We have been told our entire life that people vote for what they believe in.
But is that true?
I would say no it is not true, people do not vote according to what they believe, even though that is what people will always tell you. But when you look at elections what you notice is that voters are extremely conservative, they vote for the same party in nearly every election. The amount of people who vote for the same party always outweighs the swing voters. Voters who from time to time do change who they vote for. This is how governments change and seats change hand. Even then they don’t tend to be for any third party option, instead it is between the two major parties, or in those countries were it is normal for multiple parties to run it still tends to be a contest between two parties.
In Australia we have the Liberals who we are told represent business and fiscal responsibility. Then we have Labor who we are told look after the working class and the underprivileged. Currently we have a Federal election underway. One of these two parties will form government.
Over the past two years Covid restrictions closed down much of the economy, we are massively in debt and the government has printed a ton of money to pay for everything. The Liberals have right royally screwed over business and the idea that they are fiscally responsible is also an idea that is no longer valid.
On Saturday I heard the leader of the Labor party talking about how we need more immigration. For the working class and the underprivileged less competition is always good, but his party supports, as it has since WWII, more competition.
Neither the Liberals or Labor can be said to support the things that people claim they support. But people will still overwhelmingly vote for these two parties at the next election. So the question is, why?
The answer is because people do not vote FOR something, they tend to vote AGAINST things. The Labor voter isn’t voting for Labor but against his worst fears of what the Liberals are capable of. In turn the Liberal voter isn’t voting for the Liberal party but is instead voting against his worst fears of the Labor party. This fear voting is encouraged all the time. Think about what you hear from each party, it’s a bit about what they will do but it is mainly about why you should fear the other party. This thinking keeps everything in a comfortable position for each party. Everyone gets into the right mood, I hope my team beats that other team.
It’s no different to a football match.
Originally published at Upon Hope. You can find Mark’s Subscribestar here.