Citizens Who Freely Choose Self-Defeat From The New York Times

The article below echoes the question raised by the excellent book, What’s The Matter With Kansas  by Thomas Franks: Why do we ordinary Americans overwhelming vote for poiticians (Mostly Republicans currently and to a somewhat lesser extent, Democrats) who are clearly opposed to our economic interests?

This post contains links to and excerpts from the New York Times of Oct 4, 2019 by Monica Potts – In the Land of Self-Defeat:

What a fight over the local library in my hometown in rural Arkansas taught me about my neighbors’ go-it-alone mythology — and Donald Trump’s unbeatable appeal.

There are a number of mechanisms in place that cause us ordinary people to constantly vote against our economic interests.

First, we are constantly misinformed about politics and economics from grade school through college. For a detailed explanation of how the schools work their magic, see Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Lowen.

 

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