Comments on: The Snowbound Commons http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/2003/12/07/the-snowbound-commons/ faults | sins | abuses Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:24:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Chris http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/2003/12/07/the-snowbound-commons/#comment-374 Chris Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/archives/2003/12/07/the-snowbound-commons/#comment-374 Hmm... I've been working on stringing together some thoughts on learning communities and the academic commons, and Hardin's quote about morality dovetails with some things I read in Lakoff's Moral Politics. I recommend the book, Mike, particularly the first chapter or three where he talks about the metaphor of "moral arithmetic" and obligation it entails/connotes. Hmm… I’ve been working on stringing together some thoughts on learning communities and the academic commons, and Hardin’s quote about morality dovetails with some things I read in Lakoff’s Moral Politics. I recommend the book, Mike, particularly the first chapter or three where he talks about the metaphor of “moral arithmetic” and obligation it entails/connotes.

]]> By: Mike http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/2003/12/07/the-snowbound-commons/#comment-375 Mike Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/archives/2003/12/07/the-snowbound-commons/#comment-375 The Lakoff sounds interesting. I've been reading about exchange-based economies as opposed to reciprocity-based economies as opposed to gift economies, and how exchange is always haunted by the specter of enforcement -- does that line up at all with Lakoff's view of the right as more oriented towards authority and obedience? The Lakoff sounds interesting. I’ve been reading about exchange-based economies as opposed to reciprocity-based economies as opposed to gift economies, and how exchange is always haunted by the specter of enforcement — does that line up at all with Lakoff’s view of the right as more oriented towards authority and obedience?

]]> By: Chris http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/2003/12/07/the-snowbound-commons/#comment-376 Chris Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/archives/2003/12/07/the-snowbound-commons/#comment-376 The nutshell answer to your question is yes. I fear that I've got the beginnings of the killer crud myself, so I don't trust my ability to precis what Lakoff is saying, but yes--conservatives in his conception live by a set of metaphors he names the "Strict Father Morality". Reciprocity, obedience, an emphasis on self-discipline, denial of pleasure, and the like all grouped into a coherent view of both family and society. I'm still trying to connect it all more explicitly with economy and exchange: is ownership and strict reciprocity consonant with the conservative worldview, and is copyleft and share-alike more in line with the "Nurturant Parent" model Lakoff describes? What's the connection of all of this with ideas of the college/university as a locus of in-kind exchange, of an academic commons? I'm still pounding it out without much in the way of an Archimedean moment. The nutshell answer to your question is yes. I fear that I’ve got the beginnings of the killer crud myself, so I don’t trust my ability to precis what Lakoff is saying, but yes–conservatives in his conception live by a set of metaphors he names the “Strict Father Morality”. Reciprocity, obedience, an emphasis on self-discipline, denial of pleasure, and the like all grouped into a coherent view of both family and society.

I’m still trying to connect it all more explicitly with economy and exchange: is ownership and strict reciprocity consonant with the conservative worldview, and is copyleft and share-alike more in line with the “Nurturant Parent” model Lakoff describes? What’s the connection of all of this with ideas of the college/university as a locus of in-kind exchange, of an academic commons? I’m still pounding it out without much in the way of an Archimedean moment.

]]> By: Mike http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/2003/12/07/the-snowbound-commons/#comment-377 Mike Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/archives/2003/12/07/the-snowbound-commons/#comment-377 Hm. Not having read Lakoff, I'll say that I can see how the metaphors might work, but when you ask what things are consonant with one another, I worry about piling too many metaphors atop one another. After all, reciprocity can be constructed both as generosity of spirit and also as adherence to exchange. There's a continuum from "consevative" to "liberal" (and of course, even something as two-dimensional as the Political Compass shows us how reductive that continuum is), but is it elitist to wonder whether there's also a continuum of political nuance? Hm. Not having read Lakoff, I’ll say that I can see how the metaphors might work, but when you ask what things are consonant with one another, I worry about piling too many metaphors atop one another. After all, reciprocity can be constructed both as generosity of spirit and also as adherence to exchange. There’s a continuum from “consevative” to “liberal” (and of course, even something as two-dimensional as the Political Compass shows us how reductive that continuum is), but is it elitist to wonder whether there’s also a continuum of political nuance?

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