George Lakoff on Katrina – Failure of Moral Values

In a nice follow up to my earlier There’s No Helping the NeoCons post, George Lakoff comments that Katrina was not only a natural disaster and federal failure, it was a complete failure of the Republican moral and political philosophy.

(emphasis is Lakoff’s)

“The [right-wing conservatives] central principle: Government has no useful role. The only common good is the sum of individual goods. It’s the difference between We’re all in this together and You’re on your own, buddy. It’s the difference between Every citizen is entitled to protection and You’re only entitled to what you can afford. It’s the difference between connection and separation. It is this difference in moral and political philosophy that lies behind the tragedy of Katrina.”

One thought on “George Lakoff on Katrina – Failure of Moral Values

  1. Lakoff is either intentionally misstating or does not understand the right-wing conservative position. Some right-wing conservatives want less government, however, none want no government. More simply put, right-wing conservatism does not equal anarchism.

    It is obvious that conservatives do support some form of government because some religious conservatives want to use government to regulate sexual morals and behavior. And the neocons support military action which requires a government.

    Really, it is not as simple as Lakoff would like to present it and it does a disservice to us for us to ignore the differences of opinion and beliefs amongst conservatives.

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