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Federal 'nudge squad' led by 20-something gears up to change Americans' behaviors – for our own good
Daily Mail (UK) ^ | July 30, 2013 | David Martosko

Posted on 07/30/2013 6:42:15 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o


Mara Shankar
Yalie
20-something
The New Boss of Everything

Maya Shankar is a senior policy advisor at the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy. Her mandate is to supervise the organization of a federal government 'nudge squad' that will subtly change the behaviors of bureaucrats -- and the rest of us.

When does a nudge become a shove?

Americans may find out, as the federal government is setting up a 'behavioral insights team' to tinker with the way we accomplish everything from saving money and staying in school to losing weight and becoming more energy-efficient.

The Obama administration's grand plans for behavioral science....

Cass Sunstein, formerly the Director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget, is regarded as the godfather of modern government paternalism

In the UK, a series of bulletins sketch out how broad the approaches have become. They have tackled wasting food, cheating on exams, job-seeking schedules, skimping on charitable giving, drinking milk, morning commutes, choosing sources of energy and sticking to New Year's resolution.

'We are already working with over a dozen federal departments and agencies on newly-designed behavioral insight: the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Veterans Administration, Treasury, Social Security Administration, Housing and Urban Development, and the United States Department of Agriculture.'

[All] may not bode well, given that the NYC ban on large-size fizzy drinks has officially fallen flat.

An appeals court ruled Tuesday that the city's Board of Health didn't have the constitutional authority to limit how much soda can go into a restaurant's cup.

The ruling will set a precedent that opens up such government interventions to [challenges] when bureaucracies try to tweak what ordinary people do, and how they do it.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: behaviormodification; bigbrother; controlfreak; mayashankar; nudgesquad; obamapropaganda; orwell; propaganda; propagandalegal; propagandateam; sciencetechnology; sunstein
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To: Mrs. Don-o

Politics is cyclical. When the resultant backlash of this latest cycle happens the leftists wailing and gnashing of teeth will be biblical.


21 posted on 07/30/2013 7:02:11 PM PDT by Rebelbase (Tagline: (optional, printed after your name on post))
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To: listenhillary
she should start by nudgeing herself away form THE BONG!!!




22 posted on 07/30/2013 7:02:42 PM PDT by MeshugeMikey (Macabre Crumpet of Caucasian Ethnicity)
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To: taildragger

This sounds like a desperate girlfriend trying to change her man meme. This is so stupid.

Obviously she is not a team player but is probably too used to her domination games in sorrorities with a following of idiots.


23 posted on 07/30/2013 7:04:16 PM PDT by JudgemAll (Democrats Fed. job-security Whorocracy & hate:hypocrites must be gay like us or be tested/crucified)
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To: txrefugee

“This effort to have university slugs telling working people what to do and how to think will be the most devastating failure in the history of American pollitics.”


Don’t eat meat.
Don’t drive a gas guzzler.
Don’t smoke (unless its pot).
Don’t own a gun.
Accept alternate lifestyles..
work harder.
forgive my student loan.
give me a government job..

Ha, this really won’t turn out well. Head almost explodes thinking of it...But it will be entertaining :^)


24 posted on 07/30/2013 7:04:20 PM PDT by desertfreedom765
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To: Mrs. Don-o
Cass Sunstein, formerly the Director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget, is regarded as the godfather of modern government paternalism
25 posted on 07/30/2013 7:04:25 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: Mrs. Don-o

Pathetic. This government hasn’t a clue how to deal with free men and women and so must assume that we are the sort of putty this brat and her keepers can mold into the New Soviet Man. That insult alone ought to be worth a trip to the guillotine.


26 posted on 07/30/2013 7:07:13 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Billthedrill

What do you expect from the Cass Sunstein school of propoganda? This is the same man who says we all have a little Homer Simpson in us and it can be manipulated for our own good.

BTW his wife is none other than little miss occupy Israel, Samantha Power.


27 posted on 07/30/2013 7:10:12 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: Mrs. Don-o

1984=2013!!!


28 posted on 07/30/2013 7:16:45 PM PDT by Don Corleone ("Oil the gun..eat the cannoli. Take it to the Mattress.")
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To: Mrs. Don-o; humblegunner; Kartographer; JRandomFreeper; yorkiemom; greeneyes
I wrote an article about this today on Survival Podcast. I guess I should post the article rather than put the link to it here as Humblegunner might get me if I put a link. Here it is:

“NUDGE” - NEW FEDERAL PROGRAM FOR YOU
(ALSO KNOWN AS MIND CONTROL AS IN THE BOOK/MOVIE “1984”)

The name of Obama’s new program for you (and me) is “Strengthening Federal Capacity for Behavioral Insights”.

