the DKonversation: Something to talk about
Today’s questions:
- Is it stupid to vote against your own best interests?
- Have you ever done it?
Recently I stumbled across a video with this title: “Disagreement without the Disrespect: Exposing Liberal Hypocrisy and Conservative Closed-Mindedness.”
Bothsides-ism makes me want to tear out what is left of my hair, but I watched the video anyway, just to see if the narrator, Van Jones, would say anything new or useful.
The video makes masterful use of the language of conservative appeasement. Anyone interested in learning ways to talk to conservatives in a way that will not trigger them should study this video closely.
The argument from the video I offer for discussion is the part about whether progressives vote against their best interests in the same way that we often accuse conservatives of doing.
Let me tell you the kind of stuff liberals say all the time that liberals think is perfectly reasonable, perfectly rational, and it’s offensive and wrong.
Liberals say about conservatives, especially low-income white conservatives who vote for Republicans, that these people are voting against their own economic self-interest and it’s because they are not well-educated. If they really understood what was going on, they’d never vote for these people. Because they are voting against their economic self-interest, which is stupid.
Okay, let’s take that apart.
Do you know the white people who consistently vote against their own economic self interests? I’ll tell you who: rich white liberals who vote for tax increases to pay for programs their kids will never use. They’re voting against their economic self-interest. We don’t think that makes them ignorant, stupid, or dupes. We think that makes them awesome. That’s the best thing about rich white liberals, is that they put their values over their money. Their values are more important than their money. They don’t just care about money, they care about their values.
Interesting.
So if you put your values over your money, you are a noble person—you’re not an idiot, you’re a noble person.
Well, that low-income white guy who’s been voting for Republicans the whole time, will tell you guess what: I’m putting my values over the money… [snip] Even if it hurts me economically, my values are more important.
Now listen, I would disagree with that guy... but I wouldn’t say the guy is stupid. I can disagree without disrespecting… [snip]
And if you are that red state voter, the one thing you know is: These people hold me in contempt. They look down on me, they don’t respect me, they don’t understand me, and now I can’t vote for them. And that’s a big part of what’s going on.
There are so many things to unpack here, but the primary missing piece is this: “I'm voting my values instead of my money” only makes you a noble person when the values themselves are noble.
Jones intentionally ignores the possibility that some of the values conservatives place above money are ignoble values not worthy of economic sacrifice.
One voter may deeply value the white supremacy his great-grandfather enjoyed, and all the competition that system used to eliminate for him. He values being an authority figure in and out of his home, getting the final say and absolute control over the minds and bodies of the women, children, and hired workers in his life. He also values the interconnected system of lies, propaganda, and deliberately distorted history that tells him those first two values are completely honorable and should never be examined or challenged.
Another voter may value and celebrate the gifts of many different kinds of people and cultures. This person is aware of the tradition of inequality that built this country and would like to play some part in righting those wrongs. She feels compassion for those who have less, and shares from her abundance as she is able. She values truth-telling from those who speak from positions of authority, and is more attracted to political power-sharing than brute-force dominance.
Both of these people are voting their values over their money. But only one is behaving honorably.
I do hold white supremacist values in contempt. I do not respect them or the people who hold them. I do not equate people who are willing to sacrifice to make the world a better place with people who make personal and national sacrifices to preserve traditional practices of bigotry.
Similarly, I would admire someone willing to protest, risk arrest, and go to jail in the cause of inclusive justice; but have no sympathy for Kim Davis, who went to jail for refusing to issue lawful marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Both are willing to give up their freedom and disobey the law to affirm their personal values. But only one is behaving honorably.
What is your response to the idea of showing respect to conservative voters because they are voting their values over their money? Can you think of a way to make this point in fewer words? Can you think of a way to translate this into political strategy?
Here are today’s questions one more time—answer one or both or neither, as you prefer:
- Is it stupid to vote against your own best interests?
- Have you ever done it?
The DKonversation: Something to talk about is an open thread to hang out, look around, vent, rant, whatever.
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