Why Americans vote against their own self interest: "None of us is really poor; we're just pre-rich"

[Liberal_in_LA]

In 2003, in The New York Times Magazine, David Brooks put his finger on the reality of U.S. thinking.

"People vote their aspirations," he wrote.

"They don't see society as a conflict zone between the rich and poor."

What surprises citizens of other countries is the lack of outrage and revolt over what everyone else sees as inequality.

But Americans just don't see it that way.

As Brooks puts it: "Income resentment is not a strong emotion in much of America.

"It's not hard to see why they think this way.

"Americans live in a culture of abundance. They have always had a sense that the great opportunities lie just over the horizon, in the next valley, with the next job or the next big thing.

"None of us is really poor; we're just pre-rich."

That goes a long way to explaining why they vote against their own best interests.

"Many Americans admire the rich," wrote Brooks.

After all, if they believe they are soon to be among the affluent, why would they vote to tax their future more-prosperous selves?

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/canada-in-afghanistan/American+Dream+them+brink/5190843/story.html#ixzz1U6vm6qLI

[NewJeffCT]

1. Several years back, there was a survey

Where 18% of Americans thought they were in the top 1% of income earners.

[bluethruandthru]

2. They want to make sure that when they strike it rich

no illegal immigrant/homeless person/drug addicted welfare recipient/single mother will be able to take it from them!

[YellowRubberDuckie]

3. That is what they have taught the poor and stupid.

That is why they like killing education and keeping people stupid.

[amborin]

4. Horatio Alger myth; Gramsci spoke to this

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. The Horatio Alger model -

Poor young man forms an unnaturally close relationship with wealthy older man, marries his daughter, and convinces himself he's pulled himself up by his own bootstraps.

[athenasatanjesus]

6. Haters gotta Hate!

That popular expression basically translates into "don't criticize successful people otherwise you are just jealous of their success".

[southerncrone]

7. Another form of audacity of hope OR

confirmation of brainwashed citizens?

[Raine]

8. Interesting ... THANKS for posting this

I've always felt that was the reasoning why so many who vote against their own interests.

[Lorien]

9. Almost every poor person I know thinks that they'll hit the lottery someday

if that States didn't have lotteries or casinos people might shed more of their illusions.

[leftstreet]

10. It would help if politicians REPRESENTED our interests n/t

[provis99]

11. yep. False hope is the most American of ideologies.

[hadrons]

12. Many less affluent see the rich as the same as them ....

its just that they were ahead of the line ... many of these "pre-rich" project qualities that they believe they have to the people they wish to be (I say believe because I know lots of people who believe they are smart/competent/compassionate and they aren't)

[hifiguy]

13. The American populace's capacity for self-delusion

or its just plain rank stupidity is apparently boundless.

[ljm2002]

14. I think this is the symptom, not the cause...

...the cause of the "I'm not poor, I'm pre-rich" thinking is the effective propaganda that the American people are subjected to. In other words, they are sadly misinformed by the corporate Pravda.

Most Americans still believe that here, in the Land of the Free, we have more social mobility than other countries. Wrong. Most Americans still believe that we have the best medical system in the world. Wrong. Most Americans still believe that we have the world's best educational system. Wrong. Most Americans still believe that our free enterprise system is the best for small businesses. Wrong. Most Americans still believe that in any and every war we engage in, our troops are "keeping us free" (because, you know, "freedom isn't free"). Wrong.

These beliefs are hard to dislodge because they are deeply ingrained into our psyches, they are part of our definition of self, and they are reinforced daily. We are Americans, the greatest nation that ever was.

The right knows how to play to this thinking. You will notice how they hysterically attack anyone of consequence who criticizes the United States, especially if there is merit to the criticism. That is because they know that if people really analyzed what is going on, they would realize that what makes a country great is not how big a war machine it has. Rather, it is how that nation serves its people. And our nation is not serving its people well right now, not at all.