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Mostly, the "mystery reason" is that self-interested voting is prevalent only among the needy and the greedy. At one end are those who feel it's necessary for t

Mostly, the "mystery reason" is that self-interested voting is prevalent only among the needy and the greedy. At one end are those who feel it's necessary for their own survival (even when they're wrong or when the policies they vote for actually harm them). At the other end are the rentiers who never had any guiding principle other than self-interest. In between are the many reasonably-prosperous and mostly-urban folks who can afford to vote their conscience. When the personal effect of a policy ranges from slight benefit to slight harm, in neither case affecting one's basic quality of life or social standing, it becomes a lot easier to vote for policies that one sincerely and logically believes are best in a utilitarian sense.

scarface74 7y ago
I’ve heard more than one person on the greedy in say “I find candidate X detestable as a person but I knew I had a better chance at tax cuts.”
- ineedasername 7y ago
  Sure, but we're talking about tendencies, the average ability for people in these different groups to vote in this way, not in absolute "everyone votes this way" terms.
perl4ever 7y ago
The people you assume vote their self-interest have essentially zero effect via their individual vote, just like everyone else. I mean, if I said I voted for the Green party in every election ever, you would not be able to tell by the state of the country whether that is true, no matter who I am or what my economic situation is. So I think you are providing illogical reasons for other people to have a certain pattern of illogical beliefs, which is like doubtful squared for me. Edit: Maybe I would expect the pattern you describe, but I would describe the reasons differently, at least. It is fundamentally irrational to vote as though your vote affects anything, so perhaps the people who are successful and fulfilled through work would tend to be rational, and regard voting as personal expression - whereas people who are not so rational would be more prone to vote their self-interest. Then, of course, one would ask if the irrational in this sense are the groups you mentioned. I don't know.

scarface74 7y ago

I’ve heard more than one person on the greedy in say “I find candidate X detestable as a person but I knew I had a better chance at tax cuts.”

ineedasername 7y ago
Sure, but we're talking about tendencies, the average ability for people in these different groups to vote in this way, not in absolute "everyone votes this way" terms.

perl4ever 7y ago

The people you assume vote their self-interest have essentially zero effect via their individual vote, just like everyone else. I mean, if I said I voted for the Green party in every election ever, you would not be able to tell by the state of the country whether that is true, no matter who I am or what my economic situation is. So I think you are providing illogical reasons for other people to have a certain pattern of illogical beliefs, which is like doubtful squared for me. Edit: Maybe I would expect the pattern you describe, but I would describe the reasons differently, at least. It is fundamentally irrational to vote as though your vote affects anything, so perhaps the people who are successful and fulfilled through work would tend to be rational, and regard voting as personal expression - whereas people who are not so rational would be more prone to vote their self-interest. Then, of course, one would ask if the irrational in this sense are the groups you mentioned. I don't know.