02-24-2017, 04:21 PM
Quote:(01-22-2017, 11:39 AM)Warren Dew Wrote:You Warren look at politics (at least in this recent post above) from the point of view of how it affects only you personally. But when people vote in their own interest, aware of how policies will affect them and others like them, then they will get a government they are happy with. When they are brainwashed by economic-libertarian and/or religious-right ideology, they get a government that deceives and screws them.
You're the one who said, "When the people vote their own interests, I get a government that I'm happy with." I didn't realize that you meant you get the government you're happy with when you vote in your own interest, but other people vote against theirs to favor yours. I don't think that's a reasonable expectation.
In your post you said, "I was better off under Reagan and Bush" etc. so I vote Republican. That's a very narrow point of view. You were just lucky; most people got royally-screwed under Reagan.
But, some folks will always do better under Republicans. But if people vote their interests, the Democrats will always win, because there are more common people than wealthy ones. And ironically, increasingly so under Republican rule. The problem is, people are also increasingly ignorant under Republican rule.
Quote:Warren Dew
Your post was the one that talked about when "people vote their own interests". I responded with what happened when I, a person, voted my own interests. That doesn't mean I always vote my own interests; it was following your lead.
Most of the middle class is far better off under Republicans. The government you like is only good for billionaires, urban hipsters who don't have kids, and folks who treat welfare as a career.
You can dispute the statistics that show otherwise, but you can't make it stick. It is a fact that Republican policies fail, except for the billionaires and some in the other upper classes like you. It is also a fact according to polls I posted here already that billionaires vote Republican and are conservative. The middle class always does way better under Democrats; there wouldn't have even been a middle class without Democratic policies in the thirties. When Reagan came in, it started shrinking. Clinton at least reversed the decline a little bit with his half and half policies, and Obama at least tried.
When you just say "I did well under Reagan, so I vote Republican," it is not about your interests. Individuals can be fortunate because of their own circumstances, while most people like them are not because of government policies. If, like you, they fall victim to libertarian economics slogans, then they vote against their interests, because trickle-down economics only works for the billionaires and millionaires. There was not the slightest connection between your good fortune in the 80s and Reaganomics/Republican policies.