Do people vote against their own interests?

[Strawb3rry]

Do you believe people vote against their own interests, or is it simply that some people have different priorities than others? I have a hard time believing people vote for obviously corrupt or incompetent politicians because they're stupid, perhaps some communities just see some value in certain people that others don't? It seems a bit pretentious for people to assume that they know what is best for others.

 

[aardvark188]

I have a hard time believing people vote for obviously corrupt or incompetent politicians because they're stupid

i'm sorry to break it to you but you're underestimating said people's stupidity. this has happened many times before and it will keep happening for the rest of democracy's existence. take a look at latin america and tell me that's not what's going with their presidential candidates.
yes, there are the actually smart, deductive people who are forced into choosing what they think is the lesser of two evils (depending on their views), but that seems to be a minority, not the majority

 

[urr13 account]

If a working class poor person votes for a candidate who promises to lower taxes the response is always that they are voting against their own interests and some smug reference to the "temporarily embarrassed millionaire" thing.

The idea that a poor person would just want their labor to be theirs alone and not want the government to get a cut and to instead want to be responsible for their own life is not allowed according to white liberals, they believe the system should be we all give the government as much money as possible and then hope the government spends it on things that are useful in society despite the fact we have ample evidence that 90% of what the government does with our money just makes things worse.

A bigger issue than people "voting against their interests" which is exceedingly rare imo, is just that politicians very rarely do any of the things they said they would do. All campaign promises are basically vapor, a lot of people voted Trump in 2016 because he said he would jail Hillary and yet she still walks free. Promises made. Promises broken.

 

[Strawb3rry]

i'm sorry to break it to you but you're underestimating said people's stupidity. this has happened many times before and it will keep happening for the rest of democracy's existence. take a look at latin america and tell me that's not what's going with their presidential candidates.
yes, there are the actually smart, deductive people who are forced into choosing what they think is the lesser of two evils (depending on their views), but that seems to be a minority, not the majority

I am assuming you've never been to South America? How can you know what is best for people in a continent you've never even visited? It reminds me of the U.S. politicians who tried to "help" Haitian farmers by killing off their native pigs to stop swine flu. They tried to replace the native pigs with new, vaccinated pigs imported from America, but these new pigs couldn't survive Haiti's heat and all died, leaving Haiti with a massive food shortage that resulted in mass-starvation.

https://www.wlrn.org/arts-culture/2025-02-10/creole-pig-haiti-crisis-documentary

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

It's a fun slogan but you could always find some angle how it applies no matter how someone votes. Everyone has their own priority, and can be manipulated to vote in a way if given the correct sob story.

 

[Dieter Hell]

“But there’s a reason. There’s a reason. There’s a reason for this, there’s a reason education sucks, and it’s the same reason that it will never, ever, ever be fixed. It’s never gonna get any better. Don’t look for it. Be happy with what you got. Because the owners of this country don't want that. I'm talking about the real owners now, the real owners, the big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought and paid for the senate, the congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying, lobbying, to get what they want. Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I'll tell you what they don’t want: They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. Thats against their interests. Thats right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table to figure out how badly they’re getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 fucking years ago. They don’t want that. You know what they want? They want obedient workers. Obedient workers. People who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork, and just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and the vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it, and now they’re coming for your Social Security money. They want your retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street, and you know something? They’ll get it. They’ll get it all from you, sooner or later, 'cause they own this fucking place. It's a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club. And by the way, it's the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long beating you over the head in their media telling you what to believe, what to think and what to buy. The table is tilted folks. The game is rigged, and nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. Good honest hard-working people -- white collar, blue collar, it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on -- good honest hard-working people continue -- these are people of modest means -- continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don’t give a fuck about them. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don't care about you at all -- at all -- at all. And nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. That's what the owners count on; the fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick that's being jammed up their assholes everyday. Because the owners of this country know the truth: it's called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.”​

― George Carlin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzZ8Ypc52-o

 

[aardvark188]

How can you know what is best for people in a continent you've never even visited?

you're right, i don't, but i never claimed that. i only mentioned the fact that a lot of prominent political candidates over there are extremely corrupt in their own ways, and that despite that, the populace of these nations keep voting for them over and over again until said candidates become ineligible (as in from death/old age or term limits)

 

[Lone MacReady II]

I am assuming you've never been to South America? How can you know what is best for people in a continent you've never even visited? It reminds me of the U.S. politicians who tried to "help" Haitian farmers by killing off their native pigs to stop swine flu. They tried to replace the native pigs with new, vaccinated pigs imported from America, but these new pigs couldn't survive Haiti's heat and all died, leaving Haiti with a massive food shortage that resulted in mass-starvation.

https://www.wlrn.org/arts-culture/2025-02-10/creole-pig-haiti-crisis-documentary

Won't someone think of the poor niggers who killed off all their Whites and reaped the rewards of becoming Zimbabwe?

 

[eDove]

My mother-in-law (most retarded bitch on earth) is a gun-toting, government-hating, overtly racist hick, but she votes Democrat religiously because she believes Republicans are "sexist" and that only Democrats support women. She's MAGA in every sense of the word except for this intellectual defect. Weirdly enough, she absolutely hates other women.

