I thought the Doc would be interested; the Strict Fatherites certainly fall into the Authoritarians of the 'triple-axis political spectrum' (IIRC), but I'm not sure the Nurturant Parents correspond precisely with the Progressives/Liberals (?). I snipped a lot, and cut&pasted once*.
--- "Robert J. Chassell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On his Web site, > http://www.therightchristians.org/BlogWeek10.htm > > Allen Brill [*(Brill is a Lutheran minister; his slogan is "It is time for the Christian Right to meet the right Christians." hence, the name of his Web site.)] has written a piece in which he starts > out by saying > > Nothing could be more obvious than that American > progressives need > a clearer view of the "big picture" of our > political landscape. > We're accused by the Right of wishing for Bush's > foreign and > domestic policies to fail because that's our > only hope for > victory, and when we look at much of what > progressives have to > say, it must be admitted that the focus is on > what's wrong with > Bush rather than what's right about Democrats. -As several on the List have pointed out also- > Brill quotes a writer who points out > > ... there can be no effective media without a > coherent message > > Brill then goes on to develop a `Theory of > Everything' regarding US > political rhetoric. He makes use of the ideas that > George Lakoff > talks about in his book on the political > implications of cognitive linguistics, "Moral >Politics". > > Brill says: > > Political scientists have long tried to describe > the electorate in > terms of ideology. In its most simplified form: > conservatives want > a government as small and de-centralized as > possible that > interferes as little as possible in people's > lives; liberals want > a large, centralized government that is very > involved in people's > lives. That might have been a fairly helpful > description of the electorate during the New Deal.... <snip> > > Lakoff's research has led him to conclude that > most of us use a > metaphor of our nation as a family. The > government at the federal, > state and local level is thought of as the > "parent" and the > citizens stand in the role of "children." <snip> > > "Strict Fatherites" see the world as a dangerous > place filled with > evil, and believe that survival is dependent on > self-discipline > and moral strength. Their "common sense" tells > them that > self-discipline is only created by strict > enforcement of a system > of rewards and punishments that teach everyone, > especially > children, that they must work hard, obey > authority and keep > morally pure if they are to succeed. .... The > government's job > instead is to punish those who do not conform to > the moral > standards of the majority because otherwise, the > impurity of their > behavior will spread like a disease throughout > the society. > > "Nurturant Parents" see the world very > differently. Their picture > of the family places empathy, communication and > respect above > discipline, strength and purity. At the heart > of the moral system > is what Lakoff calls a "strong" Golden Rule: > > Do unto others as _they_ would have you do > unto them. > > With so much depending on it, however, there are > a few additional > considerations. I would suggest that Lakoff's > model misses one > very important and growing worldview in the > electorate. This > conceptual metaphor does NOT see the nation as a > family. I will > call it the "Every man (and woman) is an island" > worldview. The > central metaphor is this worldview is that of > personal boundaries and space. Simply stated: > > No one is entited to intrude into my space > if I do not intrude > into theirs. Those who intrude into the > space of others are > morally bad and should be punished. > > For them, the nation is not a family but not > much more than the sea in which their island sits. > > Many of those who operate by this metaphor call > themselves libertarians.... I snipped the rest of Bob's post; I'm still reading the site & links. Debbi __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
