An author that has influenced my worldview is linguist/cognitive scientist George Lakoff. Two of his books are Moral Politics and Don’t Think of an Elephant. Both books explore the differences in how liberals and conservative think and provide recommendations on how to frame political arguments.
One of the metaphors that Lakoff uses is the “strict father” and “nurturing parent” models of political thought. The strict father model is mostly associated with conservative ideology while the nurturing parent model is mostly associated with liberal ideology. Of course, most people employ a mixture of these two models depending on the situation.
In American politics, the left seems to focus on policy while the right seems to focus on marketing their ideas, which may be why they are successful at stifling the will of the majority. Words really do matter and bumper sticker slogans usually trump nuanced policy proposals.
Lakoff describes the following moral hierarchy based on the strict father worldview:
The basic idea is that authority is justified by morality (the strict father version), and that, in a well-ordered world, there should be (and traditionally has been) a moral hierarchy in which those who have traditionally dominated should dominate. The hierarchy is: God above Man, Man above Nature, The Disciplined (Strong) above the Undisciplined (Weak), The Rich above the Poor, Employers above Employees, Adults above Children, Western culture above other cultures, America above other countries. The hierarchy extends to: Men above women, Whites above Nonwhites, Christians above non-Christians, Straights above Gays.
https://georgelakoff.com/2016/07/23/understanding-trump-2/
Most people will agree with a few of these: God above Man (for people of faith) and Adults above Children. But since I believe in bending the arc of history towards justice, most of this pecking order needs to be shaken up.
Equity - Environment - Economic Justice 