I have a dear friend that I've known for years. She is originally from the Northeast, owns her own business, and is a social/political "lefty". The other day my friend went off on me, well, more accurately went off "to" me, about the downward economic spiral of the country and how the Obama administration was exacerbating the problem. Her venting included the long term problems associated with a growing national debt, the loss of the middle class, the failure to extricate America from Mid-East wars (as promised), jumping into another war in Lybia, the administration's caving-in on tax breaks for businesses and the wealthy, negotiating other policies that will drive average people into poverty, destruction of social safety nets, and so on; all of which will lead to the economic destruction of America. She then asked me about my opinion of Herman Cain, since, as a successful businessman, he looks like "what America needs." I know that this very emotional outburst was rooted in the economic difficulties in which she currently finds herself (as do so many others), but I was shocked by her consideration of Cain as a presidential possibility because he stands so firmly against everything she supports. Our conversation got me thinking about why my friend would consider supporting this man who opposes her best interest.
My experience, and subsequently my belief, is that the wealthy, first and foremost, vote in their own best interest. They justify their position afterwards as being in the best interest of the country thus redirecting scrutiny from that self-interest. The most recent information I have supporting this was an article from Mother Jones in March. This article pointed out that Warren Buffett, a vocal advocate of increasing the income tax on the upper 2% of America's wage earners, does not advocate an increase in the capital gains tax. The article pointed out that the lion's share of Buffett's income is generated by investments which are taxed as capital gains, not as income. Thus, his vocal support for increasing the income tax on the wealthy is in his own self-interest because increases in the income tax rate will not affect him personally; "income" is not "capital gains". The article indicated that many others in that upper 2% tax bracket are similarly situated.
Businesses and the people who own them have made many claims over the past two decades or so ... we've all heard them: big government is too expensive, private enterprise can do everything better and cheaper, unions are ruining everything, public schools are failing the country, charter schools are better, teacher's unions are the cause of low school performance, those lazy poor people should get a job, if I got a big tax break I'd create jobs! Not only are these generalized claims untrue, they are not the problem and are, in every case, self-serving for those making the claim. Unfortunately, Americans have been listening to this sales pitch for so long that we're buying it; as Joseph Goebbles said, "If you tell a lie long enough, it becomes the truth." The problem that America is facing is that the middle class is bearing a grotesquely large share of the nation's financial burden and has been doing so for well over a decade!
So ... why do average Americans vote against their own best interest? The conventional wisdom says that they believe that they, too, will become wealthy Americans and that they will help themselves reach that economic level by supporting a pro-wealth agenda. Some believe that a pro-wealth agenda will make the country prosper, and that everyone will do better because of it. I have even had people tell me with great sincerity that God has favored those people with riches and so everyone should defer to their enlightened judgement. Oversimplifications! Every one!
Nearly every middle income person that I know votes for, as my friend said, "what America needs." They don't believe that there is a place for them at the 2% table; they simply believe the country will be better off. They vote for the best interest of the nation rather than vote for their own best interest. They have bought the lines that these hucksters have been selling: "See me ... I'm successful and can make America successful" or "What's good for General Motors is good for America" or "The business of America is business." America's middle-class has failed to understand the agenda of the wealthy because middle-class Americans have never been wealthy. They just can't imagine that any group would consistently vote for things that would benefit only their group and hurt the nation as a whole. It's simply hard for us to understand! Also, we have failed to understand our own importance to the economy. Maybe that's because we're not on TV, or in the news, or famous. We see ourselves as a small cog in a giant machine. We've forgotten what any mechanic will tell you: every small cog needs to be maintained for the machine to run!
America prospers when middle income Americans prosper. We are the consumers. We are the builders. We are the borrowers. We are the heart and soul of the economy! Middle income Americans need to begin to vote in their own best interest with the understanding that what is good for us is best for America.