WHY DO PEOPLE VOTE AGAINST THEIR OWN INTERESTS?

In the nineteenth century when the elites in many countries were debating whether or not to fully enfranchise the proletariat, they were hit by a dilemma: although it was increasingly clear that it was morally correct to do so, wouldn’t they be just signing away all their own power and privilege? Surely the poor masses would all vote for the nascent socialist parties who would then go on to form governments who would curtail the elite’s dominant postion? 

They needn’t have worried. Much to the surprise of the ruling elites, large numbers of the proletariat voted for the traditional establishment parties rather than the socialists. They continue to do so today. Despite all logic, working people voluntarily choose to elect governments whose policies are blatantly at odds with their own interests.

Why?

In the case of Britain, is this perhaps some ingrained relic of the class system where one should automatically respect one’s “social betters”? This might explain why working class people voted for privately-educated toffs like Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg. Toffs who have absolutely no understanding of or interest in the concerns of the average person in the street.

Right-wing parties are interested in, first and foremost, helping the wealthy maintain and grow their fortunes. Do working class people perhaps still believe in the old ‘trickle down’ notions of the Reagan / Thatcher era in which prioritising the prosperity of the wealthiest tiers of society would somehow rub off on the poorest?

Right-wing parties are also nationalistic, and it’s here that any would-be demagogue can wind up the populace by focussing on those who aren’t ‘us’, both internally and externally. “Those foreigners are taking jobs away from the working man!” or “Slapping tariffs on those foreign companies will mean more jobs at home!” - common phrases heard from those pedalling economic nationalism.

I was listening to the Skeptoid podcast a few weeks ago when this very topic came up. The host listed three examples in recent history when a country had opted for economic nationalism, which he asserted always leads to disastrous results. The first example was Venezuela when a left-wing government enacted such policies which led to a complete wrecking of the economy, poverty, and a mass exodus.

The second example given was - Brexit!!! Yes, that spectacular own goal when a nation voted to impose economic sanctions on itself. The host, an American with no skin in the game, showed how Brexit has been an all-round failure (although nowhere near that of Venezuela). The people behind it just blasted the nation with false economic promises of prosperity and anti-foreigner rhetoric which was enough for a majority to be duped and agree to it, despite its illogicality in economic terms, and the dangers of isolating the country from the rest of Europe with an imperialistic Russia on the move westwards. Now that the reality of it has kicked in, most Britons regard it as being a mistake.

The right can also emphasise ‘corrupt government elites’ and convince people that they will root these out and streamline wasteful and unnecessary spending. Somehow people are unable to see that this is being sold to them by another kind of elite whose sole interest is to fill their own pockets, and guess who all those cut-backs are going to affect?

Even more disturbing is the recent trend for far-right parties gaining both votes and acceptability. Apparently one third of young British males wouldn’t have any problem with a dictator (whether right- or leftist I don’t know), and the same seems to be true in other democracies. These people have not only forgotten history, or do not understand what living in a dictatorship is actually like, or they assume that the dictator will be on their side, and all the attendant curbing of democratic rights and repression that always exists in such forms of government will only affect others.

This gradual normalisation of far-right politics means that ultra-nationalism, authoritariansim, racism and misogyny are changing from being taboos to being unashamedly proclaimed, undoing the progress of decades. Once embarked on this course, things can move very quickly indeed.

Using the Nazis as an example is perhaps overused, but important nonetheless. After gaining power by democratic means in 1933 it took only two months before democracy was effectively suspended, and within a year, Germany was a fully-fledged dictatorship. Six years later, in September 1939, the Nazis began the T4 programme, murdering those whom the state deemed ‘unworthy of life.’ This was just the beginning…

Next time you vote, try to see past the platitudes of your preferred candidate and ask yourself what is the motivation behind their policies. Do they really have your interests at heart? Do you trust that person to speak and act on your behalf? And try to think about the future, beyond any preceived short-term gains. Is the course of this political party likely to lead to a better world for your children? If you cannot honestly answer ‘yes’ to all of these, then FFS don’t vote for them…