I had a very interesting conversation with a coworker yesterday about the reason people vote against their own self interest - and continue to support someone who is working against their best interests. We started by analyzing why people would vote for Bush in the first place - possibilities include:
- Someone really is in the 1% Bush is actually helping - his base, the super rich.
- Someone thinks they are in that 1% - or thinks they soon will be in that 1%.
- Someone has no concern at all for the future - "let me grab all I can now and the hell with the consequences."
- Someone is afraid - "Oh, Daddy Bush - save us from the evil terrorists!"
- Someone is so stupid they believe BushCo's lies.
- Someone has always voted Republican.
BushCo voters continue to support Bush (even after all the relevations of his misdoings) for the above reasons. But I believe another reason also comes into play: Gotta stick with the guy I voted for no matter what. More below the fold.
Gotta stick with the guy I voted for no matter what, otherwise I'll be seen as stupid or disloyal or fickle or a flipflop. The following are a pair of 2500 year old stories that illustrate this point - human nature has undergone little evolution in that time.
- Consider a farmer who, while traveling, sees a huge pile of dry dung and thinks, "I can use this as fuel." So he takes his cloak, wraps the gigantic pile of dung with it, and carries it off, balanced on his head. However, on the way back home, it begins to rain heavily, and the dung becomes moist. Being moist, it starts to ooze and drip down onto the farmer, besmearing him with excrement and making him stink. Passersby saw him, and said, "You fool! You should throw away that bundle which is covering you with stinking dung. Then the rain will help to clean you, instead of covering you with bile." But the farmer replied, "No, you are the fool! I found this heap of dung and got it for free fair and square - it will be very useful for fuel!" and went on his way, dripping and stinking.
- Suppose two men decide that the best way to make their fortune is to go and have a treasure hunt in an old, forgotten city. Doing so they find a large pile of reeds, and having made their cloaks into sacks, they carry the reeds. However, a while later they came across a pile of flax. "Hey, now, what luck!" said one friend, "We were going to make these reeds into flax anyway! So now we can throw away the reeds and carry flax instead!" - and he casts aside his reeds and fills his cloak with flax. But the other man keeps the reeds, thinking, "I've tied them up good and tight, it would be foolish to untie my sack, just to end up tying it up again."
Then, a while later, still exploring, they find some fine silk clothes, and the same thing happens. One friend takes the silks, while the other still keeps his reeds.
Still later, they find a pile of golden coins. "Well, we wanted the reeds, flax and silken clothes to sell anyway, so why not carry the gold instead?"
"No, friend, "I've tied my reeds up good and tight, it would be foolish to untie my sack, just to end up tying it up again."
"Suit yourself, if it makes you happy!"
However, when they got back home, the man with the pile of gold became very rich, for he used the gold to invest and trade - and it supported him and his wife, his children, and his parents for a long time to come. The man with the reeds, however, was no richer for his reeds because, in the end, he never did take them out of that sack, and they ended up rotting.
Someone who supports Bush because "I voted for him" or "I've always supported the Republicans" is just like the two foolish men above. Maybe these stories will be useful if you have a "discussion" with such a BushCo supporter.
[The source for these stories is the Pali Cannon - the earliest recorded teachings of the Buddha and his disciples. These storied come from the "Payasi Sutta" at DN 23.]