Conservatives don't think they're wrong. They don't think they're immoral. They aren't using the same rules as liberals or progressives to judge ideas.
Both sides believe they have the moral "high ground". Both sides think the other is wrong. What are we to do? How can we avoid the violence that is certain to result from this kind of dispute?
I believe that liberals and progressives must make an effort to understand conservatives because, for the most part, they will not understand us. Much of their world view seems based on fears that may prevent them from easily understanding us. George Lakoff gives us a framework for understanding them -- and us -- better.
Dr. Lakoff is a Professor of Cognitive Science and Linquistics at UC Berkeley. In his video, "Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think", he lays the foundation on which liberals can change their approaches to understanding and trying to persuade conservatives to different points of view.
Dr. Lakoff says that the different world views held by liberals (and progressives) and by conservatives can be described by their views of the family. Conservatives' view of the family is a "strict father" model, versus the liberals' "nurturing parent" model (which has its own problems). The strict father model is a gendered system in that it requires a mother and a father. You need a strict father, according to this model, because there is evil in the world, and daddy has to protect the family from evil. There is competition in the world. There are winners and losers, and daddy has to be a winner to support the family. Daddy has to be strict because children are born bad; they just want to do what feels good, they don't know right from wrong, and they have to be disciplined. In this system, morality is seen as obedience to an authority. What's more, the discipline that allows you to be obedient to a strict father is the same discipline that allows you to become prosperous.
This leads to a fascinating conclusion: If you aren't prosperous then it's because you aren't disciplined enough. If you're not disciplined enough then you don't have the discipline to be moral. Because you aren't moral, you deserve your poverty.
In his compelling lecture, Dr. Lakoff relates these differing world views to taxation, regulation, and other political disputes. His video is almost an hour long, and I recommend watching it in one sitting. But do, please, watch it.
Conservatives aren't going to learn our language. We're going to have to learn theirs, and our languages differ more than you think.
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