George Lakoff in his book Don't Think of An Elephant, argues why people vote in requirements of principles and standards, often against their own best interests. Although Lakoff explains that Republicans follow a "strict father model," and Democrats follow a "nurturant parent model," his narrow-minded viewpoints, inadequate amount of presented evidence, and strategy to simply use only logical appeals account for the argument's overall weakness. Lakoff's approach of targeting just one specific audience makes his argument unclear and as a result less compelling. Instead of implementing viewpoints from both sides of his argument, which according to "Types of Papers: Argument/Argumentative," states a strong argument should include, Lakoff appeals to just one. Lakoff tells progressives that they are the nurturant parents who don't become successful in disciplining their child, whereas the conservatives have the strict father roles that do result in success. By using this metaphor, he states "The rationale behind physical punishment is this: When children do something wrong, if they are physically disciplined they learn not to do it again" (Lakoff 7). Lakoff mentions that a child, who is raised by a strict father will become more confident in the future, by learning how to rise above competition. Here he uses no supporting evidence to show how this stands true or even why it relates to politics in general. Instead by explaining this system, he encourages progressives to adopt the strict father role from conservatives because in his opinion it someway works better. As an alternative to provide support through evidence, Lakoff relies on using only logical appeals. He disregards the requisite of establishing credibility to allow hi... ... middle of paper ... ...licans use a "strict father" system consisting of one dominant parent, and Democrats use a "nurturant parent" system where both parents are equal partners are just ways politics can be described in a society where people can find themselves voting against their own interests. Though Lakoff's argument was predisposed and aimed toward progressives, he provided insight and advice for how we can move all move forward, together as a nation. Works Cited "A General Summary of Aristotle's Appeals." Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. Lakoff, George. Don't Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate : The Essential Guide for Progressives. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Pub., 2004. Print. "Types of Papers: Argument/Argumentative." Types of Papers: Argument/Argumentative. Roane State Community College, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.
Today, the definition of the term “liberal” is relatively uncontested, and its content is relatively well defined. A liberal today is someone who advocates for governmental solutions to various problems, not for unaided individual freedom. Liberals today trust and call for governmental action, not for the type of self-determination supported by Hoover. Contemporary liberals believe in individual freedom, but they typically advocate f...
Beck, Paul Allen and Hershey, Marjorie Randon. Party Politics in America. 9th Ed. Longman, New York, NY. 2001.
In his chapter, “Anna Nicole on the Brain,” he explains how the addition of narratives completes the structure of an election. In his book, he makes use of the concept “narratives” and reinforces ways that it shapes one’s identity. Narratives are the connections one makes based on the things he or she has seen in the past: stories, events, cliché’s, etc. Lakoff writes about Anna Nicole Smith as a humble woman in Texas, a stripper, a model, the wife of an aging billionaire; people had created endless narratives about her: a gold-digger, a celebrity, an empty-headed one, etc. Lakoff implies that it is a part of human nature and basic rights, to want to discuss what one’s narrative would be like. Narratives have an influence and people may or may not put their narratives aside, depending on whether they have the ability or not. The author talks about narratives and how each individual lives out his or her own narrative. “In a New Enlightenment, cultural narratives will not be gone, replaced by cold, hard reason. Cultural narratives are part of the permanent furniture of our brains” (36). Cultural narratives are stories that repeat, such as the American dream, Redemption, The Superhero,
Kernell, Samuel, Jacobson, Gary C., Kousser, Thad, & Vavreck, Lynn. 2014. The Logic of American Politics 6th ed. Los Angeles: CQ Press
Given the descriptions of the mental illnesses in our textbook, lectures and various media outlets about the illnesses shown in the HBO movie “Back from Madness – The Struggle for Sanity” I was still surprised how illnesses really affect people (HBO, 1990). When reading textbooks, various media outlets and research papers it is extremely difficult to understand completely the severity of a mental illness. These sources are just descriptions of the illness it doesn’t give a personal account of what the patient is going threw. Taking in account the real affects of having a mental illness on the patient, their family and friends. I was surprised when viewing the documentary that a person with Bipolar I disorder (manic depression) acted the way Todd did. I am aware that Bipolar I disorder is known as someone who has a manic occurrence that results in a period of bizarre elevated mood and behavior that interrupts life. The person will most likely experience episodes of depression. The behavior that I saw from Todd in the movie was completely different than I imagined people who have Bipol...
