[...] right-wing populist vampires are busy sucking the blood of the European underclass and have secured the US presidency for the king of the undead. - Helen Razer
The “why are they voting against their own economic interests” trope about Republican support from working class voters is something that has been bugging me for a while. It’s as good a time as any.
I haven’t voted for years due to my international status. When I did vote in Australia, I voted ALP. I’d probably vote Greens these days. I suspect the position would be the same for most people on the Couch.
Whether voting for the ALP or the Greens, I would likely be voting against my own economic interests. Yet I suspect no one would wonder out loud why I’m doing that. I suspect it would be taken for granted that I would not vote solely in my own economic interests, but instead that I would vote on ideological, moral and broader social good grounds.
Yet, the “not voting in their own economic interests” trope is commonly invoked when we’re talking about voters in the working class.
Why is this?
Are the working class viewed as having no interests other than their economic interests? Why, instead, are they not given credit for seeing beyond their economic interests to a desire to achieve broader social good (even if we view them as misguided in who to vote for to achieve broader social good)?
Is moral agency a privilege only of the middle class, while the lower class are expected to act solely in economic self-interest? Is voting to achieve particular social, ethical, foreign policy etc outcomes a luxury good to which the working class are not entitled, such that they should only vote for their individual best economic outcome?
This trope smacks of condescension towards the working class. “Not voting in their own economic interests” essentially equates to “they are materialistic and greedy, but too dumb to know how best to get the best materialistic outcome for themselves”.
Error correction on some statements I made on the show.
Son of Evo Morales managed flight supervision authority in Bolivia - incorrect - it was the son of a former pilot of Morales
“On Friday, the Associated Press reported that one of the LaMia airlines owners, Gustavo Vargas, had served as pilot to Bolivian president Evo Morales in 2006 and that his son, also called Gustavo Vargas, headed the office at the country’s civil aviation agency tasked with licensing aircraft. The younger Vargas was one of a number of high-level aviation officials suspended on 1 December as part of an investigation into the crash, AP said.”
Dianne Feinstein as Democrats House minority leader - incorrect - it’s Nancy Pelosi
http://www.npr.org/2016/11/30/503902535/house-democrats-re-elect-nancy-pelosi-as-minority-leader