The operative word is “behavioral”. That’s our behavior Obama is talking about. The last time I looked, I decided what my behavior would be. Who tells you what you behavior will be? Do you do that? Do you control how you act, which is your behavior? Your behavior is sacred to you because that determination of your behavior happens in your own brain.

“Nudge”: This is a technique used by Saul Alinski in his book, “Rules for Radicals”. I read he dedicated this book to Lucifer. In March, in Jerusalem, Obama used Sal Alinski’s “nudge” word. He urged young Israelis to create change to “nudge” their leaders to act. What exactly does “nudge” mean to Alinski and Obama? It means be nice and gradually nudge people to act a certain way. It may take time to nudge, rather than push or shove, but it will happen without angst or warfare.

What does the statement, “Strengthening Federal Capacity for Behavioral Insights” mean? The word, “Strengthening” means to make stronger. “Federal Capacity” combined with strengthen means they want to know more about something so they will be stronger in understanding. What is it they want to know more about, understand more about? “Behavioral Insights” means to learn more about behavior, and that’s human behavior, not goat behavior. :o) So, the federal government wants to know more about how you decide to behave. You decide your behavior in your brain so the government wants to know how that works. Why? If they know how to manipulate your brain so you want “x” , they can get you to do “x”.

The entire government document at:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/interactive/2013/07/30/behavioral-insights-team-document/

So, how will this new program work? First, spend more money to bring this about. Obama’s people say, “The team will be staffed by 4-5 experts in behavioral science and experimental design and evaluation.”

It’s amazing how fast Obama can put something like this together. He is hiring, with our money, a “Behavioral Insights Team” that will look for ways to subtly influence people's behavior. If you haven’t read or seen “1984”, you should. You can put “movie 1984” in search and find it to view in several different forms as it’s been made several ways. You can get the book on Amazon for your Kindle or in print. Almost every day now, something else comes up that brings “1984” to my mind again.

There will be behavioral “experts”, which means people in the mental health field, to do what? Oh, “experimental design and evaluation”. What does that mean? They will put together ways to experiment and evaluate how you think when you make a decision. Device ways to tell you “x” so you will do “x”. They will likely pull in people to use for their experiments as to which words, which comments, work best to make you decide to do “x”.

The government says, “We are already working with over a dozen federal departments and agencies on newly-designed behavioral insights projects, including the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, Veterans Administration, Department of Treasury, Social Security Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the United States Department of Agriculture.”

Well, those departments pretty much run your life now, except for your own decision as to what to do with them as they impact you and now the government wants to have a hand in leading you to do the behavior they want. Let’s look at those:

Department of Labor: That covers your job.
Department of Health and Human Services: That covers your health care.
Department of Education: That covers your kids if you have kids in school.
Veterans Administration: That covers you if you are a Vet using those services.
Department of Treasury: That covers your money.
Social Security Administration: That covers you if you are on Social Security, Medicare.
Department of Housing and Urban Development: That covers you if you have a house or apartment.
United States Department of Agriculture: That covers you if you buy and eat food.

Now, the government wants to know how to get you to do “x” in any of the above listed services you get.

They have used behavioral control already and give a few examples of what they have already done. Here is one:

“Increasing retirement savings: The Save More Tomorrow program 1) invites employees to pledge now to increase their savings rate later, since self-control is easier to exert for future events; 2) links planned increases in the savings rate to pay raises, in order to diminish loss aversion; and 3) leverages the power of inertia by keeping members enrolled until they reach a preset limit or elect to opt. Adoption of these auto-escalation plans has boosted annual savings by an estimated $7.4 billion.”

Take a look at how it works: To get you to save more you are “nudged” to act a certain way: You are “invited” (nudged) to pledge now to increase your savings “IN THE FUTURE”. That is the manipulation of your brain – you are more likely to agree to something in the future, than now. That is using behavioral manipulation. Get you to agree to something in the future which seems far away to you. They even state that: “increase their savings rate later, since self-control is easier to exert for future events.” Do you see how that works now? You wouldn’t have done it for right now, but that is in the future, so you did it. And, they, as is stated above, can keep you enrolled until you reach a preset limit if you don’t act to stop it. Human behavior would be not to stop it since it requires action such as filling out paper work, etc., so you don’t do it.

They just manipulated your mind and you didn’t know it.

Please read their entire document as other examples of behavior manipulation are given. That is only the beginning, since this team is being put together to study how to get you to make decision they want you to make. When these are developed, understand their wording will sound pretty and pleasant and you are likely to get sucked in. Don’t be nudged to make a decision you wouldn’t have made had you not been nudged.

