Moral Politics - The Nation as a Family

A three-part series examining the use of metaphor in applying what we know about families -- small, close-knit groups of people that we deal with often -- to nations -- large, complicated groups of people that we never interact with directly. Parts two and three discuss two different idealized models of the family that lead to the two main political ideologies in our society today.

The Nation as a Family

Part One in a series of articles outlining the metaphorical structures behind liberalism and conservatism, this memo describes how metaphors affect the way we reason, and why this matters in politics.

The Progressive Worldview

In Part Two of the three-part "Nation as a Family" series, we examine the progressive worldview, and demonstrate how that worldview leads progressives to hold consistent positions on the issues.

The Conservative Worldview

In the final part of the three-part "Nation as a Family" series, we examine the structure of the conservative worldview, and show how this structure leads to the conservative positions on a variety of issues.