I do have beef with the people in power which is mostly the intellectual class, and I do think they have their head up their asses. Not everyone, obviously, there are intellectuals who are honest and who are intriguing like Haidt who, by the way, is a democrat. But he is doing a disservice to his ideology by publishing this book which contradicts so many things the left shills for, so he probably faced cold shoulders in places like Berkeley who aren't fond of intellectual diversity even when his values do match up. What makes Haidt stand out is there is intellectual honesty to him that is not present in much of the liberal arts university world.
According to Haidt's and other important political morality theories (such as the Moral Foundations theory) people's morality is determined by their genes, it is hereditary, and it is not rational, it comes from gut reactions to things they see. When someone agrees or disagrees with something it is usually the result of a very basic instinct. For example, most people will react right away if they see someone kick a dog. You don't need to think whether it is a good or bad thing, your gut screams: "MAKE IT STOP!" it is the same way with most moral values.
In that regard it isn't hard as a conservative to understand what values rule the mind of a true liberal (not the vultures that use them). An idealist liberal moves in 2 basic moral foundations: the
care/harm foundation which is the most important thing in their moral world (save the dog! save the children! save the poor! save the environment! etc), and the
liberty/oppression foundation (fight the rich, fight the powerful, bring power to the people. They share this foundation with libertarians). Since a conservative shares these 2 moral foundations he can usually understand where liberals come from which is why you will hardly ever see a conservative labeling people on the left unreasonable, of being "the far left!" or "talibans!" as often as liberals do to them.
The problem is actually the other way around.
Liberals often don't understand conservative values because they don't share them. It is similar to the way a libertarian treats a liberal because they
don't understand the care/harm foundation. To a libertarian taxation is theft because they don't feel a gut instinct to help their fellow human who is in a rough spot in the same way a liberal does.
Conservatives feel all 6 dimensions of morality, the ones that liberals feel, plus other dimensions that liberals don't feel. These are the dimensions that liberals have a hard time understanding:
Fairness/cheating: to a liberal the concept of cheating relates only to equality. People who make much more than others are "cheating" in the liberal mind regardless of how they made their fortune. But a conservative thinks in terms of proportionality. People should receive in the proportion in which they give. So if someone works harder than everyone else he should receive more than everyone else. Even if that means that there will be inequality. If someone doesn't work he isn't entitled to the earnings of those who did. When a conservative tries to explain this to a liberal the liberal thinks he lacks the care/harm foundation, that the conservative doesnt care about poor families or hungry children. Conservatives care, they just don't care to the expense of fairness, so it isn't the only thing they see.
Loyalty/betrayal: this relates to in-group loyalty so it is the basis for ideas of patriotism, nationalism, pride and tradition. In my opinion this foundation is possibly the most problematic for liberals to understand. Because not only do they not understand this value, they actively fight it with all their might. I recently read an article about a couple who give away 50% of what they make to poor villages in Africa. The husband's mother was sick with cancer and they refused to give her money because it would be taking money away from africans who need it more than her. The article argued that in order to be truly good you need to give your money to people who are completely unrelated to you. This paragraph from that article sums it up nicely:
You can read the rest of the article here:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ould-you-care-for-strangers-as-much-as-family
It is an interesting difference in world view, you see, since the liberal has no grasp of loyalty/betrayal he sacrifices that moral dimension in the altar of care/harm. Since the only value that truly matters is to take care of people who are struggling then the only thing that you must take into account is
who is suffering more. The conservative understands taking care of people suffering, he just has to balance that feeling with the feeling of loyalty he feels towards his people.
But liberals often mock this and call this natural instinct regressive, even evil. Talking about nationalism for the left is a sin akin to calling yourself a nazi. Feeling proud of your group or of who you are beyond what your profession is, is something that the left finds insulting. So anyone voting for Trump who promises to "Make America Great Again" is a fanatic! How dare you want to Make America Great Again when there are other countries suffering
more? Why don't you want to Make Mexico Great Again too? You must be Hitler.
Authority/subversion: this foundation is about hierarchy. Accepting vertical order or revolting against it. The conservative mind likes order, vertical order, the idea that there is a leader and followers, or an elite of people who are better than others at what they do, etc. But when a liberal sees hierarchy all he sees is oppression/liberty, they think any vertical order is arbitrary and most be abolished in order to end oppression.
Sanctity/degradation: a conservative feels a gut reaction when they see someone use the American flag to clean a toilet. Or when someone spits on a religious symbol like the cross. A liberal doesn't so he doesn't understand what the fuzz is about. It is even funny to a liberal to do these things just to irk the nearest conservative, which is why many pieces of modern art revolve around things like putting a toilet in a museum.
If you like this theory and are interested in learning more you can take tests on their website to see how you score in the moral foundations. Here is the link:
http://www.yourmorals.org/explore.php
