Add another one to my “things that confuse me” list…

Why do average, ordinary people vote for Conservative / Republican / (insert your right-wing party here) politicians?

I can see voting for them IF:

  • Your household income is more than $500,000/year
  • You are a majority shareholder in a corporation that employs more than 500 people
  • You are a senior management in a major corporation
  • You have the majority of your net worth invested in energy and “defense” stocks
But honestly, unless one or more of the above applies to you, it just doesn’t make sense.

For the average Joe, voting for Conservative politicians is basically the equivalent to shooting yourself in the foot – over and over again.

Their modis operandi is to systematically underfund and dismantle public institutions, and replace them with private corporations they can profit from.

The result is an ever increasing divide between rich and poor, creating a cheap labor force at the bottom (more profit!) and increasing conflict (more profit!).

These are the people that enable corporations like BP ruin a 600,000 square mile ecosystem without oversight, and let banks bet their money at the racetrack and keep the winnings, but get bailed out by the government when they lose.

And yet, a huge number of people vote for them each and every election because they say stuff like “No new taxes”.

Somebody please explain this to me.