Why do people often vote against their own interests?

#1
VolInMn

VolInMn

Vol Football Evangelist
Joined
Dec 17, 2009
Messages
852
Likes
0
#1
The Republicans' shock victory in the election for the US Senate seat in Massachusetts meant the Democrats lost their supermajority in the Senate. This makes it even harder for the Obama administration to get healthcare reform passed in the US.

Political scientist Dr David Runciman looks at why is there often such deep opposition to reforms that appear to be of obvious benefit to voters.
Click to expand...



BBC News - Why do people often vote against their own interests?
 
#5
#5
socialized medicine isn't in our "self-interest" and if you bristle at the term "socialized" get over it. Americans do want some reforms, what we don't want is over 100 new federal bureaucracies, special deals for labor unions and trial lawyers, an insurance mandate for individual citizens, and trillions more in national debt.
 
#6
#6
MG1968 said:
socialized medicine isn't in our "self-interest" and if you bristle at the term "socialized" get over it. Americans do want some reforms, what we don't want is over 100 new federal bureaucracies, special deals for labor unions and trial lawyers, an insurance mandate for individual citizens, and trillions more in national debt.
Click to expand...

I don't have any problem with the term "socialized medicine"

But to call the current health care proposal "socialized" is insulting. My problem with it is that it is insufficiently socialist.
 
#7
#7
GAVol said:
The whole premise is flawed.
Click to expand...

Bingo.

We are all screwed when some outside observer claims to understand any individual's "self interest".

Obama displayed this during the SOTU - the people rejected the HC plan because they didn't understand how wonderful it is and he didn't explain it properly so we could see its wonder.

Thank God the government is thinking for me so I don't have to. Now where's my beer and reality TV.
 
#9
#9
That article is the biggest piece of elitist BS I've read in a long time.

Odd that Mr. Frank (of What's the matter with Kansas) speaks of the disadvantaged being swayed by Republican emotional appeals. Has he looked at the Democratic base? Talk about disadvantaged - talk about supporting policies that perpetuate their situation.

The premise of this article is what compelled Thomas Friedman to wish the U.S. were run by the "enlightened dictators" of China so we could force green investments on the country.

Run for the hills if someone tells you what's in your self interest.
 
#11
#11
volinbham said:
Do you believe that the populace is incapable of understanding what is in their own best interest? The article suggests they are not - or at least those that vote Republican are not.
Click to expand...

I think many people could understand what's in they're best interest, but I think that overall the American population is not exactly an intellectual crowd. There is a lot of ignorance and stupidity in our population.

Specifically, I know plenty of people who vote Republican despite the fact that the candidates they vote for screw them over, and when I point out specific policies that they rant about and show that the Republicans have instituted them, they say "well at least they're not SOCIALISTS like those democrats"

At which point I sigh because calling democrats socialist is like calling John McCain a fundamentalist revival pastor.
 
#12
#12
volinbham said:
That article is the biggest piece of elitist BS I've read in a long time.
Click to expand...

It doesn't deserve any analysis beyond that. It's the ole "if you disagree with me, it must be because you're too ignorant to understand" argument
 
#13
#13
Snakes on a Wii said:
I think many people could understand what's in they're best interest, but I think that overall the American population is not exactly an intellectual crowd. There is a lot of ignorance and stupidity in our population.

Specifically, I know plenty of people who vote Republican despite the fact that the candidates they vote for screw them over, and when I point out specific policies that they rant about and show that the Republicans have instituted them, they say "well at least they're not SOCIALISTS like those democrats"

At which point I sigh because calling democrats socialist is like calling John McCain a fundamentalist revival pastor.
Click to expand...

Fortunately all those that vote Dem are straight up brilliant...

Glad to see you are so open minded.
 
#14
#14
GAVol said:
It doesn't deserve any analysis beyond that. It's the ole "if you disagree with me, it must be because you're too ignorant to understand" argument
Click to expand...

you are correct

your original statement was correct - flawed premise - but I had to throw in one of my patented, painfully long winded explanations :)

crap, I did it again.
 
#15
#15
volinbham said:
Fortunately all those that vote Dem are straight up brilliant...

Glad to see you are so open minded.
Click to expand...

I don't like the democrats at all. They are perhaps marginally better than Republicans, which is somewhere between having a load of crap dumped at your front door and a load of crap with some Febreze sprayed on top. My problem with the democrats is that they pretend to stand up for liberalism but are actually a bunch of spineless *****es who have to compromise their principles to gain any real power (and once they do they don't have the stones to actually fulfill their promises).

