SPITE! - New York Press

[Cassandra]

http://www.nypress.com/print.cfm?content_id=10369

"Republican elites don't set off the spite glands in the same way, and it's not only because of a sinister right-wing propaganda machine. Take a look at a photo of the late billionaire Sam Walton, a dried-out Calvinist in a baseball cap and business suit, and you'll see why. If Republican billionaires enjoy their wealth, they sure as hell hide it well. As far as one can tell, Republican billionaires genuinely like working 18-hour days in offices. Their idea of having fun is a day on the golf green (a game as slow and frustrating as a day in the office) or attending conferences with other sleazy, cheerless Calvinist billionaires. If that's what all their wealth got them, let 'em have it—so says the spite bloc. This explains why the Republican elite—the only true and all-powerful elite in America today—is not considered an "elitist" class in the spleens of the white male have-nots. Elitism as defined today is a synonym for "happy," not "rich" or "powerful." Happiness is the scarcest resource of all, not money. And the happy supply has been cornered by the beautiful, famous and wealthy coastal elite, the ones who never age, and who are just so damned concerned for the have-nots' well-being. In that sense, you can see how the Republicans were able to successfully manipulate the meaning of "elitism" to suit their needs. They weren't just selling dogshit to the credulous masses; they were selling pancreatic balm to the needy.

At the other end of the economic spectrum, non-millionaires who vote Republican, the so-called "Reagan Democrats," know that the country is not theirs. They are mere wage-slave fodder, so their only hope is to vote for someone who makes the very happiest people's lives a little less happy. If I'm an obese 40-something white male living in Ohio or Nevada, locked into a permanent struggle with foreclosure, child support payments and outsourcing threats, then I'm going to vote for the guy who delivers a big greasy portion of misery to the Sarandon-Robbins dining room table, then brags about it on FoxNews. Even if it means hurting myself in the process."

Funny riff on why people vote the way they do.

[smirkymonkey]

1. Interesting article, I have never thought about

spite as a motivating factor. What seems to unite all the Republicans I know is a kind of misery about life. They all seem trapped, bitter and dead inside. Having felt that way before myself (although I was NEVER a Republican) I know how much a person in that state just wants to see others suffer the way he is suffering.

"Spite voting is mostly a white male phenomenon, which is why a majority of white males vote Republican. It comes from a toxic mix of thwarted expectations, cowardice and anomie that is unique to the white American male experience."

Why are American men so spiteful in the first place?

[SoCalDem]

2. Why are some so spiteful??

they probably "bought" into the "work-hard-and-you-will-succeed" dream.. It's just that.. a dream..

The people who succeed, usually do so because they have connections that ordinary people do not..

These guys probably "hate" more than they "love"..

[Name removed]

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