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Why Americans and Europeans Vote for the Wrong Reasons

The Washington Post recently published this article about how Americans view Tantrum Trump so far as President. The results of the research reiterate, at least to me, why voting in the Western world is fundamentally broken, and as been for a long time.

If you look at the results they publish in the article, it shows that the top three reasons why Trump supporters like Trump is because of “strong leadership,” he “speaks his mind,” and “everything.” The top three reasons people who hate Trump hate him is because “the way he acts,” “everything,” and that he’s “uninformed.”

There is something very wrong with all that, on both sides. Hopefully, you can see what it is before I state it.

Do you know what I like or dislike the most about any particular president or government official? His or her polices, what that person actually does while in office (or has actually done in past government positions). I don’t give a fuck about what that person says, how that person acts, how much he knows or doesn’t know, whether or not he “speaks his mind,” or any of that other crap. All I care about is what that person does while he’s in office; the laws he passes, the wars he starts (or continues, or escalates, or ends), the economics he fixes or screws up, etc.

As you can see, the top reasons why people love or hate a president has nothing to do with policies at all. Instead, people are focused on how a president makes them feel rather than what that president actually does. This applies to both Trump worshipers and Trump haters, just like it applied to Obama worshipers and Obama haters.

“Strong leadership” doesn’t mean anything. It just means that Trump acts tough. That’s great, but do I care about that when he escalates the stupid and ridiculous wars in Afghanistan and Syria? Or when it’s clear he wants a government-mandated health care system as long as it’s not called “Obamacare?” No. I don’t care how he acts. I only care about what he does.

When people say they love or hate “everything” about him, that’s equally useless, and proves you aren’t thinking objectively. I don’t love or hate “everything” about anyone. I confident such a thing would be impossible.

“The way he acts” and “speaks his mind” are, once again, how he acts and how he makes people feel. What fucking difference does that make other than for entertainment? I’ve had many Trump supporters on my blogs say they love Trump for the way he trolls the media. I agree that’s hugely entertaining and I like that too, but it terms of actually evaluating Trump as a president, it’s completely meaningless and should not even be considered. The only thing you should care about is what he does as president and how it affects you and/or your children.

Even “uninformed” doesn’t matter. I would much prefer a deeply flawed and reasonably uninformed libertarian like Gary Johnson than a highly intelligent, ultra-knowledgeable corporatist like Hillary Clinton. I don’t care how smart you are. I only care about what you’ll do to my country as president.

This is one of the many reasons why democracy is fundamentally flawed. People, left and right both, vote for irrational and emotional reasons rather than objective, performance-based reasons. They always have. As the Western world gets more and more irrational, this is becoming worse and worse. They’re even seriously talking right now about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson running for president in 2020. As depressing as this sounds, I actually think he would have a decent shot at it. That’s how insane American voters have become. (Those suicidal Europeans aren’t much better. It looks like the Germans might actually re-elect Merkel in September. Amazing!)

Enjoy the decline!

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17 Comments

  1. Tony

    I agree that you’re broadly right, even people I agree with politically often end up both holding correct views and supporting/opposing people for illogical reasons. But it’s no fun just to say how right you are, so I’ll defend this a little.

    Firstly, a lot of these can be said to be traits that effect policies, and since the government has it’s hands in a lot of pots that means just saying “I do/don’t like this policy” doesn’t quite cut it for the biggest reason if you believe a single character trait influences lots of policy. So “Strong Leadership” could be a way of somebody saying they’re conservative and believe Trump has the ability to shift the government in a more right-wing direction (I’d say the lack of strong leadership is on of my big complaints with Obama and Democrats in general, who often failed to implement left-wing policy because of their weakness). In the same way, if I was asked in this poll my response would likely be categorized in the “Uninformed/Lack of Knowledge” category, since I believe that has a huge impact on policy. The Muslim ban and his withdrawal from the Paris Agreement are two policies I disagree with that are caused by this single factor.

     

    Secondly, if you look at the poll the next highest responses after those on both sides are policy related.

