We talked a lot recently about cultures and subcultures. We did that assignment in class which had us create a political platform that would cater to the different subcultures and demographics that could get us elected. Who did most of the lower income, less skilled workforce vote for in the last election? Obama. Why? For many reasons, but one of them being his parties stance on the minimum wage laws. The Democratic, and quite often Republican, party support the steady and continual growth of the federal minimum wage. Does this help the poor, less skilled workforce? No. http://hispanicpundit.com/2007/01/24/the-minority-case-against-the-minimum-wage/ Thats a very well written article explaining why the federal minimum wage laws actually hurt the lower class more than anyone else.
My last post was about choices, well here's a situation where a lack of perceived choices causes harm. If the election was between Obama and Romney, both choices would end up damaging the lowest class among us. You'd think that as a demographic subculture, Mexicans, African Americans, etc would research choices like this. Why do people continue to consume crap when it comes to making political decisions, and by that i mean elect one of the two candidates thrust upon them rather than researching the candidates and issues, and deciding for themselves. More choices are never a bad thing, and most of the time get people thinking about rationalizing and justifying their ultimate decision. I would bet a months pay that over half of the people who voted in the last election would fail when it came to justifying and rationalizing their decisions. They'd regurgitate the superfluous rhetoric spewed by the political candidates and pundits, entirely unable to reason their way through an argument. Choices require knowledge, take away the choices and you take away the incentive to understand the fundamental ideas behind an issue.
*** As a thought... we talked a lot about the extended self, hourglass self, etc, etc. What does voting for a person like Obama or Romney say about yourself? Both openly support and condone torture, both support the killing of innocent civilians abroad as long as its for "the greater good", both promote the status quo, neither is an honest, pure, or inspirational figure, both speak in rhetoric akin to sophists, etc, etc. Just something to think about.
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