Friday, February 20, 2009
David Brooks is a political and current affairs columnist for the Weekly Standard, Newsweek and the New York Times. He is the author of an article entitled "The Triumph of Hope over Self-Interest" in which he argues that people, more specifically Americans, do not vote their own self-interests resisting wealth redistribution from the top 1 % of the population to themselves. Instead they vote for their aspirations. Class distinction and social significance clearly influence and impact their quest for this American dream. To an extent this is true but more an overdramatization that fails to consider that people do in fact balance their aspiration with reason. One effective method David uses to evidence his argument is a Time magazine survey concluding that 39% of those surveyed percieve themselves as the top 1% or future top 1% of this elite income class. I look forward to and anticipate this to be a subject well worth the time spent in research.
Posted by Anne H at 11:29 PM
Hi Anne,
ReplyDeleteYou write, "To an extent this is true but more an overdramatization that fails to consider that people do in fact balance their aspiration with reason." This is an interesting premise, but I'd like to know more about your own reasoning: what brings you to this conclusion? How do they attain this balance? etc. It's an idea to consider, definitely, in terms of the psychology of voting.