When did we confuse nobility for stupidity?

[pktechgirlbackup]

The tone of a lot of "Why don't poor people favor wealth redistribution/taxes on the rich?" articles bugs me. There's an implicit "Those yokels, too stupid realize this is better for them, or to vote in their own self-interest." Now, some people have been manipulated into voting against their economic interests by identity politics- but some other people have chosen to sacrifice their own self interest in favor of a moral principle. Who is who depends on your own moral principles. The liberals who laud Warren Buffet but decry poor red staters who vote against SNAP seem to me to be condescending to the people they claim to be trying to help.

Comments

[stolen-tea.livejournal.com]

*places tongue in cheek*

Of course poor and uneducated people can't truly make moral decisions for themselves; that's a privilege that only us rich and educated people have!

[crystalpyramid]

Unfortunately, it's kind of a truism that the poorer economic classes are going to contain more people who value principles over their own personal profit. And the richer classes are going to contain more selfish jerks who want to get ahead no matter what. That's part of how people end up in those classes.

[scythe-of-time.livejournal.com]

Hm! I think part of that is because it may be easier to value one's principles when there's less personal profit at stake. ;) (I know that the more I have to lose, the less likely I look forward to making tough decisions!) Similarly, my experience has shown there are about an equal amount of "selfish jerks" looking out for their own interests in each socioecenomic class. YMMV.

Li, you're spot on. "Why doesn't X group do THIS?" is generally code for "Why don't they agree with meee?"

[pktechgirl.livejournal.com]

OTOH, it was easy for me to not pursue female-only scholarships on principle because I knew it wasn't the difference between going to college and not, or even loans and not.

I think you're falling into the trap of thinking of economic strata as tribes, and not wanting to say one tribe is better than others. People who don't like to share are going to end up with more money as a first order effect. There could be second or third order effects stemming from having strong social networks or simply being a happier person, but I think you'd need evidence to prove they dominate the rather obvious effect of people who are willing to trade morals for money walking away with more money.

[scythe-of-time.livejournal.com]

Huh, I hadn't considered it that way. You're likely right, given that the math makes sense.