tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611639517962742486.post4821185475303838921..comments2024-03-25T15:31:12.151-07:00Comments on We Live In A Political World: #28 / Barr That DoorGary A. Pattonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15049925834933920507noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611639517962742486.post-14021243675344786122020-01-28T14:08:05.398-08:002020-01-28T14:08:05.398-08:00Reminds me also fo UCB Linguistics professor Georg...Reminds me also fo UCB Linguistics professor George Lakoff's Don't Think of an Elephant (2004, excerpts widely available on the web). In part an attempt to explain the contested 2000 election, Lakoff argues (I'm 'way oversimplifying here) that in responding to the dominant metaphors of the two major political parties, Americans subconsciously prefer a strong father figure who tells them what to do (Republican metaphors) to a nurturing mother figure who asks them to think for themselves (Democratic metaphors). The scarier times get -- climate change, rumors of wars, acrimonious politics -- and the more difficult it gets to parse fact and fiction, the more some, maybe most people may prefer the former. <br /><br />I hope not, but when I see how across the country universities (in the name of efficiency) are moving students away from close proximity to professors teaching critical analysis in small classes to large lecture halls and multiple choice exams, I am not very optimistic. Perhaps as some recent pundits have it, democracy is a short-lived experiment whose time may be dwindling. Convince me otherwise, Gary!Derede Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295820024307349152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611639517962742486.post-63439424653668521662020-01-28T13:52:29.813-08:002020-01-28T13:52:29.813-08:00Scary times indeed. All we need now is a good-size...Scary times indeed. All we need now is a good-sized national emergency to make a majority of citizens happy to cede their power for the illusion that someone's in control...Derede Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295820024307349152noreply@blogger.com