People really, really hate being played for suckers
This is one of the great truths of politics, one that political actors exploit for advantage or ignore at their peril.
Suppose that there is a moral norm against littering in your neighborhood. You support the norm even when it is not convenient for you to do so. When someone litters, you could be upset simply because littering is harmful (the pure utilitarian attitude), or you could be upset that they are getting an unfair advantage by breaking the (unwritten) rules. People hate the feeling that others are gaining an unfair advantage over them by failing to live up to relevant norms or exploiting legal loopholes, they will sometimes incur significant personal costs to prevent being taken advantage of.
Some recent political examples:
The war on welfare frequently involves claims about people cheating. Yes, these claims are often implicitly or explicitly specifically about black people cheating – race is a very important part of the story – but the cheating part is important too, it makes taxpayers feel they are being suckered, it creates resentment. The resentment is magnified because the (purported) cheaters are black, but the cheating/resentment is an important part of the story too.
The push for border adjustments in climate policy is being fueled by the desire in the U.S. and E.U. to prevent producers in other countries from gaining an unfair advantage over domestic producers subject to restrictions on fossil fuel use. There is a strong case for border adjustments (and, in fact, for tariffs on nations that do not strongly regulate fossil fuel use). But what sells on TV is resentment of an uneven playing field between foreign and domestic producers.
Finally, people who are vaccinated are increasingly coming to resent those who are unvaccinated, and this is leading to growing support for mandates and penalties of various sorts on the unvaccinated. The logic again is “I did my part and got the vaccine, but now we are experiencing another surge because you are not willing to do your part.” In this case, there is a “tipping point” effect layered on top of resentment – as more people get vaccinated, more people are primed to resent the unvaccinated. With a little luck, this will move vaccination rates up substantially; the real question is whether the resentment and pressure will wane when the current delta surge recedes.
Interesting. I haven’t seen polls showing that resentment is driving the expectation of vaccination. There are compelling public health reasons to get vaccinated, and I know that my resentment of antivaxxers is because they are abusing our health systems and endangering others.
Why settle for a mere correlate in your resentments when you can directly resent those who are using a lot of medical care? Seriously, just go to your local hospital and scream at the sick folks. Sure most will be unvaccinated but with the news on the vaccines I think you would be making a mistake not to cast that resentment net as wide as you can.
Eric:
Go and take a break somewhere else for a while. We have someone who works in a related field and you keep casting out nonsensical comments in rebuttal. Take a walk.
@Eric,
Please explain what screaming at hospital patients will accomplish. Take all the time you need.
Joel:
Correct.
I don’t resent the anti-vaxxers. I just want them sent to the FEMA camps with zero medical care.
You’re suggesting there are Trump supporters who are NOT suckers?
You’re suggesting there are Trump supporters who are NOT suckers?
Even if they do give in and get vaccinated, most of the holdouts are trump humping morons… I don’t know that I resent that, so much as I am repelled by that level of stupidity.
I pitied stupid people, before I learned how dangerous they are. Now I’m kind of rooting for the virus to thin them a bit.
Paul Krugman: The Snake Oil Theory of the Modern Right
Ivermectin is approved for humans, and has been used in humans for a long while with very few adverse reactions when dosed properly.
“People really, really hate being played for suckers”
Yes they do.
FDA: Ivermectin tablets are approved to treat people with intestinal strongyloidiasis and onchocerciasis, two conditions caused by parasitic worms. …
So, why would it not work on the covid-19 virus also. It’s a no-brainer!
Gits dem virus worms outa mah bodah!
Growing up we used to fish for suckers in the winter. They were very bony but not bad eating otherwise.
I have had little experience being a sucker. Even so then I must agree with WC Fields that “You can’t cheat an honest man.” So, I learned from my mistakes and moved on. The fish were the only suckers that I ever played.
As far as the anti-vaxers go though, I would find it both ironic and poetic justice were the social Darwinists to become victims of actual Darwinism.
Alrighty then!
The belief of Southerners in ‘eternal life’ makes them ‘less scared’ of the coronavirus, Mississippi governor says
Confirmed! We Live in a Simulation
GOP Governors Fight Mandates as the Party’s Covid Politics Harden
The (faulty) logic of the argument seems to be one is exercising
their personal freedom by choosing not to get vaccinated.
Faulty because in so doing you risk getting infected of course,
and then infecting others, particularly because the Delta Variant
is extremely infectious. The same applies to mask-wearing, of course.
‘Doomsday’ Covid variant detected in South Africa even worse than Delta strain
Eric377
I would call myself a coward if I did not say welcome to the class of the completely misunderstood. People don’t have much of a sense of humor when they are scared.
Or of logic, but we’ve been through all that before.
Joel
I think eric was being ironic.
In fact, I think it has been you who has been suggesting something that sounded like screaming at hospital patients…though I may have missed the irony in your comments.
Please note the “i think.” I am not speaking ex-Cathedra.
@Coberly,
“In fact, I think it has been you who has been suggesting something that sounded like screaming at hospital patients…though I may have missed the irony in your comments.”
You are a liar. You have lied about me before and you’re lying about me now. You are a shameless liar.
You are inciting
Apparently the suckers are biting well today. Heat up that frying pan.
Joel
It would seem odd for me to lie to you about you. I just told you what some things you said sounded like to me. And I did mention the word “ironic.” To be sure, my brain is so buzzed at the moment I am not sure that ironic is the right word. What Daniel Defoe (?) was doing when he suggested that because Ireland had too many babies and not enough food, a “modest suggestion” would be to have them eat the babies.
You seem unable to appreciate irony, or is that another lie?
coberly:
still inciting and fomenting??? I can give two shits what Daniel Defoe was doing or suggesting. I do not care about Ireland or Lilliputians either.
I can fix the Eric issue real fast and then you will not have a basis for your BS right now. I guess I am unable to appreciate irony either because I am getting tired of your pirating posts.
It was “A Modest Proposal” and it was by Jonathan Swift.
omigod, i lied about that, too, didn’t I?
wiki says it was “a satyrical essay”
so I was lying about that too.
Run
actually I am trying very hard to un-incite and un-foment. I was making fun of Joel for not understanding that Eric was being ironic (or satyric) and for calling me a liar. At first I thought you were admonishing Joel for inciting.
No, you are not. No more on this post. Take to the open thread,