Rephrasing: They are deciding what is best for you and now they have to get you to agree to it with pretty words and those words are what is going to be developed – catch words you will react positively to. It won’t be, “You do this or get a penalty”. It will be more like, “Everyone is getting this bargain and you can, too.” “Your fine neighbors think this is a good deal.” (Note I didn’t say your neighbors bought it, I just said they thought it was a good deal.) “You can get it today, but don’t have to pay for it for five years – what a deal!” “You care about your children, and this will make them happy and secure.” “Do this and your job will be more secure.”

Preppers, reject NUDGE.

29 posted on 07/30/2013 7:17:12 PM PDT by Marcella ((Prepping can save your life today. I am a Christian, not a Muslim.))
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To: cripplecreek
I guess at times my impatience gets the best of me. I clearly see where this country is headed and realize the consequences. I want to hit the re-set button now before I get too old to contribute to the rebuilding. It's hard to have lived my whole life to now have a stand off with Obama.

FUBO
30 posted on 07/30/2013 7:21:48 PM PDT by jy8z (From the next to last exit before the end of the internet.)
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To: Mrs. Don-o
Her mandate is to supervise the organization of a federal government 'nudge squad' that will subtly change the behaviors of bureaucrats -- and the rest of us.

If the first "nudge" target is fedgov bureaucrats, this young woman may as well spend her days playing computer solitaire. There is nothing more entrenched and resistant to change, however minute. We're talking about people who file grievances against their own employer for the slightest change in their work environment.

Hell, the executive branch can't even get its people to use alternative fuels in government fleet vehicles. They're not about to drive a mile out of their way for some E85, just 'cause Bammy's executive orders said so.

The public-sector unions will work as a splendid hobble on this initiative, so watch and savor the irony.

31 posted on 07/30/2013 7:24:02 PM PDT by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: jy8z
If reported that the know it all...may have had an encounter with O Drama!


32 posted on 07/30/2013 7:25:05 PM PDT by MeshugeMikey (Macabre Crumpet of Caucasian Ethnicity)
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To: Mrs. Don-o

It’s already been done for several decades with linguistic activism originating in universities. Even most Freepers use the words and composition chosen by them to embed social pathologies in our culture. They changed the language, then the laws and policies. We’re too far gone. We’re morally bankrupt and are only a small part of the way through the consequence of the default process.


33 posted on 07/30/2013 7:28:40 PM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of rotten politics smelled around the planet.)
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To: Mrs. Don-o

Emperor Bloomberg will probably prematurely ejaculate over the very thought of the program being implemented .... twitter pictures will surely follow!


34 posted on 07/30/2013 7:33:26 PM PDT by RetiredTexasVet (The only growth industries left under Progressives are government and poverty.)
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To: desertfreedom765
"Ha, this really won’t turn out well. Head almost explodes thinking of it...But it will be entertaining :^)"

Agreed. It's fascinating. That's why I've said so many times, "Have fun. Enjoy the slide."


35 posted on 07/30/2013 7:34:04 PM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of rotten politics smelled around the planet.)
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To: Mrs. Don-o
Cass Sunstein, formerly the Director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget, is regarded as the godfather of modern government paternalism

Cass Sunstein is a monster from the blackest pit of hell, and Mara Shankar lives under his desk.

36 posted on 07/30/2013 7:34:09 PM PDT by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: Mrs. Don-o

Like I want advice from a chick with $150,000 in student loans ... no wait, she’s dark-skinned. She probably went to Yale for free. What was your SAT score, honey? Mine was 1510, when that meant something, and I typed 85 words a minute, too ... and I was the state spelling champion of Virginia, 1984.

Get a real job for a few years and then get back to me.


37 posted on 07/30/2013 7:36:27 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Ask me about the Weiner Wager. Support Free Republic!)
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To: Mrs. Don-o

This young airhead is a “senior policy advisor”? We are truly being led by morons.


38 posted on 07/30/2013 7:40:03 PM PDT by Some Fat Guy in L.A. (Still bitterly clinging to rational thought despite it's unfashionability)
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To: txrefugee
Good luck on that, BO. This government absolutely has no respect in vast areas of this country.

There will be some point in time where the Federal government will become more and more irrelevant.
39 posted on 07/30/2013 7:48:39 PM PDT by Nowhere Man (I miss you Whitey! (4-15-2001 - 10-12-2012). Take care, pretty girl!)
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To: Some Fat Guy in L.A.

I don’t follow morons. FUBO!


40 posted on 07/30/2013 7:48:42 PM PDT by MtnClimber (TEA Party, DOMA, Patriot, Constitution, 9/12, Anti-communist...There, come and get me zer0!)
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