I’ve written before in these pages about the intensification of the struggle between the more liberal mindset (signified by Uranus) and a more conservative approach (represented by Saturn) as Saturn and Uranus face off in the sky, beginning in 2008 and continuing throughout 2010.  

– Harm/care. It is wrong to hurt people; it is good to relieve suffering. 

– Fairness/reciprocity. Justice and fairness are good; people have certain rights that need to be upheld in social interactions. 

– In-group loyalty. People should be true to their group and be wary of threats from the outside. Allegiance, loyalty and patriotism are virtues; betrayal is bad. 

– Authority/respect. People should respect social hierarchy; social order is necessary for human life. 

– Purity/sanctity. The body and certain aspects of life are sacred. Cleanliness and health, as well as their derivatives of chastity and piety, are all good. Pollution, contamination and the associated character traits of lust and greed are all bad. 

Democrats, he found, feel strongly about the first two but cared little about the second three.  Republicans valued the third, fourth and fifth value above the first two.  According to Haidt,

“I see liberalism and conservatism as opposing principles that work well when in balance,” he says, noting that authority needs to be both upheld (as conservatives insist) and challenged (as liberals maintain). “It’s a basic design principle: You get better responsiveness if you have two systems pushing against each other. As individuals, we are very bad at finding the flaws in our own arguments. We all have a distorted perception of reality.”