by MidTide Media
Additional comments and imagery provided as deemed necessary to compress an excellent book into a format suitable for our short-attention-span world.
by Chris Wilson

2. EVERYONE IS MISERABLE WITH MODERN POLITICS
IT’S AN EMOTIONAL WILDFIRE
▸ Nearly every major issue is
highly polarized, forcing
anyone interested in politics
to choose a side
▸ Each side believes the other
side is either misled, dumb,
hateful, or all of the above
▸ Conversations rarely include
facts and/or data
▸ But conversations do almost
always include anger and/or
personal attacks

3. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY
BUT WE HAVE TO ADMIT THAT WE’RE ALL PART OF THE PROBLEM

4. THE MEDIA AND POLITICAL CLASS WIN WHEN WE’RE DIVIDED
THE NEXT TIME YOU READ AN ARTICLE OR WATCH A NEWS REPORT,
JUST REMEMBER…
▸ Not so much by changing or omitting facts (which they definitely do, in
many cases), but by FRAMING THE STORY in a way that promotes division
▸ This is WEDGING

5. THE SCAM THAT IS BEING PULLED ON ALL OF US
MAKING EVERY ISSUE ABOUT VALUES AND NOT ABOUT METHODS
▸ The media and politicians
WANT US TO FIGHT
▸ They want us to perceive the
issues of the day as being
about opposing values
▸ Even though, when you really
look at it, our disagreements
are mostly about opposing
views on the methods
required to advance our
shared values

6. JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF THIS
IF YOU DON’T EMPATHIZE WITH MY OUTRAGE, YOU MUST NOT SHARE MY VALUES
▸ If you're against illegal immigration, you hate people
from other countries
▸ If you want more gun control, you don’t respect my
right to protect myself
▸ If you’re pro-choice, you’re in favor of murdering
children
▸ If you support gay marriage, you want a world with no
morality

7. DO YOU REALLY WANT TO BE A PAWN IN THEIR GAME?
THE NEXT TIME A POLITICAL DISCUSSION GETS HEATED…
▸ It’s likely that one or more
participants in the
conversation have been
WEDGED
▸ Take a step back and
recognize that the fighting
and anger does not help
anyone in the conversation
▸ It does, however, help
politicians and the media

8. GETTING TO KNOW
THE WEDGE

9. WHERE IT ALL STARTS
THE FUNDAMENTAL WEDGE TACTIC: THE FALSE CHASM
‣ Thanks to decades of wedging, most
people believe there is a culture war
in which one America pits itself
against another.
‣ The UNWEDGED, however, believe
that the notion of “two Americas” is
false and that the culture war is largely
fabricated, that modern polarization is
driven not by divergent values but by
manipulation.
‣ This does not mean that we won’t, or
shouldn’t, disagree. But the wedge
drives us beyond disagreement and
into blind war.

10. IT’S TIME TO REJECT THE FALSE CHASM
WE’RE REALLY NOT THAT DIFFERENTFROM ONE ANOTHER

11. THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM
DESPITE THE POLARIZATION, THIS IS A CENTRIST COUNTRY
▸ Americans agree far
more than they disagree
about all major political
issues
▸ On any given issue, most
people are in the middle
of the bell curve
▸ The “less mainstream”
views of the far left and
far right are on the
fringes of the curve

12. THE LUNATICS ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM
POLITICS HAS BEEN HIJACKED BY THE FRINGES
▸ The fringes on the left
and right make the most
noise and get the most
attention
▸ The people on the
fringes are more active in
donating/raising money
▸ The middle ground has
become either silent and
disengaged or has been
co-opted by the fringes

13. THE MEDIA AND POLITICIANS ARE USING THE FANATICS
WEDGING WINS ELECTIONSAND DRIVES AD REVENUE
▸ Political and media consultants have figured out that pandering
to the fringes pays off
▸ The fringe fanatics are the ones who are most likely to vote,
contribute, volunteer, and promote candidates
▸ People in the middle who largely agree with one another are
shamed and/or coerced into identifying with fringe positions or
simply tuning out
▸ This increases the voice and influence of the fringes, causing all
reasonable, moderate political discourse to unravel

14. WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF
A FANATIC?

15. THEN YOU MUST PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THE WEDGE
IT IS A TOOL USED BY THE MEDIA AND POLITICIANS

16. A TOOL USED TO DO WHAT?
MANIPULATE OUR EMOTIONS
▸ In politics, a wedge issue is a social issue, often of a
divisive or controversial nature, which splits apart a
population or political group.
▸ Wedging can be done intentionally (designed to split
an opposing party) or unintentionally, when energizing
a political base (polarizing a population into political
extremes).
▸ Typically, wedge issues have a cultural or populist
theme, relating to matters such as crime, national
security, morality, religion, sexuality, gender, or race.

