[MD] Whose Freedom?

[ARLO J BENSINGER JR]

[Marsha]
I'm looking forward to reading what Mr. Lakoff adds to the pot of freedom.

[Arlo]
George Lakoff's work should be (and is) greatly appreciated. His dominant, or
most well-know, ideas revolve around cultural metaphor. That is, it's not just
that we use metaphor is our language, but our language is structured by
underlying cultural metaphors. These guide not only word choice, but also how
we conceptualize various activities. His most well-known example is probably
"argument is a war". In English, our thinking, our describing, our very
understanding of what an argument "is" is structured by the idea that it is
metaphorically "war". Examples, "I won that argument", "He was doing well until
I brought out the big guns", "I demolished his position", etc. In contrast,
several latino cultures view argument not as a "war", but as a "dance". As such
"victory" is absent from discussions about arguments, with successful arguments
being one where BOTH "partners" achieve fluidity and eloquence. Blocking your
partners steps in this "dance" does not "win" but rather "interrupts" a
successful argument.

"Freedom", of course, works the same way. I had a Swedish friend tell me once
that he considers his people MORE free (than us) because while we are forced to
spend so much time and effort worrying about and securing health care, working
long hours to pay enormous medical bills, spouses taking second jobs just to
cover the months insurance costs, etc., they can pursue more personally
stimulating activities (painting, reading, skiing, etc.) "free" from the worry
that if they become sick they will have no way to get treatment. The Native
American and Aborignals (at the risk of overgeneralizing) would view our lives
today as anything BUT free. Most of our land is "private", we can't go wherever
we want. We would be seen as slaves to property, not free men.

At any rate, Lakoff is certainly worth the time to read. His work, both academic
and popular, is well thought and well articulated.