People voting against their own interests

[Taylor Smite]

So im at the local political meeting today where all the local elected leaders come to meet-and-greet with one another. There are folks from the city, the township, the county commissioners, and the school board. We all talk about what's new and our problems.

All the problems revolve around reduced state funding and programs getting cut. Here is a brief rundown: The state told us the DMV is up for closure. The school district might be placed under the administrative control of the state if the levy doesnt pass. We cant get funding to fix the stretch of roadway described as a "death trap." The WIC office just lost its funding. On and on and on.

This is in Ohio which has a republican governor and about a million republicans in the legislature. The Governor and State Legislature have been slashing money going to local governments like crazy and redirecting the money toward corporate handouts like "JobsOhio" (look up JobsOhio...trust me). The area is pretty economically depressed. Reaganomics is a real blessing here. The only thing keeping the region afloat is a huge military base (funded by tax payer dollars no less).

I know the majority of the locally elected people at the meeting and all, except maybe one or two (husband and wife), vote straight ticket republican every election. They are nice people, they just cant connect the dots. The commissioner complaining about the 'death trap' road and how there is no funding is a republican. The councilman mad about the closing of the only DMV in this half of the county is a republican. The school board guy mad that the district cant afford all day kindergarten is a republican. The two guys upset about the WIC office losing its funding are Democrats.....no im just kidding they are both republicans. On and on and on.

A different republican councilman said, 'voting for Democrats is what is wrong with the economy'. Funny thing is, he is the union rep at his work and even campaigned against Kasichs HB5 (union busting law). The guy is a really cool dude....he just somehow doesnt get it.

So there we go. Everyone was very upset about the economic disaster caused by Republican economic policies....but they all vote Republican or run as republicans. These aren't just your average Fox viewers, these are the local leaders who are supposed to understand cause and effect.

I dont get it, you are mad about a union-busting rule or mad that Columbus wants to close the DMV, but you are a republican.

You vote for, and vocally support, the people who do things you hate....

[Thinkingabout]

1. I have often wondered about this also.

Folks are working two jobs apiece just to get by and still voting for the party who has brought this on to them. I have said often being for or against abortion does not qualify one to hold office of any position. Why are they voting on this basis. No wonder we don't have intelligent congress members.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. Thom Hartmann talked about this on his show the other day. It's all about advertising....

a caller asked about why this is so (voting against best interest) - Thom asked what type of beer the caller drank - then asked why. It all came down to advertising. The Repubs are really good at non-stop targeted advertising (read brainwashing).

Think about it - why is Bud Light the best selling beer in the US (it really is awful, by the way) - because of advertising. It works. Think about how cigarette ads roped in young smokers. etc...etc....It is a fault of human beings that for the most part, we can all be brainwashed by ads. Pretty pathetic, isn't it?

[Taylor Smite]

4. Since you had that tomato picture

and you mentioned beer, I have a question for you.

I got some tomato plants from the home-and-garden place. They came with a pamphlet that provided tips for better gardening. The pamphlet said to make sure the tomatoes get plenty of natural light. If I give them bud select instead do you think they will grow taller?

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. LOL!

They will get sick if you give them either! Give them a Guinness - they will have a nice stout central stem!

[SheilaT]

7. Very interesting point.

It is a vanishingly small percentage of people who don't watch commercial TV. I happen to be one of them, and it's very interesting to be so cut off from all the advertizing. It's important to note that I watch plenty of shows that start out on commercial TV, it's just that I watch them on the internet with little or no advertizing.

What I am almost totally insulated from is the political ads that happen in an election year. So I simply don't have that source of "information" to help me decide whom to vote for.

I also miss out on such things as the wall-to-wall coverage that occurs when, say, a Michael Jackson dies. I actually didn't realize that had happened (the coverage, not his death) until about three months after he died. I also miss out on most things that so many others obsess about. I would never have known about the whole Ann Romney and the Stay At Home Mothers thing were it not for DU. And, quite frankly, I'd have been better off not even knowing about that silliness.

Advertizing really is effective.

[napoleon_in_rags]

11. Hey now, I like Bud Light. You have to look at product too.

If you wake up with a hang over, you can drink it to recover, and then not drink the next day, you avoid the alcoholic trap because its really like half beer and half Perrier. It lets you drink without drinking.

