Otto, Tolstoy: It's true that progressives wanted more freedom back then. It's also true that we want more freedom these days. The following is more or less lifted from George Lakoff's The Political Mind, and it applies modern cognitivist linguistics to politics. As background, it should be noted that language is essentially extended metaphor stemming from the realities of common human experience. For instance, universally (as far as I know) ANGER IS HEAT AND PRESSURE, cf. "boiling with rage," "red hot," "he blew up at me," "fiery wrath," etc. This makes sense when one considers that the general physical response to anger includes an increase in body temperature and blood pressure. There are some different ways of understanding anger, but they're fundamentally related to this ANGER IS HEAT/PRESSURE concept (alas, if only there were tags for text, I'd bold those all caps phrases). For more on this read "Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things," or "Metaphors We Live By," the first by George Lakoff and the second written with Mark Johnson.
Now, on to freedom. The main metaphor for freedom is motion, which has three fundamental types: movement from here to there, using the arms to grasp and manipulate objects, and moving the body to perform actions. We can conceptualize Achieving a Purpose as reaching your desired destination (reaching a goal) and getting an object you want (a job fell into your lap). These are primary metaphors, you learn them in childhood. So, Freedom of Action to Achieve a Purpose is Freedom of Motion to a Destination, and the corollary is that a restraint on freedom is a restraint on motion. Examples of this corollary in English are phrases like being enslaved, in chains, in jail, tied up, handcuffed, tied down, held back, kept down, burdened, etc.
You've got Aids to Freedom of Action which are understood as aiding Movement as well, so we give helping hands, we empower people, etc. Failing is understood as Falling, and so if you fail we aid you with safety nets, cushions, etc. So, freedom is understood in terms of motion.
There are two very basic forms of freedom, freedoms to do something (freedom to) and freedoms from something (freedom from). For Freedom From the government provides Protection with civil order and civil liberties, so we don't have to worry about invasions or epidemics or irresponsible businesses. There's Freedom To, which is Empowerment, and this includes really basic things provided to all citizens that allow us to reach our goals, examples being education, roads, communications, energy supply, water, public buildings, libraries, the stock market, the courts, etc. All of these are necessary for American society.
Now, there are, in Lakoff's view, two very different principles underlying progressive and conservative worldviews. Institution [Nation] is a Family is the main, shared metaphor for this. This metaphor includes the following: The Governing Individual [Government] is a Parent. Those Governed [Citizens] are Family Members. So, people generally map two versions of this Nation as Family metaphor on two this. The first, the conservative worldview, he calls Strict Father. The second, the progressive, is Nurturant Parent. Thus, the conservative position on things like market politics, abortion, environmental protection, etc., follows naturally from the concept of the Strict Father as an Authoritarian individual who is obeyed, and who rewards obedience and punishes disobedience. The Nurturant Parent, obviously, nurtures, supports family members in their pursuits, works to ensure that there's fair access to things necessary to lead a decent and fulfilling life. I've just vaguely sketched out the content of the book here, and whether you agree with my inadequate adumbration or not, look for it (The Political Mind, George Lakoff) at the library or bookstore.
)
Anonymous Gunboat Games Paused by Moderator
)
)
)
)
)