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why do people vote against their own interests - bbc article

Lonecowboy

Well-known member
qoute from article:

Last year, in a series of "town-hall meetings" across the country, Americans got the chance to debate President Obama's proposed healthcare reforms.

What happened was an explosion of rage and barely suppressed violence.

Polling evidence suggests that the numbers who think the reforms go too far are nearly matched by those who think they do not go far enough.

But it is striking that the people who most dislike the whole idea of healthcare reform - the ones who think it is socialist, godless, a step on the road to a police state - are often the ones it seems designed to help.

In Texas, where barely two-thirds of the population have full health insurance and over a fifth of all children have no cover at all, opposition to the legislation is currently running at 87%.


Instead, to many of those who lose out under the existing system, reform still seems like the ultimate betrayal.

Why are so many American voters enraged by attempts to change a horribly inefficient system that leaves them with premiums they often cannot afford?

Why are they manning the barricades to defend insurance companies that routinely deny claims and cancel policies?

It might be tempting to put the whole thing down to what the historian Richard Hofstadter back in the 1960s called "the paranoid style" of American politics, in which God, guns and race get mixed into a toxic stew of resentment at anything coming out of Washington.

But that would be a mistake.



If people vote against their own interests, it is not because they do not understand what is in their interest or have not yet had it properly explained to them. They do it because they resent having their interests decided for them by politicians who think they know best.

We have a little thing here in America called the Constitution-
that is supposed to be followed to protect our Rights and Liberties.
The anger comes from having an un constitutional act forced upon us by coersion. Who cares that it is supposed to be "good" for us or "better' for us. You can get free healthcare in jail too- should we all be put in jail "for our own good"? This is about Freedom man- freedom to make our own choices good or bad!
The people perpetrating this get their office and authority from the Constitution- the very one that they all swear an oath to protect and defend. Can we in good conscience stand by while they usurp their authority and breech our Consrtitution?
The author of this article missed the mark by a long ways!
 

Steve

Well-known member
in many cases we can understand "that what may be good for me will be a disaster for our country"...

I felt it was a great idea for the elderly to get prescription medical from Medicare.. they of all groups deserve it..


the unseen cost is the numbers that currently relied on private plans will shift to the public plan..

as the public numbers increased, the cost becomes budget breaking... and over time will have to be curtailed. and the cuts will seem harsh..

had the private plans just been fixed, and a better gap plan established, there would not have been a shift to taxpayer funded plans.. and the problem could have been solved..

but now we have a bigger problem... and the cuts to Granny's plan will be harsher,...
 
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