But my point is you have to look at product. The conservative product is a cultural identity: Down home, not exotic or "elite", responsible, traditional values, etc. The cost of this product is a set of policies made by really rich elites who have nothing to do with those values, they use them as a sales pitch to get this large block of people to support them.

The big mistake Dems make is when they try to disassociate from this identity product to define a cultural alternative, instead of focusing on the reality of the bait-and-switch. MSNBC has committed this error, when you see Maddow for instance presented as this urbane cocktail drinking sophisticate, when in reality she is fighting for down home working class people. We should be fighting the illusion.

[NRaleighLiberal]

12. You may be an exception - here's the point - beer aficianados,

tasters, people who drink beer for flavor - Bud Light often ranks DEAD LAST in tastings. So when a dead last beer is the top seller, you just have to admit advertising works wonders - and think of the zillions they pour into it. My favorite beer is Rogue double chocolate stout. They probably sell more bud light in 10 minutes than Rogue sells of the stout in a year.

My daughters admit to drinking it "because of the way that they make it look like fun in the ads". Friends have agreed to buying this or that because of the effectiveness of the ads. I work in pharma - look at the money they are pouring into ads - all those viagra ads, nexium ads - why? because it works - otherwise they wouldn't be doing it.

[napoleon_in_rags]

13. If Bud light ranks DEAD LAST, then those are some exclusive tasting contests.

Last edited Fri May 4, 2012, 02:51 AM - Edit history (1)

My worst beer memory? Its hazy. I remember being drunk, wearing a black overcoat. It felt like somewhere in the desert, going in to some Mexican place where the windows were boarded over with cardboard and the man behind the counter had white shirt and cowboy hat and cigar wrinkled face. I had just a little over a dollar in change. As I remember it today, the beer was called "Underworld" or something, and had the three headed dog Cerberus on the front. I have the faintest memory of Persephone as the spread eagle Melusine from the original Starbuck's logo, but the veracity of that memory is questionable, moreso even than the rest.

It was cheap, it had something like 10% alcohol. When I first began to drink it, my thought was oh, somebody came up with a clever way to sell industrial waste products. But as I drank more, I began to realize the pure evil of the composition, it was a potion designed to bring me to Cerberus and Persephone, and it almost did.

MANY levels up from that is Genesee, at 99 cents a tall boy.

Some levels up from that is Milwaukee's best.

Some levels up from "the beast" is MGD.

And a few levels up from that is Bud Light, standing at the threshold of good beers and microbrews without crossing over it.

My favorite good beer is Avatar IPA from Elysian.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/elysian-avatar-jasmine-ipa/37015/\

I believe its from a local brewery, so it may not be where you are. I am a fan of IPAs.

The point is, when people buy beer an economy is at play. Bud Light is the most inexpensive beer you can drink without feeling like you've been a bit poisoned the next day. The nice beers are treats, like Ribeye steak: Heaven if you've been eating rice and beans for the last week, but too heavy to consume regularly. Bud Light has a minimal effect when consumed regularly, so people drink it. Its like minimal karma beer.

What I am trying to say is don't underestimate the intelligence of the consumer, with Bud Light or conservatism. With Bud Light there is an economy of taste, and with conservatism there is an economy of mind. I believe the most powerful stance is the empathic one, trying to see why people do the things they do without being too dismissive about it. What fundamental human needs are being satisfied?

More than anything, I don't think people are conservative because they are told to be conservative. I believe people are conservative because they are told that the way they are already IS conservative. A thoughtless or reductionistic eye misses the subtlety of our American political landscape completely.

Peace.

[NRaleighLiberal]

14. Even given all of that (this is a good discussion) - I repeat - advertising works!

Pharma wouldn't spend a fortune on it (I know how much they spend on it) if it didn't work.

[yourout]

3. Usefull Idiots.

One and all.

[Bozita]

6. "What's The Matter With Kansas?" by Thomas Frank - video w/Bill Moyers

[lonestarnot]

8. Did you ask or did you just wonder. I almost always confront that shit head on, which turns to

conversation or trouble.

[Taylor Smite]

9. Didnt ask

wouldnt end well.

[lonestarnot]

10. I don't care for the endings either usually. Still do it.