On the Contrary

It was an interesting day for those of us who think like Democrats as we watched the opening of the Democratic Convention.  Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama gave us a window into how people in Blue States think.  For those of us that think this way, the opening was a no-duh approach to our future.  But Red Staters don’t think like Blue Staters.  So I thought I would try to highlight what was the underlying message and the thinking patterns.

George Lakoff  (“The Political Mind”) has written extensively about the two thinking patterns that separate conservatives from progressives.  He has pointed out that we all use both patterns depending on how the issue is framed emotionally.  I will focus on the progressives since that was what was on display last night.

Progressives use empathy and responsibility in viewing most political ideas.  Empathy in that they see others and can feel their suffering.  More importantly they are driven to act on that empathy because they feel they have a responsibility for doing something about it.  The expression, “there for the grace of God, go I”, captures the empathy.  Michelle Obama in her speech emphasized the responsibility portion of this equation when she described how she had been motivated by Barack to quit her law firm job and get active in helping her community.

Here is where progressives differ from conservatives.  When progressives see misfortune or suffering, they know that even if you do work hard, sometimes it is not enough.  Conservatives see the helping hand as a free ride to scofflaws who have not towed the line and are abusing the system, but more about that next week during the Republican Convention.

Progressives see government as having two roles:  Protection, and empowerment.  Both conservatives and progressive would agree with the protection part.  Government’s have a responsibility to protect their citizens from harm through both a strong military and police force.  But here is where they part ways:  Progressives see government’s role as empowering people to be able to get ahead.  Conservatives see government as getting out of the way of those who can get ahead.  One sees government as leveling the playing field, and the other as a hindrance to those who work hard.  Progressives last night were calling for affordable healthcare for all, opportunity for all to get a world-class education,  protecting the environment, and economic opportunity in the form of a livable wage for all.  They see government’s role as the major force to providing these empowerments so that people who really do work hard, can get ahead.

Progressives believe in cooperation and nurturing.  We work together to solve our problems.  Conservatives object to this because they see this role of government as making people dependent.  They see it as a free ride instead of leveling the playing field and pulling us all up in the process.  Progressive see people suffering or poor and disadvantaged and want to help.  Conservatives see people suffering or poor and disadvantaged and see people who did not follow the rules and work hard.  That is why they equate wealth with morality and success.

But the biggest difference that was on display was in the framing of the arguments.  Michelle Obama framed the argument in terms of hope, dreams, and hard work.  And the framing here is the key.  If you have hope and optimism, then you can see our problems as challenges that we can all work on together, energizing our government to work for us to be the catalyst for solving these problems.  As Michelle Obama said, “They’ll tell them (our future childeren) how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming.”

And that is the key difference in framing.  The Progressive want you focused on what we can do, and the Conservatives want you to be afraid.  Cindy McCain is off to Georgia to access the civilian casualties.  Now one has to asked how a little rich girl is better equipped to do this than the ton of journalists on the ground that have been kicking dirt down there for months.  But that is not the point.  She is going to come back to the convention and tell you that her husband, John McMean, is the only one who can protect us from the big bad Russians.  The world is a dangerous place.  Be afraid America, don’t dream, put big daddy John in charge and he will protect you.

The two different framings elicit two different emotional responses to the path that is being laid out by both parties.  I can only hope that the fear card has finally been overplayed.