The Average Man

Monday, April 27, 2009

Understanding Conservatism

Awesome, awesome article by Tom Jacobs @ Miller-McCune today on Alternet:

"Morality is not just about how we treat each other, as most liberals think," he argues. "It is also about binding groups together and supporting essential institutions."

"With all that in mind, Haidt identified five foundational moral impulses. As succinctly defined by Northwestern University's McAdams, they are:

• Harm/care. It is wrong to hurt people; it is good to relieve suffering.
• Fairness/reciprocity. Justice and fairness are good; people have certain rights that need to be upheld in social interactions.
• In-group loyalty. People should be true to their group and be wary of threats from the outside. Allegiance, loyalty and patriotism are virtues; betrayal is bad.
• Authority/respect. People should respect social hierarchy; social order is necessary for human life.
• Purity/sanctity. The body and certain aspects of life are sacred. Cleanliness and health, as well as their derivatives of chastity and piety, are all good. Pollution, contamination and the associated character traits of lust and greed are all bad.

Haidt's research reveals that liberals feel strongly about the first two dimensions -- preventing harm and ensuring fairness -- but often feel little, or even feel negatively, about the other three. Conservatives, on the other hand, are drawn to loyalty, authority and purity, which liberals tend to think of as backward or outdated. People on the right acknowledge the importance of harm prevention and fairness but not with quite the same energy or passion as those on the left."

Crazy, huh?! Best of all, it reveals how people with different moral prorities can come together on issues -- i.e.

"Haidt notes that the environmental movement was started by liberals, who were presumably driven by the harm/care impulse. But conservative Evangelical Christians are increasingly taking up the cause, propelled by the urge to respect authority. "They're driven by the idea that God gave man dominion over the Earth, and keeping the planet healthy is our sacred responsibility," he notes. "If we simply rape, pillage, destroy and consume, we're abusing the power given to us by God."

Brilliant.

TAM

5 Comments:

At 10:27 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Conservatives, on the other hand, are drawn to loyalty, authority and purity, which liberals tend to think of as backward or outdated. People on the right acknowledge the importance of harm prevention and fairness but not with quite the same energy or passion as those on the left."I actually lean toward the liberal version of morality. Around here the conservatives form collectives to further economic interests. They claim to be moral in the Biblical sense and yet we have the highest rates of divorce, abortion, child and spouse abuse. They claim to love their neighbor but they will take advatage of each other in business dealings, would gladly bomb poorer countries. They claim to be intellectual but their intellectuality and morality are just a bullshit cover they use to justify doing whatever they want to do in a f@cktarded manner. I have problems with liberals too, but at least they don't usually try to pretend to be something they aren't (cough, al gore, cough) to gain an advantage.

Best

edgar

 
At 1:55 PM, Blogger Trekking Left said...

That's a great article ... I'm going to try to keep it in mind when debating my righty friends :)

 
At 2:22 PM, Blogger TheAverageMan said...

See! Conservatives are People Too. :)

Edgar, I think the problem with those types is their "in-crowd protection" factor overrides everything else.

I've always been amazed when someone I DO have a lot in common with, and get along with well, turns out to be conservative. Those are the folks who could easily become political allies if we frame the issues right. And there's far more of them than there are f@cktards. Truly.

 
At 3:10 PM, Anonymous edgar said...

who said: Who the fuck do you think you're dealing with? We'll have the IRS audit your fund. Every one of your employees. Your investors. Then we will have the Securities and Exchange Commission rip through your books looking for anything and everything and nothing we find to destroy you with...

 
At 3:14 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Then there's this hag.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home

eXTReMe Tracker