this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2024
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[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

On top of the answer you have already received (people forget by the time election rolls around), I'll be extra pessimistic and say that majority of Americans publicly support progressive policies, but may in private and in the ballot box lean more conservative. If you know you sound like a monster, you might say the nice things in public, but then when not accountable for their image in the ballot box... well...

[–] hark@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You might have a point if the poll was asking people about race or any other sensitive topic, but people will not dress up their opinions if they don't think they'll get attacked for them. Nobody has their job threatened if they advocate for private health insurance companies.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Sure, not all progressive policies have this phenomenon, but for some, even in a relatively private but not actually private or anonymous context being asked about some policies may elicit a different reaction.

All of the cited policies in that article has a counterpoint that may drive different anonymous private behavior.

They will mean either taxes go up or companies that you buy from may have to spend more money. So it's incredibly selfish to declare that people shouldn't have a livable wage, shouldn't have access to workable income when accommodating a newborn, shouldn't have access to higher education. However, in the ballot box someone might be very selfish "I make more than minimum wage, so I don't care, but I do care that it might raise prices, I am not about to have a kid, so happy to screw over those that are for the sake of the companies saving money, I have health insurance and so I don't care if someone else can't realistically have it/afford it".

[–] hark@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

So you're saying that in a poll, people would lie and say they want higher taxes but in private they want lower taxes? Why? Wanting lower taxes is, again, not something that would bring on attacks, there is no reason to lie about that. No one's name is being publicized in this poll either. You're making up all these odd scenarios to try to get an opposite answer to what is staring you in the face right there.

[–] docAvid@midwest.social 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

People argue against a livable wage all the time, though. They just say that those jobs "were never meant to be a career", that it's "supposed to be for kids earning extra spending cash", that "if people want to make good money they need to develop skills". They'll tell you that if we interfere in the "free market", it will wreck the economy, and we'll all be starving. They're thrilled to tell you how they, or their parents, made sure to be in a good financial position before having kids, and if people have kids who can't afford the costs including time off to be good parents, that's because those people are irresponsible. And on down the line. They'll shame you for "demanding free stuff", and walk away feeling smugly superior.

It's just fundamentally not how human psychology works to publicly acknowledge what you think is good, and then privately work against it. People who do the worst and most selfish things always have a justification for it.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Some people will happily express that sentiment.

Others might be more reserved...

At least that's the a way I can reconcile all these countless articles that repeatedly show that like 70-80% of people support key policies of the democrat platform, and yet the elections seem to break almost even between republican and democrat. Districting shenanigans and the electoral college can account for some oddities, but the senate keeps being roughly a tie and even the popular vote for president is much closer than all this data suggests it should be.

[–] docAvid@midwest.social 1 points 10 months ago

The Senate is affected by the OG of gerrymandering, giving an enormously greater weight to votes in less populous states.

Most people are not as informed as you. They aren't analyzing their views on specific issues and voting for the candidates most in alignment with that. They're voting based on single hot-button issues like abortion or gun control. They're voting based on the way they feel about a politician. They're scared of terminology made up to scare them, seeing the Democrats as representing "cultural Marxism" and "critical race theory". They are in an information bubble that builds a worldview which is complete, compelling, but incorrect, and their votes reflect that.