Written by PEL Lab Leader Laura Nash
Why Narratives Matter
Financial success and security are mostly a product of individual choices and hard work. Not feeling financially secure? It’s because you’re lazy and not working hard enough. This is one of the most common economic narratives in the U.S.—if we’re struggling, we just need to “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.”
The evidence tells a different story: in the U.S., an individual’s financial wealth is mostly associated with the wealth of their parents. But the bootstraps narrative is so pervasive, so deeply ingrained in American culture, that it still influences Americans’ economic decisions every day, from individual to policy decisions.
Narratives are the overarching frames we use to understand how the world works. They’re created and reinforced by the stories, messages, and images we hear from the media, from our leaders, from our friends and family, from artists, from advertisers. They affect our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. They affect our laws and systems.
For example, the bootstraps narrative described above might lead employers to penalize employees for taking time off of work to recover from an illness, to care for family, to grieve, etc. It can also lead individual workers to feel guilty for taking time off to rest, even when they really need it.
The bootstraps narrative isn’t the only narrative we have about the economy in the U.S. We have many narratives, and most people hold several competing narratives in their heads at the same time. Most of us aren’t aware of these narratives, even when we’re actively using them.
Economic Narratives in Seattle and King County
People’s Economy Lab is in the process of researching Washington’s economic narratives. So far, we’ve looked at local news media, communications materials from Seattle and King County candidates, and communications materials from local philanthropic institutions. We identified the most common economic messages used by these people and institutions. (Thank you to University of Washington graduate student Xanthia Wang for helping us with this research!) We also examined these messages through the lens of Harmony Labs’ Narratives of Poverty and Economic Mobility, which include: capital & labor, Robin Hood, vote for x, safety net, the grind, not like us, equity gap, and helping hands.
In this blog, we’ll focus on the messages and narratives we’re hearing from candidates. As campaign season progresses, we invite you to pay attention to what candidates are saying and the narratives underlying their messages.
What We’re Hearing from Seattle and King County Candidates
We’re happy to report that, for the most part, Seattle and King County candidates are not evoking harmful, regressive narratives like “Not Like Us,” which Harmony Labs describes as “innuendo, association, and coded rhetoric conspir[ing] to cast people in poverty as bogeymen threatening society from a shadowy underworld.” Instead, they’re most commonly evoking the equity gap, safety net, Robin Hood, and capital & labor narratives.
We also identified a narrative that Harmony Labs did not: a people’s economy narrative. This narrative promotes community and neighborhood-level decision-making and control of publicly and collectively owned assets. It empowers community members to recognize that we play a key role in the economy, and we should have a hand in designing an economy that works for us.
These are the most common economic messages we heard from candidates for Seattle mayor, Seattle City Council, and King County Council:
- Diversity and equity are good for our region, and we should work to close equity gaps (equity gap)
- Everyone should have a voice in their community, and collaboration benefits all of us (framed using a variety of narratives, e.g. equity gap, helping hands)
- We need more affordable housing and access to transportation (framed using a variety of narratives, e.g. equity gap, safety net)
- Workers have a right to safety, dignity, and the ability to live where they work and meet their basic needs (Robin Hood)
- Supporting small businesses and business infrastructure leads to a thriving economy (capital & labor)
- Government supports are critical for addressing barriers to economic opportunity (safety net)
These are some less common narratives we heard from candidates:
- Economic success is dependent on continuous growth of the economy (capital & labor)
- Hard work and perseverance lead to success (the grind)
- The wealthy should pay their fair share and/or corporations are exploiting working people (Robin Hood)
- Government has a responsibility to regulate and/or improve efficiency to promote the market’s growth (capital & labor)
- The economy should serve people and promote well-being (framed using a variety of narratives, e.g. equity gap, Robin Hood)
- Decisions should be made by community members at the neighborhood level for sustainability and liveability (people’s economy)
- We should lean into collective solutions to economic problems, like community and public ownership of land and housing (people’s economy)
A People’s Economy Narrative for Seattle
While we’re hearing bits and pieces of the people’s economy narrative from Seattle and King County candidates, we’re not hearing the whole narrative from anyone.
As we see it, here is the people’s economy narrative in full:
Enough is enough. We’re tired of trying to keep up with ever-increasing costs caused by systems that aren’t designed for our well-being.
Right now, many of us aren’t thriving. Corporations and wealthy individuals have too much control in our local economies, and this has led to skyrocketing rents; high costs for groceries, utilities, and other basic needs; poor work/life balance; and destruction of the environment.
Think of it this way: We’re all running around with buckets trying to catch rain drops from large corporations and institutions. Some of us get larger buckets than others. Some of our buckets are cracked. Some of us don’t even have buckets; we’re trying to catch the rain with cupped hands. But we don’t have to settle for this.
The economy is us. From the service and tech sectors to education, caring for our children and elders, and beyond, we are all contributing to Seattle’s economy.
Together, we can build something different. We can build an economy that works for all of us, because it’s made by us. Seattleites are brilliant, innovative, and skilled. We power our economy, and we’d be a lot better off cultivating our whole metaphorical water shed, rather than waiting for the rain drops to trickle down to us.
We can build an economy that serves people, instead of people serving the economy. Where public, community, and worker-owned businesses, land, housing, and utilities meet local needs. Where the government is driven by participation instead of partisan politics. Where investing means closing the racial wealth gap and restoring our environment instead of making the rich richer.
People power the economy, so people should be at the center.
What’s Different About this Narrative?
The people’s economy narrative includes elements of the equity gap, safety net, and Robin Hood narratives, but it puts people at the center as the primary actors, rather than government and other institutions. It responds to what people are worried about right now and the struggles we’re currently facing. It also offers a way forward: a cooperative and democratic economy that supports everyone to thrive, not just the wealthiest individuals.
We know that trust in government is at historic lows. According to the Pew Research Center, public trust in government has plummeted from a high of 70-80% in the 1960s to around 20% today. Voters don’t trust the government to solve our financial struggles.
We also know that Americans’ biggest concern is the economy and related issues. In a 2025 Gallup Poll, 60% of Americans reported that they worry about the economy a great deal, while 27% said they worry about it a fair amount. Other top concerns included the availability and affordability of healthcare, inflation, federal spending and the budget deficit, the Social Security system, and hunger and homelessness.
Finally, we know that voters are looking for transformative changes. In a 2024 New York Times Siena Poll, 70% of respondents expressed a desire for either major changes to U.S. political and economic systems or for these systems to be torn down entirely.
Americans are recognizing that hard work and grind culture don’t make life better for most people. Workers feel exploited by their employers, and they don’t expect governments to do anything about it. Safety nets are critical for a functional society, but it would be nice if we didn’t need them so often.
We want our elected officials to try something new and transformative, because the old way isn’t working. Policymakers keep offering small tweaks that don’t match the deep inequities and daily struggle to do more than just survive.
We want our candidates and elected officials to offer a transformative vision of the economy that puts people at the center.
We’re curious to hear what you think about the people’s economy narrative! If it resonates with you, or it doesn’t, let us know. Email [email protected] to share your thoughts.