17. WHICH ONE ARE YOU?
HOW PEOPLE REACT TO WEDGING
1. The True Believers: This comparatively small group of
extremists sits at either end of the bell curve. Their devotion
means there is no room for curiosity or exploration of
political ideas: you are either with them or against them.
2. The Hijacked: Some people have been co-opted: they have
thrown their lot in with party hard-liners rather than
become irrelevant. They know they are not “pure to the
cause,” but fear rejection from the group if they deviate
from the party-line. Their energy adds to the power of the
True Believers.
3. The Disengaged: Many Americans will now declare that
“one does not talk about politics in polite company.” This
largest group is so disengaged that they simply won’t listen
anymore. They make up much of the middle of the
spectrum that has evaporated.
4. The Lost: Left in the middle are some confused people that
wonder why the world went mad. They make general
statements like “we should just get together and work this
out,” or “if only a more reasonable candidate was out
there.”

18. HERE’S SOME DATA ON THE
POWER OF THE WEDGE
Readers with ADD can skip to the next break.

19. WEDGING IS A FORCE IN MODERN POLITICS
IT IS THE PRIMARY DRIVER OF TODAY’S POLITICAL DIVIDE
‣ In 1994, we can see that many
Republicans were somewhat
liberal, and many Democrats
were somewhat conservative.
The median Republican and
Democrat were fairly moderate.
‣ By 2004, we see fewer liberal
Republicans and fewer
conservative Democrats.
‣ By 2014, Democrats became
much more liberal and
Republicans much more
conservative. The median party
members are less moderate
and there are far more hard-
liners in each party.

20. WEDGING DETERMINES WHO GETS ELECTED AND HOW
THEY VOTE
VOTING PATTERNS UNDENIABLYTELL THE TALE
‣ This graphic represents the tendency
of members of the House of
Representatives to vote either similarly
or dissimilarly since 1949.
‣ Each dot represents a member of the
House during a two year period; red
dots are Republicans and blue dots are
Democrats.
‣ The distance of each dot to another
represents how similarly they voted: if
two dots are touching, the vote the
same all the time, and if they’re very far
apart, they almost never vote the same.
‣ Thanks to wedging, politicians have
become more and more partisan.
1949
2011

21. NO MORE “FRIENDS ACROSS THE AISLE”
WE HAVE BECOME EACH OTHER’S ENEMIES
‣ As the parties have grown more polarized, they’ve
also come to hate and fear each other.
‣ Between 1994 and 2004, more people in each party
viewed the other party as “very unfavorable”: fewer
voters in each party had respect for the ideas of the
other party.
‣ By 2014, the number of party voters with very
unfavorable views of the other party exploded,
representing between one third and one half of each
party.
‣ This growing rage was so stark that Pew Research
actually changed the poll, adding a whole new
category to capture the depth of antipathy.
‣ Over one quarter of Democrats and one third of
Republicans declared that they viewed the other party
as a threat to the nation’s well-being.
‣ Voters used to think the other party was wrong, and
sometimes very wrong. Now, voters increasingly see
the other party as bad for the nation.
‣ Party voters are downright terrified of the other party
gaining power, lest it tear the country down.
IF THIS IS YOUR VIEWPOINT…
YOU HAVE BEEN WEDGED

22. THANKS TO CONSTANT WEDGE TACTICS…
WE INCREASINGLY PICK OUR FRIENDSFOR POLITICAL REASONS
‣ 16% of consistent conservatives
and 24% of consistent liberals
have admitted to taking people
out of their lives that disagree
on politics, where less partisan
Americans do this far less often
‣ These most partisan voters have
developed so much anger over
politics that they will eliminate
friendships in order to avoid
being exposed to the people
who disagree with them IF YOU’VE DONE THIS…
YOU HAVE BEEN WEDGED

23. EVEN OUR EXTENDED FRIEND NETWORKS ARE IMPACTED
BY WEDGING
A LOT OF IT HAPPENS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
‣ Similar to their behavior
with friends, the most
partisan Americans will
block disagreeing voices on
social media more than
those who are less partisan.
‣ On Facebook, 31% of
consistent conservatives
and 44% of consistent
liberals do this. WEDGED!

