The Three Languages of Politics by Arnold Kling

Humans evolved to send and receive signals that enable us to recognize people we can trust. One of the most powerful signals is that the person speaks our language.

If someone can speak like a native, then almost always he or she is a native, and natives tend to treat each other better than they treat strangers.

The central claim of this book is that (P) is the language of progressives, (C) is the language of conservatives, and (L) is the language of libertarians. I call this the three-axes model of political communication.

A progressive will communicate along the oppressor-oppressed axis, framing issues in terms of the (P) dichotomy. A conservative will communicate along the civilization-barbarism axis, framing issues in terms of the (C) dichotomy.

A libertarian will communicate along the liberty-coercion axis, framing issues in terms of the (L) dichotomy.

The three axes allow each tribe to assert moral superior-
ity.The progressive asserts moral superiority by denouncing oppression and accusing others of failing to do so

The conservative asserts moral superiority by denouncing barbarism and accusing others of failing to do so. The libertarian asserts moral superiority by denouncing coercion and accusing others of failing to do so.

Soda Tax : Taxing obesity itself would
be more in line with the conservative axis. Taxing only soda appeals more to the progressive axis. Neither approach would appeal to the libertarian axis.

I believe that the three languages of politics are used as
part of fast political thinking. The main prescriptive theme of this book is that you should hesitate when you find yourself inclined to frame an issue in terms of your preferred political language.

Instead, try to switch over to slow political thinking.