The conservative and progressive worldviews dividing our country can most readily be understood in terms of moral worldviews that are encapsulated in two very different common forms of family life: The Nurturant Parent family (progressive) and the Strict Father family (conservative).

What do social issues and the politics have to do with the family? We are first governed in our families, and so we grow up understanding governing institutions in terms of the governing systems of families.

From “Understanding Trump,” a cognitive breakdown of the appeal of Republican POTUS candidate Donald Trump by George Lakoff, author of Don’t Think of an Elephant! (and THE ALL NEW version). Lakoff lays out why a strict father figure who’s the only one who can solve problems and apply discipline appeals to Trump supporters. Why facts don’t matter (and I was ready to argue them). And some advice for the Democratic candidate and the party’s messaging.

Lakoff is professor emeritus of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley, and Director of the Berkeley Center for Brain, Mind, and Society.