George Lakoff's recent "Don't Think of an Elephant" draws its main points from this earlier book, which explains in depth his theory that liberal and conservative political viewpoints in today's America stem from two radically opposed views of the ideal family. Lakoff is convincing when he quotes actual political writings and speeches to show how the family metaphor permeates political discourse. Until the very end of the book he confines himself to lucid explanations and applications of the two models, the "Strict Father" (conservative) and "Nurturant Parent" (liberal) paradigms. The last few chapters then turn into a hard-hitting indictment of the drawbacks of the former model, and an impassioned plea for all those who believe that the recent conservative ascendancy is steering America in the wrong direction to fight back--how? By first of all using the "Nurturant Parent" approach in raising their own children.

More than any other book I've ever read about the current political scene in America, Lakoff clarifies why the conservative mentality can embrace apparently contradictory stances on such issues as abortion, capital punishment and gun control with such ease, and why liberalism has been more or less routed as a viable alternative up until now. His careful dissection of the failures of the "Strict Father" approach to family life and child-rearing exposes the falseness of the same approach to politics, and gives hope that the tide may yet be turned. This book won't convert any conservatives, or cause them to give up their ideas. But it may give people who wonder where simple decency and humanity have gone the key to begin taking back America.

These days, politics is getting to the point of being too personal. For some like Bush and GOP, it's an asset. For the rest of us progressives and independents, it can be a handicap more often than not. George Lakoff is out to prove otherwise. Learn the strengths and weaknesses and learn what you can do to peacefully strike back and strike forward at bad conservatives and libertarians who have been intertwining morality and politics to the point of pursuing the politics of personal destruction.

This thought provoking book is a Must Read for Americans of all political persuasions who want to understand the basis of America's Culture War. The author systematically and persuasively describes the radically different family structures and moral values of Liberals and Conservatives and how they result in opposing worldviews. Powerful stuff.

This book also hits home for me personally. I have lived in both liberal (Midwest) and conservative (Southern) cultures for many years, and I found the author's analysis to be both fascinating and extraordinarily accurate. I sincerely wish I had read and understood it before I moved to Texas twenty years ago. I had no idea that I was entering an alien environment, i.e. a vastly different culture based on conservative "strict father" authoritarian values. It took many years of observation, on-the-job experience, and exposure to the beliefs and backgrounds of radically conservative friends before I began to comprehend the depth of our differences. Even then, I did not fully understand WHY until I read this book. Its liberal and conservative models exactly fit my personal experiences and observations, as well as the political behavior of both parties. The author has made a powerfully persuasive case. For the first time, I am able to see the "big picture."

According to 2004 election polls, the major issue of concern to voters was morality. For the many liberals who find this fact incomprehensible, READ THIS BOOK to discover the answer. For conservatives who think liberals are hopelessly stupid, naive, unpatriotic, etc., READ THIS BOOK to better understand. For those who are mystified that intelligent people can look at the same set of facts and arrive at opposite conclusions, READ THIS BOOK.

Thank You, George Lakoff, for illuminating this critically important topic.

Wow. There's something with linguists and their ability to detect language patterns and how politicians frame the debate that is amazing.

Mr. Lakoff's book is a wonderful, entertaining and finally a mind-opening read. It's like reading Chomsky but without his endless repetition of facts and figures or historical data and his -sometimes unaccesible- obscure use of the language. I'm not a native english reader and Chomsky (another linguist) often leaves me scratching my head thinking "why did he had to use such obscure term or why is he making that point -AGAIN-?". In contrast, Lakoff's book is more broad, and at times more "clear" to the reader than Chomsky.

In some sneses he also reminds me of a much more elaborate, polished and intellectual version of "We're right, they're wrong" by Carville (an excellent complement to read with this book).

Speaking of that, here's my definitive list: I recommend you this book along with other three that will open your mind like never before. These are:

1. "FUZZY MATH" by Paul Krugman. Explains the Bush tax cuts, the real reason behind those cuts ("fight the future", you'll understand the meaning of that phrase when you read it)
2. "We're right, they're wrong" by former Clinton advisor James Carville. (the less intellectual and the more gutsy of all three books I'll recommend here)
3. "One Market, under God" by Thomas Frank.

In short... I suggest you read this book, along with the above three.

It's interesting to see how conservatives exploited the loopholes and weaknesses of conservatism to the point of bastardization. Look at today's conservatives here in America compared to conservatives in Europe and after reading this book, you'll realize that while both believe in "Strict Father Morality", conservatives in Europe don't abuse it while the current Nixon/Reagan/BushSR/BushJR Republicans abuse it to conceal their immoral policies. America needs principled conservatives like Dwight Eisenhower, not the current brand of Limbaughian conservatives who do anything to win if they can't do it right ! Liberals too need to get over being too nice to the wrong people like George Bush and Rush Limbaugh and be assertive for the common people.