I Dream of GINI. Why so many people vote Democrat. Half of us are below average. OK, maybe only 47%

American Thinker ^ | 10/19/2012 | Randall Hoven

[SeekAndFind]

Imagine you are young and unattached -- unattached from everything: family, friends, country. A Martian takes you up in his spaceship and offers to set you down in one of two countries where you will have to make your way in life. All he tells you is that the average income in Country A is $49,000 and that of Country B is $40,900. You would probably pick A, right? It's 20% richer.

Now, what if your Martian host offered a bit more information? He gives you the distribution of incomes in those same two countries. In fact, he shows you this graph.



It looks like country A is still the preferred choice if you expect to be in the top half of the population. But if you expect to be in the bottom half, Country B looks more attractive.

Now your choice depends. It depends on where you see yourself with respect to the rest of the population. If you think you're above average, you'd pick Country A; if you think you're below average, you'd pick Country B, even though the average income of Country A is 20% higher. (All else equal, of course.)

Now think of yourself as a voter in Country A. Would you vote to continue your own country's economic policies, or would you vote for policies that would make your country more like Country B? Again, if you are in the top half, you'd prefer the status quo, but if in the bottom half, you'd want to be more like Country B (again, all else equal).

In fact, Country A is the U.S., and Country B is Sweden.

[Reeses]

You also have to figure in “guilt”. I know many wealthy individuals that think it is only fair that wealth be redistributed.

It's not really guilt, it's envy deflection, the whole purpose of limousine liberalism. It's an appeasement strategy meant to maintain the most wealth possible, even enjoy it openly, and not be looted of everything. Appeasement is the optimal strategy when heavily outnumbered. It works like a charm which is why they do it. Limousine liberalism was invented long ago by wealthy kings. Talk is cheap. What people say and what they really think and do are very different things.