"Without care, there is no democracy"
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/professor-cognitive-science-george-lakoff/
This guy blew my mind (and Tavis's, too, apparently). If you don't have time or can't play a video, below is the amaze-balls[1] part of the interview, from the transcript. Tavis was taken aback at this comment about it not mattering that something is a lie, and the explanation that follows, to me, gets at the very heart of this split between progressive and conservative. I've been saying for years, it stems from authoritarian parenting.
"Lakoff: Now if you have what I’ll call strict father morality, which is what Trump has and what the Republicans mainly have, what that says is that that view of the world which is a view having to do with domination, that view of the world defines who you are, and it’s the higher truth.
So if something comes in and it doesn’t fit that and you happen to know it’s a lie, it doesn’t matter because the higher truth that defines your very identity is more important.
Tavis: Okay. You have completely undermined [laugh] every belief system I’ve ever had about the fact that our mind, our mind connected to our heart, is what drives us. It’s the strongest part of who we are, but now you’re telling me that my mind is so easily manipulated.
Lakoff: Some peoples’ minds are. Yours may or may not be, but most people are not consciously looking for what is going on opposing them. And most people don’t think about other peoples’ world views. One of the things about being a progressive[2] is that you care about other people. You empathize with other people, and you want to know the truth.
If you want to know the truth, you worry about what other people are thinking and whether something is true or not. But if the issue is something very different, if you think of a family life as being a matter of father knows best, he has authority over you and physical authority.
He’s supposed to have tough love. If his children don’t obey him when he tells them what’s right, then they should be punished. They have to be punished. It’s his duty to punish them until they, you know, try to avoid the punishment, do what he says, and then if they do that and don’t do what just feels good, then they can go out in the world and be prosperous.
Well, there’s a logic there. If you are not prosperous, then that means you don’t have discipline which means you can’t be moral and you deserve your poverty. And that’s the view that people who are poor are lazy.
Now that’s a very common view in strict father thought. But there’s more to it than that because in that, there’s a view about the world in general. It says this view of the world, the strict father view of the world, is the natural view.
If it’s natural, if it’s the way the world actually functions, there is a hierarchy. It says that the people who have won out are the people who are the best people, and that gives you a hierarchy of who’s better than who. So religions have won out: God above man. We’re conquering nature: Man above nature; nature is there for us to get whatever we can.
The strong above the weak: You know, you have to have a strong country, etc. if you’re going to beat out other countries. The rich above the poor: Well, they’re disciplined, they deserve it.[3] Employers above employees: Well, they’re rich enough to be employers. You have western culture above non-western culture.
Adults above children: In 21 states, teachers and coaches can beat children with sticks if they don’t just show them respect all the time. You have America above other countries: America first, because we’re better. You have men above women. Whites above non-whites. Christians above non-Christians, straights above gays. That is that moral hierarchy because it says who has won out.
Now that moral hierarchy defines virtually all radical Republican positions on every issue. It’s one issue. It’s not whether someone is homophobic or not whether someone is a racist or a sexist or Islamophobic. It’s all of them together. They fit together seamlessly. That is what is behind the kind of America and the Americans who voted for Trump and it’s a very powerful kind of thing.
....
Lakoff: Language matters, and actions matter, certain kinds of actions matter. Why was the Women’s March what it was? And why did it have to be women? Because it was about care. The criticism was each of those women had a different view, a different issue, etc.? No. They all had one issue: care.
And the point of a progressive Democratic government is it’s not just about elections. It’s about citizens caring for other citizens and working through that government for that care. Without care, there’s no democracy.
Tavis: That’s the quote of the day. Without care, there is no democracy."
Or is this all just fitting into my world view, so I accept it, but I don't have the whole picture. Well, probably.
[1] "Amaze-balls" ... is that seriously dated now?[4]
[2] OK don't try to act like there aren't progressives who look past all kinds of lies for their higher truth, too, though.
[3] Yes. Trump is so disciplined. That's why he's rich.
