Childrearing and Politics
Nurturant
Parent childrearing practices are superior to Strict Father
childrearing practices. But that, in itself, does not show that
liberal politics is superior to conservative politics. You might, for
example, choose the Nurturant Parent model for your family life and
the Strict Father model for politics.
But
even with this, mere is a problem. The Strict Father model does not
work in the primary sphere of childrearing for which it was devised.
Its claim to superiority was that it was based on human nature. That
claim has been shown to be false.
The
metaphorical application of the Strict Father model to
politics is based on the assumption that the Strict Father model
works for childrearing, especially in its accounts human nature. But
since the Strict Father model is wrong about human nature in the
childrearing case, there is no reason to think that its
assumptions about human nature will be right in the adult case of
politics. Indeed, there is every reason to think that its view of
human nature will fail as badly for politics as it does for
childrearing. That brings us to the next chapter.
8
