About Democrats

Satin on Lakoff

Mark Satin has a nice critique of the Lakoff framing approach that some Democrats have been seduced by. Like Satin, I believe the Democrats' problem is not just form but substance. I further reject Lakoff's notion that the mothering approach is better than the fathering approach. Like yin and yang, we need both, in balance.

Moreover, Lakoff’s frames are hardly scientifically drawn. The counterpart of the strict father model is not nurturant parent. It’s what you could call the “anything goes” model, from which millions of youth are suffering today.

The nurturant parent model (and how’s about plural -- nurturant parents) is the golden mean, with appropriate discipline and freedom both built in. Some dare call it the radical middle model.