Sharon Begley spends three pages in the latest Newsweek trying to convince us that we vote with our hearts, not with our heads. Here’s one example:
To a struggling ranch hand in Wyoming, it may well feel right to vote
for a candidate who opposes gun control even if the candidate also
favors tax breaks for the wealthy?even though, from a purely
utilitarian standpoint, a candidate who wants to raise taxes on the
rich is the more rational choice.
Is it a fact that the ranch hand’s “more rational choice” involves supporting candidates who want wealth redistribution through punishing “the rich”? Perhaps the ranch hand values freedom. Perhaps he equates higher taxes on “the rich” with more government intrusion in people’s lives. Perhaps he would like to be rich himself one day, with the opportunity to use his wealth in the manner he prefers.
Begley’s statement works only if the reader accepts as a given that class envy is rational.
