the Overton window is the spectrum of debate considered socially acceptable; the eponymous Joseph Paul Overton (1960–2003) used to pitch to donors the power of his think tank to shift the spectrum of socially acceptable debate to the political right
Noam Chomsky in The Common Good, 1998:
The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum – even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there’s free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate.*
Caitlin Johnstone, November 2019:
2021-05-05T21:25−07* / at the about* post – at bit.ly/dateposted – anyone can link to this post from its date: May 5, 2021
*a link – or not; see a note on notes and links and a disclaimer / … and maybe browse or search the archive*
*a link – or not; see a note on notes and links and a disclaimer / … and maybe browse or search the archive*
see original article on author’s website*
see some or all of her Substack articles*