Quotes from George Lakoff

The major thus-far-unframed effect is that runaway exponential accumulation of wealth share tends to kill off the provision of public resources that makes a satisfying and healthy private life possible.

even when you negate a frame, you activate the frame.

But to liberals, who have their own very different moral system, conservative policies are so immoral that any conservative discussion of morality is taken as demagoguery. Of

Thus, pragmatic liberals see social programs as a way to help others pursue their self-interest, while idealistic liberals see social programs as a commitment to providing basic human needs, which is an end in itself. To pragmatic liberals social programs are investments; to idealistic liberals, they are a matter of civic duty. Again

The political effect of runaway wealth is, for example, to cut taxes on the wealthy, taking away funding for the public resources that made that wealth possible in the first place.

This is how reason really works: through framing, metaphors, emotion, narratives, and imagery.

Pragmatic political figures are sometimes called "moderate" or "middle of the road" because of their willingness to compromise. But the term "moderate" gives the false impression that there is a linear political continuum, with people distributed along it. The continuum metaphor hides the major role played by moral systems and the fact that pragmatic politicians in America are usually pragmatic versions of either liberals or conservatives. Not

To nurture children, one must have absolute and regular empathy with them. • To act morally toward people needing help to survive, one must have absolute and regular empathy with them. • Nurturance may require making sacrifices to care for children. • Moral action may require making sacrifices to help truly needy people. If

What exactly is moral focus? It is giving moral priority to one particular domain of interest over others. The result is that one domain is seen as having primary moral significance over other domains. Thus

Because of the runaway loss of satisfying work, education has radically changed.

The runaway accumulation of wealth for the rich and the runaway loss of wealth for others mean for most people a runaway loss of experiences of personal value—the loss of a meaningful life.

Global warming is the greatest moral issue facing our generation. Accelerating wealth accumulation by the wealthy is a close runner-up. Together, they present a clear and present danger, not just to the United States, but to the world.

The thousands of blacks who were either purged from the voting rolls or falsely told the polls had closed were seen by many conservatives as not having been disciplined enough to make sure they voted. Metaphor

Conservatives are not against big government when use of the power of the federal government fits their moral system.

Definitevi voi stessi prima che siano gli altri a definirvi.

Runaway privatization of public resources. The private depends on the public, but conservatives are drastically cutting funds for public resources while successfully promoting privatization. They say that government doesn't work, and by cutting funds they can make government cease to work. And by cutting government resources for all, they can make democracy cease to work.

The uncontested core of security is providing protection through strength. But

The "common good principle" requires that secure communities come from having a well-funded infrastructure. This means funding not only police and fire departments but also departments like FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Weather Service, and a public health infrastructure—as well as good schools and universal health care. Thus, a strong infrastructure is crucial to security. So

it's not enough just to say "equality" or "responsibility" in a speech, because conservatives and progressives each have their own understanding of what these values mean. You have to talk about your understanding of each of these words.

Liberals have a moral system. It is described explicitly in this book. It is organized not around adherence to specific rules, but around a higher principle: Help, don't harm! It is an ethics of care, centering around empathy together with responsibility, both for oneself and others.

On the progressive side, investment in renewable energy is a multifaceted strategic initiative for better environmental policy, increased security, job creation, Third World development, and economic stimulation.

Semantics matters. Because the word cause is commonly taken to mean direct cause, climate scientists, trying to be precise, have too often shied away from attributing causation of a particular hurricane, drought, or fire to global warming.

Thus, in the cases of harm to children they advocate retribution, but in the cases of impermissible acts by children, they favor restitution. Thus, they too use moral accounting to characterize justice, but the details are different. T

Responsible journalists need to discuss systemic causation.