Arnold Kling's three axis model of political ideology is one of those things I keep meaning to write about -- I don't fully agree with it, but it's useful enough as to sometime lead to certain insights. The model, in his own words, is as follows:
My hypothesis is that progressives, conservatives, and libertarians view politics along three different axes. For progressives, the main axis has oppressors at one end and the oppressed at the other. For conservatives, the main axis has civilization at one end and barbarism at the other. For libertarians, the main axis has coercion at one end and free choice at the other.
One of his latest in this mode made me chuckle:
A reader familiar with the three-axes model asks,
The oppressed would seem to be victims of violence, but wouldn’t that make criminals the oppressors? How do hunters, recreational shooters, and the NRA end up being the bad guys?
1. The progressive model requires a villain who belongs to some sort of privileged class. Criminals do not fit the bill.
2. Hunting and recreational shooting are not approved activities for city-dwellers. Rural folks need to start acting like normal people and taking Zumba classes, going to restaurants run by celebrity chefs, and spending more time on smart phones.
1 comment:
If readers are interested, there is a very good podcast with Kling interviewed by Russ Roberts at EconTalk (a very good site, by the way). THe link is: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/06/kling_on_the_th.html
Mark L.
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