She was so convinced Hillary was gonna win that she badgered her son to get his carry permit 'cause: "she's gonna ban all our guns" yet she voted for the cunt.

Some people only consider the most banal attributes of who they vote for. They'll do it out of spite, pettiness, like they're still brawling on a school playground.

I feel you though. I didn't realize these people exist either.

 

[Chilson]

I am assuming you've never been to South America? How can you know what is best for people in a continent you've never even visited? It reminds me of the U.S. politicians who tried to "help" Haitian farmers by killing off their native pigs to stop swine flu. They tried to replace the native pigs with new, vaccinated pigs imported from America, but these new pigs couldn't survive Haiti's heat and all died, leaving Haiti with a massive food shortage that resulted in mass-starvation.

https://www.wlrn.org/arts-culture/2025-02-10/creole-pig-haiti-crisis-documentary

Haiti is an island filled with feral mindless spirit worshipping Niggers. Mass starvation was inevitable regardless of outside factors and trying to blame their current anarchic state on Americans is peak stupidity.

I also have eyes, ears and a brain and don't need to visit South America in order to know most of its countries are poorly run shitholes governed by corrupt politicians in the gang lords pockets.

 

[The Last Stand]

Do you believe people vote against their own interests, or is it simply that some people have different priorities than others?

With human instinct, yes. Black people universally vote Democrat as a means to continue receiving government benefits and aid in "representation," yet will still vote for people that would continue this eternal cycle of poverty and crime. Or to put it simply, "Vote Blue No Matter Who" as tribalism against the other side.

 

[Elite Kipchak]

When it comes to boots on my neck, I think red boots are more stylish than blue ones.

 

[XL xQgg?QcQCaTYDMjqoDnYpG]

People rarely vote knowingly against their own interests
Rather, what they do is vote under a fog of lies

If I give you the choice between drinking succulent milk and drinking poison, it's fairly easy for you to make an informed choice
If you're told you're choosing between drinking milk and poison, but both cups are unlabeled and the person handing you the cups is a compulsive liar, the vote itself is meaningless

Democracy doesn't fail because people are too stupid to choose correctly, it fails because the entire system is designed to prevent anyone from ever having a meaningful choice
It's a ritual of manufactured legitimacy where not just the outcome is rigged, even what you think you're choosing is rigged
And nobody likes a rigger

 

[Fek]

Agreeing to participate in the theater placed before you in such a manner is already against your own interests before the vote is even placed.

It matters not what you do once you decide to step into the proverbial casino - the House always wins.

You already have all the power, friends. I'd suggest choosing to not give it away. Much love.

 

[Generic Anime Girl]

I don’t mean to sound miserable but I don’t vote because I know nothing will really change. The modern American government as we know it is a meme

 

[JULAY]

I am assuming you've never been to South America? How can you know what is best for people in a continent you've never even visited? It reminds me of the U.S. politicians who tried to "help" Haitian farmers by killing off their native pigs to stop swine flu. They tried to replace the native pigs with new, vaccinated pigs imported from America, but these new pigs couldn't survive Haiti's heat and all died, leaving Haiti with a massive food shortage that resulted in mass-starvation.

https://www.wlrn.org/arts-culture/2025-02-10/creole-pig-haiti-crisis-documentary

I actually have been to South America, I lived there for 3 years and have visited 4 different countries on the continent. The problem there is that the government is full of corrupt shitheads who, even if they start with the best intentions (e.g. Hugo Chavez) and want to improve the lot in life of the poorest of their people, they inevitably become corrupt and end up looting the government to line their own pockets. No different than the US or any other country for that matter, it's just a matter of degree. Down there, a bribe is a bribe, but in the US we use the euphemism "campaign contribution"

There is no perfect solution, or even one that is nearly perfect... To paraphrase Churchill, democracy is the worst system of government except for all of the other ones. I've often thought that a good solution would be to "elect" our leaders through a national lottery, essentially drawing their names out of a phonebook, and having them serve in a term-limited capacity to reduce the amount of corruption that the system can breed into itself. There are some jobs, politician maybe the most of all, where anyone who wants the job shouldn't be permitted to have it. Because for every person who is well-intentioned at the beginning, there are dozens if not hundreds more who get into it for the grift in the first place.

 

[Angry Alt Right Nerd]

Why would anyone want to act in the interests of the plebs? Have you ever interacted those degenerates before?

 

[We Are The Witches]

I'll tell you something, I have heard old hags ladies say that they voted someone because they thought he was attractive, or more attractive than the alternative.

 

[The Ugly One]

It's not in any voter's interest to let criminals run rampant, let rotting garbage pile up in the streets, or let schizo bums attack people, but that's what most urban voters vote for, because doing something about those things would be mean.

 

[Night Crawler]

Not normally no. It depends on who you are talking about. Most people voted based on economic reasons. No one goes out and votes thinking about other shit. The main concern is usually economic issues. The vast majority of people don't have things like trannies and faggots at the top of their concerns list. Social issues and moral issues and so on are usually not top priority for most people. Those kinds of issues are usually the concern of the middle and upper middle class. The lower middle class is usually concerned with economic issues. Once you get comfortable enough economically then you can worry about other issues.