  2. CitizenX

    Caleb: I respectfully disagree. Trump’s policy rhetoric, combined with Trump’s unapologetic brashness was specifically why I voted for him. We both know how full of BS the typical politician is; say one thing, do the complete opposite.

    This is a good list of Trump’s accomplishments (just came out). It’s not 100% of what I would have liked, but it’s sure better than if any of the other bought-and-paid-for jokers had gotten in. So far very happy with Trump.

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/07/president-trumps-first-six-months-are-historical-with-stock-market-on-fire-and-americans-hopeful-that-america-will-be-great-again/

  3. Pink Firefly

    I’ve had many Trump supporters on my blogs say they love Trump for the way he trolls the media.

     
    Personally I think the last thing the president of the United States should be doing in tweeting on social media.  Sure, it may be entertaining, however, it’s quite embarrassing to see the President get so worked up over social media comments. Trump consistently gets upset with celebrities on Twitter so he fires back with comments that he should be ignoring. I know BD that you said people should look at what a person does rather than how they act, however, it’s hard to ignore Trump’s ridiculous behaviors and actions. Seriously, doesn’t a president have more important tasks to take care of? Trump has not been using his time in office wisely. He spends more time worrying about what people say about him rather than working towards improving our country. You are correct BD, our county is on the decline!
     

  4. Caleb Jones

    Caleb: I respectfully disagree.

    And you are exactly the type of voter I’m talking about, as I’m about to demonstrate.

    Trump’s policy rhetoric, combined with Trump’s unapologetic brashness was specifically why I voted for him.

    Exactly. That’s the problem.

    We both know how full of BS the typical politician is; say one thing, do the complete opposite.

    Trump will not be much different by the end of his term. Watch what happens when in 4 (or 8) years the wall is not yet built, Mexico hasn’t paid for the parts that have been built, the wars in the Middle East have intensified, we still have Obamacare or something very similar to it, etc.

    Trust me, I’m going to have a very interesting, very entertaining (for me) discussion with Trump supporters in 2021.

    This is a good list of Trump’s accomplishments (just came out).

    You’re doing the same thing left-wingers do when people like Obama or Bill Clinton are president, pinning things like stock market performance or unemployment numbers on the president, who has very little to directly do with these numbers, particularly in his first six months.

    So far very happy with Trump.

    I know. What you’re feeling are feelings, not objective analysis.

    Thus my entire point.

    Personally I think the last thing the president of the United States should be doing in tweeting on social media.  Sure, it may be entertaining, however, it’s quite embarrassing to see the President get so worked up over social media comments. Trump consistently gets upset with celebrities on Twitter so he fires back with comments that he should be ignoring.

    Trump is one of the most thin-skinned, outcome dependent politicians/celebrities in our lifetimes. Yes, it’s embarrassing, but again, I don’t care because it doesn’t matter. I don’t care what he says.

    I know BD that you said people should look at what a person does rather than how they act, however, it’s hard to ignore Trump’s ridiculous behaviors and actions.

    I just laugh. It’s hilarious!

    You are correct BD, our county is on the decline!

    Time to pack our shit and go to NZ baby!

  5. David

    So people cant judge a president by their words, the stock market’s performance or employment rates during a given term.  Thats pretty much all the public hears about.  Half the policies or convictions candidates promote while running never get brought up again ( see Obama’s promise of immigration “reform” to win the latino vote).

    What public knowledge should a citizen judge their president by?  Should we take them at their word on policy promises?  Makes my stomach turn to say that.

  6. Caleb Jones

    So people cant judge a president by their words, the stock market’s performance or employment rates during a given term.  Thats pretty much all the public hears about.

    Correct. Societal Programming works very well.

    Half the policies or convictions candidates promote while running never get brought up again ( see Obama’s promise of immigration “reform” to win the latino vote).

    Exactly. It will be the same with Trump. (Is Hillary in jail yet? Have all the manufacturing jobs come back yet?) And it will be the same with the person after Trump.

    What public knowledge should a citizen judge their president by?

