First Draft #12: a newsletter on public language
Ice cream activism, levelling up, compliment-giving
Brands on the bully pulpit
"The sole responsibility of a business is to its shareholders," wrote Milton Friedman in an essay in the New York Times in 1970. It set in motion a revolution. Depending on your persuasions, either capitalism’s vigorous virtues unleashed a new era of growth, or the mantra of ‘greed is good’ saw rich and poor drift further apart.
Times have changed. Today Friedman is out and a new philosophy rises: the philosophy of “corporate purpose”. According to its followers, a business’s responsibilities are manifold: to society, employees, customers, and shareholders. Ben & Jerry's might be said to embody the movement. Though owned by Unilever since 2000, it has maintained a measure of independence and its politics are activist. Most recently, it removed its products from the occupied Palestinian territories.
For a small company, untethered to a behemoth like Unilever, the approach can work. Taking political stances makes you popular among customers who agree with you, and what is popular with customers tends to be popular with shareholders. But when you get bigger, things get harder. The Israeli state took offence to Ben & Jerry's actions, but threatened to punish Unilever, the parent, not its errant child. Worse still, American consumers threatened to boycott Unilever's products too. Unilever seems spooked, with its CEO writing apologetically to Jewish groups around the world, so expect it to toughen the leniency it affords its charge in future. It seems a purpose beyond profit is only possible when your shareholders back it. Milton Friedman marches on. @joshuahwilliams
Jargon busters: Greening
As we count down to the UN’s climate summit in November, “greening” is everywhere. We must "green" our cities, "green" the government, even “green” the future. The transition from noun to verb isn’t the problem. Such creativity keeps English interesting (see: “anthimeria”). The issue, rather, is vagueness. Too often "greening" functions as eco-garnish, signalling nothing but good intentions. A specific vocabulary exists for companies who are actually doing something. Divestment. Decarbonising. Fuel-switching. If you can’t speak in these terms, better to say nothing at all. @_alice_elliott
The first Conservative to talk of levelling up
“We believe in levelling up,” said Margaret Thatcher in 1976, “in enhancing opportunities, not levelling down, which dries up the springs of enterprise and endeavour.” Fair to say she was more interested in the “up” part than the “levelling”. She used the slogan to signal a departure from a crumbling post-war Keynesian consensus. “Socialists”, she said, achieve equality by making the rich poorer. Conservatives, meanwhile, would unleash markets to make everyone richer.
But making people richer does not make them level. Indeed, Thatcher’s recipe for levelling up amplified regional inequalities that Johnson’s agenda now aims to reduce. That Johnson himself has struggled to give substance to the slogan reveals the challenge for any Conservative engaged in government-sanctioned “levelling”. To really do it entails sacrifice. It was one Thatcher was never interested in making. Based on thin gruel recently offered up by Johnson, neither is he. @zachdhardman
Why don’t we give more compliments?
Praise at work builds morale, eases stress and costs nothing. Yet most find compliment-giving difficult. Many blame awkwardness, but new research suggests another reason for compliment-shyness — we undervalue them. Cornell’s Venessa Bohns asked people to estimate how someone would feel after receiving a compliment. She then got them to actually give one. Interviews with recipients showed givers consistently underestimated the effect of compliments on receivers. Companies seeking a low-cost way to boost their workforce should encourage praise-giving. And bosses, if you're impressed with an employee, let them know. It could mean more than you think. @AlexDymoke
The power of cultish language
Brands. Fitness fads. Political conspiracies. Modern fanaticism has many guises. At the heart of all of them, writes linguist and author Amanda Montell, are words. Montell’s new book, Cultish, argues language is the best tool for eliciting slavish devotion. She outlines cultish linguistic tropes, from thought-terminating clichés (QAnon’s “trust the plan”) to “the crafty redefinition of existing words” (CrossFit renaming gyms “boxes”). Cultish language isn’t always harmful, says Montell, but it is wise to learn the techniques. Language is powerful, but knowledge can guard against it. @AlexDymoke
Language and beyond
China “envisages a world of enhanced online surveillance, where all your behaviour is tracked and analysed, where the vestiges of privacy are wiped out — but which will deliver success and convenience, even satisfaction.” Essential article on China’s ambitions by Peter Pomeranzev, one of the best thinkers on modern authoritarianism.
Concrete phrases: square door, rusty engine, flaming forest, tall gentleman. Abstract phrases: impossible amount, common fate, subtle fault, absolute truth. Great business writing is concrete and specific, not vague and abstract - as this article explains.
Armando Iannucci and Ian Hislop discuss why (non-Matt Hancock) politicians don’t resign anymore on this special episode of the New Statesman podcast.
Sunder Katwala’s brilliant essay on race in Britain.
You achieve your lifetime ambition. Then what? Steve Mesler won bobsled gold at the 2020 winter games then spiralled into depression. A fascinating podcast on the strange aftermath of achieving an all-consuming dream.
AstraZeneca blood clot risk is no higher than Pfizer, as this story explains.
Some US conservatives blame waning religiosity for the explosion of conspiracy theories like QAnon. But new research by The Economist found evangelical Christians are more likely to believe conspiracies, not less. They are also more likely to believe untruths about vaccines and the moon landings.
“As soon as managers start to climb the corporate ladder, they begin to lose the ability to talk or write clearly” - The Economist’s Bartleby ponders the prevalence of jargon.
New from us
Phil lauds Simone Biles’s stand in the New Statesman.
In City AM Josh argues we need better, not less, capitalism.
Welcome Alice
Months back we said The Draft is hiring. Well, the vacancy has now been filled. Alice Elliott, our new writer, joins from the CBI where she was a speechwriter. She makes her debut above with an excellent jargon buster. Welcome Alice, great to have you on board.
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Last thing…
At The Draft we’re specialists in writing and rhetoric. We help businesses and public figures make their case more persuasively. If you could use our help, get in touch. And if you enjoy First Draft, forward it on. Thanks for reading.