24. TIME TO START SEEING THE WEDGE
FOR WHAT IT IS

25. A MASSIVE DISTRACTION
WHAT DO YOU CARE MOSTABOUT?
‣ This poll asked Americans
to rate their most important
issue facing the country
‣ Wedge issues like abortion,
gay marriage, and gun
control DON’T EVEN
SHOW UP on the list
‣ The exercise of ranking
priorities is useful in
showing what’s most
important without any of
the bluster that makes
many issues very emotional
Wedge issues ARE NOT very
important to most of us.

26. BUT HOW
DOES IT WORK?

27. IT PREYS ON THE WORST ASPECTS OF HUMANITY
WEDGING BRINGS OUT THE CAVEMAN IN US
‣ Studies show that when we talk
politics, one of the oldest parts of
our brain is activated
‣ This part of the brain has evolved for
millennia to identify our tribe and
“other” tribes, to support our tribe
and defeat the others
‣ It is the same part of the brain that
causes people to get upset over the
victory or defeat of a favorite sports
team – especially to an established
rival
‣ Disagreeing with our friends feels
threatening because on some
evolutionary level our brains actually
believe that disagreeing with our
tribe might threaten our chances of
survival
Modern politics is TRIBALISM

28. WEDGING DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN
IN POLITICS…

29. IT’S BORING UNTIL YOU CHOOSE A SIDE
WEDGING IS ALL ABOUT RIVALRIES IN SPORTS
‣ The most shameless example of sports
wedging is professional wrestling. Fake
fights between manufactured rivals have
taken WWE (World Wrestling
Entertainment) to record revenues and a
market cap of $1.5B in 2016.
‣ It also happens with all major team sports
- the hatred teams have for one another
stokes the tribal fires in the human animal.
‣ When they tap into our tribal nature, we
get interested without even realizing it.
We get angry, and they MAKE MONEY.

30. BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO
BE THIS WAY

31. DO YOU WANT TO BE FREE OF THE WEDGE?
RESIST TYING YOUR IDENTITY TO YOUR POLITICAL “TRIBE”
If you look closely, you’ll
realize that the vast
majority of political
messaging isn’t meant to
convince people to
change their minds.
Instead, it is geared
towards displaying our
tribal identity to others. It’s
just like wearing a sports
jersey in public.

32. FOCUS ON OUR COMMON VALUES
WHO WILL ARGUE WITH THIS SET OF VALUES?
The following list reflects what the vast majority of Americans really value in life. Do
any of them make you cringe or vehemently disagree?
‣ Safety in our daily lives; the ability to live without undue fear of personal violence
‣ Safety from foreign threat
‣ The freedom to express our personal beliefs without fear of oppression
‣ Economic opportunity and the ability to work to earn a living
‣ Access to a safety net to help us get back on our feet when hard times hit
‣ The ability to live free of unnecessary interference and make our own choices
‣ Justice for those who are wronged
‣ A healthy planet and environment
‣ Leaving the world a better place than it was when we were born into it

33. REJECT THE FALSE CHASM
IF WE AGREE ON VALUES, WE CAN DISAGREE ON METHODS WITHOUT FIGHTING
‣ Wedging preys on our caveman tribalism and pushes us to see issues as
morality wars. It’s us versus them, and if they win, all is lost.
‣ In reality, it is us AND them. We’re all in this together, and we all pretty
much want the same things.
‣ If that’s our starting point, the discussion revolves around one simple
question: “HOW do we protect the things we value and forward the
agenda that is implied by those values?”
‣ We can (and will) disagree. But we won’t be at each other’s throats
when we do.
‣ Most importantly, we’ll be using the newest parts of our brains as we
consider the issue. Tribalism MUST give way to reason and critical
thinking.

34. DECONSTRUCTING THE WEDGE
SOME EXAMPLES

35. GUNS
WEDGE 101: THE FALSE CHASM
‣ The policy in question: restricting the sale of guns - which
guns can be bought and sold, who is allowed to buy guns,
and/or under what conditions.
‣ Gun Rights: If you’re
for increased
restrictions on
buying guns, you
want to take all guns
and eliminate my
right to protect
myself. Give them an
inch, and the 2nd
amendment is gone.
‣ Gun Control: If you’re
against restrictions
on buying guns,
you’re ok with killing
children. If we let the
“gun nuts” have their
way, our country will
be a blood bath
within just a few
years.

