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George Lakoff. Moral politics: how liberals and conservatives think.

1. Introduction

Mass media as a public informer deals with matters of social concern – those aspects of life that relate to large groups of individuals or to a society as a whole. These issues range from education and medical care to taxes and business regulation, from abortion, gay and women rights to pensions and salaries, from crime and environmental protection to relations with other countries and membership in international organizations. And each one of these issues is capable of sparking off a heated debate, polarizing people into groups with alternative interpretations and solutions.

We all have heard such debates so many times:

Should drug addicts be treated as criminals or as sick people? Should condoms and syringe needles for drug takers will be freely available to stop AIDS? Or will such measures only promote immorality? What best contributes to a child’s development: unconditional love of parents or tough love aimed at building discipline through reward and punishment? Should we fight terrorism with military force, interventions and preventive strikes or should we use peaceful diplomacy and the policy of engagement?

Obviously these alternatives stem from different interpretations of the nature of problems they are to deal with.

So: is terrorism caused by envy and bad religion or is it a protest against a unipolar world with its unjust distribution of wealth and power? Is drug taking a sign of individual moral weakness or do social causes play greater part? And what are the most important qualities that are to be developed in a child: independence and self-reliance or empathy and ability to establish interdependent relations with others?

The answers to these questions are not as easy as may seem at first. They often lie deeply in our subconsciousness and form the foundations of our worldviews – systems of beliefs about the world as it is and should be. Thus, to understand the essence of public debates reflected in and constituted by mass media discourse, we need to know some basic things about major worldviews and the way they shape interpretation of key social and political issues. And the book by George Lakoff will equip you with this knowledge.

2. Frequently Asked Questions

  • It sounds too much for a course. With numerous issues and positions, is it possible and necessary to learn about so many (virtually all) of them?

Yes, it is possible. And such knowledge is just a hundred pages away!! You will see how two fundamental and diametrically opposed worldviews shape and tie together positions on practically all issues of social concern.

  • Do you mean there is coherence among positions on different issues held by an individual based on his or her ideology? So the positions are predictable? Well, I know, for example, that Bush is a conservative Republican. And he started wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, cut taxes, denied the existence of global warming and opposed same-sex marriage supporting a constitutional amendment defining a marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Is there any coherence in these positions?

Yes, there is. And in a couple of weeks you will be able to answer this question yourself. Moreover, the answer will seem so easy!

  • Why do we need to read a book on worldviews? Isn’t it better to read and listen to people talking in a real debate and try to understand their motives?

Listening to debates can help understand how people argue their positions, but their arguments can have little to do with real motives. Sometimes people hide real motives and are often unaware of them. Moreover, a large part in any debate is the expression of emotions which are important but not informative.

You may have also noticed that positions taken by the same person on different issues often sound contradictory: how can, for instance, conservatives be pro-life on abortion and support the death penalty? In the first case, life seems to be the highest value for them. So why legitimize killing in the latter case? Well, obviously something else is at play here. Such cases are numerous and prove that we should not just listen to people talking – we must learn what is behind their positions, concealed not only from others but often from these people themselves.

  • You say real causes may be not mentioned publicly in the debate. It seems that the basis for decision-making in politics is financial interest, haggling for posts, but not ideology. Many people say Bush started Iraq war to get access to oil and to complete his father’s unsuccessful attempt to remove Saddam.

Motives of human actions are usually complex, and while pragmatic considerations do play an important part, reducing the whole decision-making process to them is simplistic. Scientific research and life experience show that moral considerations often come first. And you may have noticed that some people tend to overemphasize utilitarian aspects simply to show off and prove they understand “real life” with its core principle: it is money that makes the world go round. Well, don’t be fooled – life is more complex than that! For instance, it is a known fact that many people’s electoral choices run contrary to their financial interests – many blue collar workers in the US vote conservative for moral reasons fully aware that conservative economic policies favor the rich and hurt the poor.

  • Since the book is about America, does it mean that we’ll learn anything that could be applied to our life here, in Ukraine? Or will it be just another aspect of culture studies enriching our knowledge about the U.S.?

The worldview models described in the book are common to all cultures. They do have slight variations, and they will also be discussed, but the key features remain the same across cultures. True, important ideological confrontation in modern Ukraine takes place between pro-Russian and pro-European forces, yet the dimensions discussed in the book are vital for understanding the nature of social and political debates in our country.

  • All these ideologies, social and political debates seem so far from me… Will this knowledge be of any use for my everyday life?

You could have noticed from the examples at the beginning that the issues of public debate really concern all of us as individuals. These debates don’t revolve around some abstract topics interesting only to politicians, journalists and a handful of concerned citizens. These issues touch all of us, since all our actions and interpretations are based on our worldviews.

This means that the information in the book will help you not only better understand media and socio-political discourse, but will help learn more about yourself and people around you. This will result in increased self-awareness and confidence, help you better understand your own position, your opponents, and thus communicate more efficiently, win arguments and make things your way!

  • Why this book? There must be other works on this subject. Is it in any way better?

Up to date, this is the best scientific (thus unbiased) study of ideologies (you’ll read more about it in the next section). In one of the chapters you will learn about alternative accounts and see they are either false or insufficient. Thus, the book helps not only to navigate the complex issues of modern social and political debate, but also keeps you away from simplistic or biased conclusions.

  • If there are alternative interpretations of every issue (liberal, conservative, possibly some other interpretations can be offered), is it possible to determine whose position is right? May be it is all relative and nobody knows the truth? Why bother study it then?

Together with descriptions of two ideologies, the book will provide scientific analysis of the validity of their claims for truth (a certain reality check of ideological positions). And you’ll see that it is possible to say who is right! So forget about moral relativism at this point (though remember human knowledge can never be final).

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