Minority”. This may be Lakoff’s own attempt at speaking to our unconscious conscience, repetitively associating Trump with these negative terms. Simultaneously, a nuanced approach is applied to ridicule groups supporting similar “strict father” policies. An implicit association can be drawn from Laissez-Faire free marketeers wanting to “eliminate public schools”, and the white working class seeing itself as “superior to non-whites”. Conservatives are further associated with being selfish; Lakoff asserts how they view responsibility as an individual matter, disregarding their responsibility to the larger society they live in. The illustration of strict conservatives ruling with a “moral hierarchy” seems to conflict American principles of freedom and equality. On the contrary, progressive values are associated with “empathy”, “care”, and “nurture”. Following Ernest J. Wrage’s concept, Lakoff did not criticise Trump alone, but also the larger set of strict conservative values that Trump represents. (Wrage,
The pieces on liberalism and conservatism has shown how different the two ideologies mean compared to the labels we see in American politics. The media has made it seems as though conservatives (which in the U.S. is becoming synonymous with Republican) is all against change, while liberals (Democrats) lie in the exact opposite of the spectrum: promoting changes. However, the essays by Locke, Berlin, and Oakeshott showed us how the two ideologies are much deeper than that. It is not just a manual of how to govern a nation, but rather ideals and philosophies. Furthermore, while contemporary politics have created an illusion that there is a clear and definite distinction between liberalism and conservatism, these essays show that they actually do overlap in many ways. In "Two Concepts of Liberty", Berlin categorizes liberty as "positive" and "negative". Positive liberty defines freedom as an individual being able to control his life and decisions in his own interests. On the other hand, in negative liberty, freedom exist when an individual is free from external interference. The major difference between the two concepts of liberty is that positive liberty focuses on the capability of an...
The Democrat Party’s and Republican Party’s ideologies and beliefs differ greatly from one another on all different issues. Their political cultures, which are defined as “the set of values, beliefs, and attitudes within which a political system operates” (Moten, 40) are very different from one another. They argue and disagree on issues that range from how the economy and the government should be run, to social issues such as gay marriage and abortion. I intend to compare the cultures of each political party, and in the process of doing so, show what issues both parties stand for and what they are against.
The. The "Aristotle". Home Page English 112 VCCS Litonline. Web. The Web.
In almost every respect, I am a liberal. My politics evolved through years of growing, learning, conditioning, and interactions with those whose experiences are unlike my own. My Pew Research Center’s political typology result of “Solid Liberal” accurately describes my personal political views and characteristics. My political views stem strongest from my familial upbringing’s intersections with my identities of class, nationality, sexuality and geography. The experiences resulting from these categories have collectively built values in accordance with liberal ideology.
Finally, the major theme both sides agree with is that “there exists a transcendent moral order, which we ought to try and conform the ways of society.” (Kirk 7). A big fear for both sides is that liberals hold no absolute morals because “there is a secular faith here in the capacity of the ‘autonomous’ individual to create his own moral order, to perfect his humanity by a process of original ‘creativity’” (Kristol 2. 157). This is problematic because it can lead to arbitrary laws not based on moral grounds; “If society—if the state gives us the rights, it can take them away—they’re not inalienable” (Schaeffer 2). Conservatives hold that there are absolute morals which should guide the way our society is shaped. If there are no absolute morals,
Smithson, Isaiah. "The Moral View of Aristotle's Poetics." Journal of the History of Ideas 44.1 (1983): 3-17. JSTOR. Web. 4 Dec. 2013. .
Freeman mentioned that "the two parties are different not only in name, program, and coalitional components but also in type” (1986, 327). The type is in relation to their philosophical beliefs that the party has for the country. In addition, Freeman discuss in his research that when it comes to “the Democratic party power flows upward and in the Republican party power flows downward. The second is attitudinal: Republicans perceive themselves as insiders even when they are out of power, and Democrats perceive themselves as outsiders even when they are in power” (1986, 328). The differences in the party show the characteristic of how each party identify when they have the
Liberalism has always been characterized by many as an investment on the individual, an investment on their individual and fundamental rights. Presently, a vast majority of the population brings up words such as “softness” and “spinelessness” when liberalism is spoken of. Evidently, their most avid critics come in the form of Marxists and their counterpart, the illiberal leftists. Allow me to explain, illiberal leftists are perceived by many to be the distorted version of liberal leftists; it is the result of their detachment from the tolerance that characterizes liberals, and their restrictive manners on freedom of speech and behavior. These illiberal leftists are arguably the largest group of detractors from liberalism, they, as have some others, found a plethora of defects about liberals. Although liberals and liberalism have come in for harsh criticism by many, the illiberal left is not far behind, even though they are harsh critics of liberals.
When discussing liberalism and conservatism in the United States today, there seems to be a great division between the two sides or parties. The left side of the spectrum includes the more liberal, forward-looking thinkers: the democrats. The right side of the spectrum is where the more conservative thinkers, that are holding onto the past can be found