36. GUNS
SOME NON-EMOTIONAL FACTS TO CONSIDER
‣ About 95% of Americans
support background checks
before purchasing a weapon
‣ Almost as many want to
restrict gun ownership for
criminals and the mentally ill
‣ Almost 80% want guns to be
registered
‣ Only 10% wish to see guns
banned for the public.
‣ In short - there is broad
agreement about many
aspects of this topic.

37. SO THERE REALLY IS NO
CHASM

38. GUNS
HOW ABOUT SOME PERSPECTIVE?
‣ Only about 1% of
people think gun policy
is the most important
issue facing the country
‣ Gun murders only
represent 0.5% of
premature and wrongful
deaths
‣ So why are we making
such a big deal about it?
‣ WE’VE BEEN WEDGED!

39. ABORTION
WEDGE 101: THE FALSE CHASM
‣ The policy in question: restricting or outlawing the right of a
woman to voluntarily terminate her pregnancy
‣ If you’re for
increased
restrictions on
abortion, you hate
women. If we let you
have your way,
women will be taken
back in time to the
1900s when they
had no rights at all.
‣ If you’re against
restrictions on
abortion, you’re ok
with murdering
children. If we let
that lack of values
take over, our
country will
descend into an
immoral hell.

40. ABORTION
A WEDGE IS BORN
‣ In the mid 90s, most
people considered
themselves pro-choice
‣ 10 years later, the
effects of wedging can
be seen - as the camps
solidified and jockeyed
for position from one
year to the next
‣ So the chasm must be
real, right?

41. ABORTION
NO! OPINIONS HAVEN’T CHANGED MUCH
‣ For the last 25 years,
opinions about
overturning Roe v. Wade
have hardly changed
‣ What HAS changed
(increased) is apathy
about the issue
‣ So, on one hand, we
identify as more divided
than ever. But when the
rubber meets the road,
we’re really not.
WEDGED AGAIN!

42. ABORTION
THE DATA ON OUR SHARED VALUES
‣ Most people in America believe abortion to be morally complex.
‣ 60% of Americans, including 29% of the pro-choice camp, believe that abortion is
morally wrong, even though most of these respondents believe it should be legal in
some or most cases.
‣ Essentially all Americans believe that late-term abortions become morally questionable
(and few support them) - largely due to the shared belief that at this point fetuses are
“viable” or “alive” and should be afforded protection.
‣ Regardless of how we feel about its morality, at least 80% of Americans believe
abortion should be legal, in at least some cases.
‣ Almost all Americans want fewer unwanted pregnancies and fewer unwanted children.
‣ A whopping 90% of Americans believe contraception and birth control are morally
acceptable.
‣ Only 7% believe it is unacceptable, which is less than half of the 16% that think drinking
alcohol is morally unacceptable.

43. EVEN ON THIS ISSUE,
THERE REALLY IS
COMMON GROUND

44. IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS
WEDGE 101: THE FALSE CHASM
‣ The policy in question: restricting the number and/or country
of origin of immigrants admitted into the United States
‣ If you’re for
increased
restrictions on
immigration, you
hate people from
other countries. If
we let that kind of
hate take over,
the country is lost.
‣ If you’re against
restrictions on
immigration, you’re a
multicultural moral
relativist. If we let that
lack of values take
over, we’ll be overrun
by the worst people
on the planet and the
country will be lost.

45. IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS
REJECTING THE FALSE CHASM
‣ But…there is a Shared Value that underlies the issue: Safety
from foreign threat. (Remember the list of commonly held
values?)
‣ Then, the real source of disagreement is simply this: Do the
increased restrictions on immigration that have been put
forth in recent months protect and promote safety from
foreign threat?
‣ It turns out that there are reasonable arguments to be made
on all sides of this discussion. We can, and should, discuss
them without assuming either of the wedge positions.

46. GUIDELINES FOR CONFRONTING
THE WEDGE

47. SEE IT FOR WHAT IT IS AND DISPUTE IT!
EMPLOY ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING…
‣ Decide whether the issue REALLY MATTERS to you
‣ Identify the FALSE CHASM
‣ Identify the nuances of the issue that are ignored by WEDGE
TACTICS
‣ Identify the COMMON GROUND that always exists
‣ If the issue really matters, ARM YOURSELF with data that
dismantles the wedge
‣ SPEAK OUT and SHARE YOUR DATA, letting others know you
will not be a pawn in the game of politicians and the media

48. NO NEED TO GET MAD,
BRO

49. IT’S TIME TO LEAVE THE WEDGING TO
THE FANATICS AND
COME BACK TOGETHER AGAIN

50. IF YOU AGREE,
SHARE THIS.