[4] She asked, on LiveJournal.
This guy blew my mind (and Tavis's, too, apparently). If you don't have time or can't play a video, below is the amaze-balls[1] part of the interview, from the transcript. Tavis was taken aback at this comment about it not mattering that something is a lie, and the explanation that follows, to me, gets at the very heart of this split between progressive and conservative. I've been saying for years, it stems from authoritarian parenting.
"Lakoff: Now if you have what I’ll call strict father morality, which is what Trump has and what the Republicans mainly have, what that says is that that view of the world which is a view having to do with domination, that view of the world defines who you are, and it’s the higher truth.
So if something comes in and it doesn’t fit that and you happen to know it’s a lie, it doesn’t matter because the higher truth that defines your very identity is more important.
Tavis: Okay. You have completely undermined [laugh] every belief system I’ve ever had about the fact that our mind, our mind connected to our heart, is what drives us. It’s the strongest part of who we are, but now you’re telling me that my mind is so easily manipulated.
Lakoff: Some peoples’ minds are. Yours may or may not be, but most people are not consciously looking for what is going on opposing them. And most people don’t think about other peoples’ world views. One of the things about being a progressive[2] is that you care about other people. You empathize with other people, and you want to know the truth.
If you want to know the truth, you worry about what other people are thinking and whether something is true or not. But if the issue is something very different, if you think of a family life as being a matter of father knows best, he has authority over you and physical authority.
He’s supposed to have tough love. If his children don’t obey him when he tells them what’s right, then they should be punished. They have to be punished. It’s his duty to punish them until they, you know, try to avoid the punishment, do what he says, and then if they do that and don’t do what just feels good, then they can go out in the world and be prosperous.
Well, there’s a logic there. If you are not prosperous, then that means you don’t have discipline which means you can’t be moral and you deserve your poverty. And that’s the view that people who are poor are lazy.
Now that’s a very common view in strict father thought. But there’s more to it than that because in that, there’s a view about the world in general. It says this view of the world, the strict father view of the world, is the natural view.
If it’s natural, if it’s the way the world actually functions, there is a hierarchy. It says that the people who have won out are the people who are the best people, and that gives you a hierarchy of who’s better than who. So religions have won out: God above man. We’re conquering nature: Man above nature; nature is there for us to get whatever we can.
The strong above the weak: You know, you have to have a strong country, etc. if you’re going to beat out other countries. The rich above the poor: Well, they’re disciplined, they deserve it.[3] Employers above employees: Well, they’re rich enough to be employers. You have western culture above non-western culture.
Adults above children: In 21 states, teachers and coaches can beat children with sticks if they don’t just show them respect all the time. You have America above other countries: America first, because we’re better. You have men above women. Whites above non-whites. Christians above non-Christians, straights above gays. That is that moral hierarchy because it says who has won out.
Now that moral hierarchy defines virtually all radical Republican positions on every issue. It’s one issue. It’s not whether someone is homophobic or not whether someone is a racist or a sexist or Islamophobic. It’s all of them together. They fit together seamlessly. That is what is behind the kind of America and the Americans who voted for Trump and it’s a very powerful kind of thing.
....
Lakoff: Language matters, and actions matter, certain kinds of actions matter. Why was the Women’s March what it was? And why did it have to be women? Because it was about care. The criticism was each of those women had a different view, a different issue, etc.? No. They all had one issue: care.
And the point of a progressive Democratic government is it’s not just about elections. It’s about citizens caring for other citizens and working through that government for that care. Without care, there’s no democracy.
Tavis: That’s the quote of the day. Without care, there is no democracy."
Or is this all just fitting into my world view, so I accept it, but I don't have the whole picture. Well, probably.
[1] "Amaze-balls" ... is that seriously dated now?[4]
[2] OK don't try to act like there aren't progressives who look past all kinds of lies for their higher truth, too, though.
[3] Yes. Trump is so disciplined. That's why he's rich.
[4] She asked, on LiveJournal.