So yeah, you could call me open minded. Although I know you were being sarcastic :)
 
#16
#16
volinbham said:
Do you believe that the populace is incapable of understanding what is in their own best interest? The article suggests they are not - or at least those that vote Republican are not.
Click to expand...

I believe a good number of Republicans are given to unfounded fear perpetuated by Limbaugh, Beck, Palin, Bachmann, and so forth. This seed has been picked up and spread by teabaggers all around.

These folks are the the loudest, rudest, most outspoken fear-mongering folks around and because of that, are the face of the GOP to anyone outside the "Obama is a seekrit mooslin" camp.
 
#17
#17
VolInMn said:
I believe a good number of Republicans are given to unfounded fear perpetuated by Limbaugh, Beck, Palin, Bachmann, and so forth. This seed has been picked up and spread by teabaggers all around.

These folks are the the loudest, rudest, most outspoken fear-mongering folks around and because of that, are the face of the GOP to anyone outside the "Obama is a seekrit mooslin" camp.
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree. Although the democrats certainly do the same thing with different issues, the Republicans are way more vocal about it.
 
#18
#18
It's politics. The idea that either party has the market cornered on fear tactics is laughable.

The gameplans are different, but the playbooks are the same.
 
#19
#19
GAVol said:
It's politics. The idea that either party has the market cornered on fear tactics is laughable.

The gameplans are different, but the playbooks are the same.
Click to expand...

It always amuses me when Democrats complain about Rush Limbaugh or the like. I certainly agree but a certain biblical passage about planks and sawdust comes to mind. It's almost as if the past 8 years of opposition politics against the Bush presidency never happened.
 
#20
#20
VolInMn said:
I believe a good number of Republicans are given to unfounded fear perpetuated by Limbaugh, Beck, Palin, Bachmann, and so forth. This seed has been picked up and spread by teabaggers all around.

These folks are the the loudest, rudest, most outspoken fear-mongering folks around and because of that, are the face of the GOP to anyone outside the "Obama is a seekrit mooslin" camp.
Click to expand...

Snakes on a Wii said:
I absolutely agree. Although the democrats certainly do the same thing with different issues, the Republicans are way more vocal about it.
Click to expand...

You guys are killing me.
 
#21
#21
volinbham said:
You guys are killing me.
Click to expand...

They have an entire medium (AM radio), the largest cable news network (FOX), and any time one of their people says something shocking it gets reported by all of the other media outlets. Their message and talking points are simultaneously the reporting itself and the object of reporting. To suggest that liberals somehow have them beat on manipulating the public debate is absurd.
 
#22
#22
Snakes on a Wii said:
They have an entire medium (AM radio), the largest cable news network (FOX), and any time one of their people says something shocking it gets reported by all of the other media outlets. Their message and talking points are simultaneously the reporting itself and the object of reporting. To suggest that liberals somehow have them beat on manipulating the public debate is absurd.
Click to expand...

still killing me

the posted article in this thread is a prime example of how R's don't control the "manipulation" of the public debate.
 
#23
#23
The tone of the article was definitely slanted to the left and was condescending, but the authors did seem to at least grasp on to a few truths...

If people vote against their own interests, it is not because they do not understand what is in their interest or have not yet had it properly explained to them.

They do it because they resent having their interests decided for them by politicians who think they know best.

There is nothing voters hate more than having things explained to them as though they were idiots.
Click to expand...


And when the politicians say to the people protesting: 'But we're doing this for you', that just makes it worse. In fact, that seems to be what makes them angriest of all.
Click to expand...
 
#24
#24
Snakes on a Wii said:
They have an entire medium (AM radio), the largest cable news network (FOX), and any time one of their people says something shocking it gets reported by all of the other media outlets. Their message and talking points are simultaneously the reporting itself and the object of reporting. To suggest that liberals somehow have them beat on manipulating the public debate is absurd.
Click to expand...

I love watching Faux News. They will consistently remind you how they are the little man in the media and how the "Mass Media" is attacking "Conservative Values" and then a minute later they are reminding you of how they are "Fair and Balanced" and dwarf any opposition in ratings.

YouTube - Fox News' War on the White House
 
#25
#25
bam15 said:
I love watching Faux News. They will consistently remind you how they are the little man in the media and how the "Mass Media" is attacking "Conservative Values" and then a minute later they are reminding you of how they are "Fair and Balanced" and dwarf any opposition in ratings.
Click to expand...
I don't really see where there's necessarily any hypocrisy in that.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top