    What they’ve actually done (not said, but done) in the past as politicians. If they’ve never served in government before, the only possible indication you have, which may not be accurate, is their overall political leanings. (In other words, I’m confident Bernie Sanders would at least attempt to govern from the left even if he had never served in government before. Same with Ron Paul and libertarian leanings.)

    Other than that, there is no way you can judge.

    As I’ve said before, candidates running for office should be required to legally, on paper via enforceable contract, commit to their promises before winning election, and if they don’t follow through during their tenure, there should be real and dire legal consequences for them. But since our political system doesn’t to that, there’s no real way to judge these people.

    Should we take them at their word on policy promises?

    Of course not.

  7. Walter

    President Trump is the best thing that could have happened to the United States. In fact, it is the best thing that could have happened to humanity. It showed us that an extremely smart, hard working individual can achieve nearly anything using the power of persuasion. Trump is what Scott Adams calls a master persuader. He managed to acquire the most powerfull position in the world despite having practically all of the political class AND the entire media against him. If it had not been for Trump, the election 2016 would have probably been a Bush against a Clinton. The oligarchy would have continued.

    But Trump changed it all and it showed us what the power of persuasion can do. He managed to build a multi million dollar empire from a much smaller family business. He is a money making machine. He is beyond awesome.  Best president ever.

     

  8. Demarco Tame

    OK Caleb, but why do you say that Gary Johnson is deeply flawed and reasonably uninformed libertarian?

  9. MoChnk

    (Those suicidal Europeans aren’t much better. It looks like the Germans might actually re-elect Merkel in September. Amazing!)

    Haha yes! You know what one giant CDU (Christian Democratic Union = Merkel’s party) election poster in Berlin looked like 4 years ago? It was just one picture of her iconic “Merkel rhombus” plastered over the entire front of a building. That’s it. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it.

    Here it is:
    http://cdn2.spiegel.de/images/image-539329-breitwandaufmacher-bsnh-539329.jpg

    And the slogan says: “Germany’s future in good hands.”

    It’s not about policies anymore. The campaing mostly revolves around the brand of a person.

  10. Steve

    The next election after Trump could be The Rock VS Kid Rock. lol

  11. Paul Murray

    It looks like the Germans might actually re-elect Merkel in September. Amazing!

    One can only hope that – as with Trump – people are lying to the polsters, or the left-wing polsters themselves are lying.

  12. Josh

    What are your thoughts on generation z?

  13. Caleb Jones

    What are your thoughts on generation z?

    A generation slightly less socialist than the millennials is still very left-wing.  Right-wingers looking for solutions within Gen Z will be very disappointed.

  14. joelsuf

    Trump consistently gets upset with celebrities on Twitter so he fires back with comments that he should be ignoring.

    Which millions of americans stupidly take as seriously as cancer. The fact that you have even mentioned this means that you have bought this hook, line, and sinker. Do you REALLY think that Trump even types those tweets out, much less believes in them? He doesn’t. If twitter was around 15 years ago, he would have dragged Dubya and the neocons names through the mud.

    If it had not been for Trump, the election 2016 would have probably been a Bush against a Clinton. The oligarchy would have continued.

    Trust me, you want this oligarchy to continue unless you want the US to be communist. By 2028 the US will have its first socialist party, thanks to Trump winning “from the outside.” And by the 2030s the US will be just like the USSR in the 1950s-1960s; complete and total force, nearly all 50 states will concur to abolishing the 1st amendment (and in fact, an entire new constitution will be written), and we’ll probably have some uber progressive president who will pretty much be the chick version of Stalin.

    I don’t like the oligarchy any more than the next, but they aren’t nearly as big a threat to anarcho-capitalism as those who don’t have a clear track record like Sanders or Trump.

    The next election after Trump could be The Rock VS Kid Rock. lol

    Yup. Famous people will be running our nation (and even our planet) pretty soon.

     

  15. Shubert

    Well, Trump did stop the CIA program that funneled weapons to the opposition in Syria.  So there’s that.

    Russia can go to town there.

  16. Kurt

    best thing that could have happened to humanity.

    Ha! Once again proving Caleb’s assertion about the collapse of our society. This country really is full of idiots. Glad I’m getting out…