The audacity of condescension 2
I’ve been reading “What’s the Matter with Kansas?”, by Thomas Frank. This is the book-length version of Obama’s pithy remark about “bitter” voters clinging to guns and religion. TTB provides a link to an article-length rant.
The common theme is that there is something wrong with people who vote Republican. There is a vast right-wing conspiracy to get people agitated with religious issues so they will vote against their own economic interests while big business ships their jobs to Mexico, while Wal-Mart destroys small businesses, and while big agriculture destroys the family farm.
Meanwhile, there is a mirror image of this narrative: there is a vast left-wing conspiracy which has taken over the universities, controls Hollywood, and is systematically undermining traditional values. Thomas Frank says there is no liberal conspiracy; television is driven by advertising (business), and Hollywood is simply giving people what they want (the market in action).
I say there are conspiracies all over the place. It is somewhat amusing to try to explain the behavior of others in terms of what is wrong with them, but mostly I see myself making relatively simple decisions. I can watch reality TV or not watch reality TV, I can vote or not vote, just decide and move on to something more interesting.
June 9th, 2008 at 8:24 am
>>There is a vast right-wing conspiracy to get people agitated with religious issues so they will vote against their own economic interests<<
The Democrats have trouble understanding that quite a few people are willing to vote against their own economic self interests, if the issues are big enough for them.
Actually, they apparently do understand that, they just think it is a symptom of mental illness.