The Benefits of Making a List

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They're making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out how you feel about insurrections and ICE….

Tom Jones (not the singer) and his conservative super PAC, the American Accountability Foundation, are doing something quite unusual by digging into the backgrounds, social media posts, and commentary of key high-ranking government employees to create a 100-name list of people who might oppose Trump's 2nd term agenda.

The list will then be made public, allowing those interested to see who Tom Jones has identified and outed as dangerous political opposition. The list is being sponsored by The Heritage Foundation, which provided a $100,000 grant with the goal of posting 100 names of government workers to a website to show a potential new administration who might be standing in their way.

While this might sound alarming due to the parallels it draws to McCarthyism, the work of Mussolini, Gaddafi, and Hitler, I think it's important to take a moment, a deep breath, and remember that there are many benefits to making a list. Making a list has long been valued as a feel-good, effective technique to get things done. It provides many things, such as:

  • Externalizing what we need to remember - in this case, people who were mean to Trump.

  • Concision - there's going to be a lot to do come January if Donald Trump is re-elected. It will be important to simplify and use these names as retrieval cues. "Oh, that's right, these were the people who were mean to Trump."

  • A sense of accomplishment, something that everyone can get behind, especially folks who are concerned with people who were mean to Trump.

Tom Jones, The Heritage Foundation, and The American Accountability Foundation are not doing something new or unheard of. In fact, I listed several well-known leaders in history who have done similar things.

The fact of the matter is that all political leaders are aware of their critics. Tom Jones is just saying the quiet part loud. Good luck on the list, TJ. Let me know if you need some help - I think we could knock out your 100 by lunch.