Do you know what kind of coffee you prefer? When polled, in the neighborhood of 80% of people said they liked a "rich, dark roast." With the way coffee has evolved into a topic with the level of variety and specificity of French wines or premium cigars, that number may be somewhat lower. But at the time this poll was taken, 80%. Rich, dark roast.
But then an actual taste test was conducted, allowing those same people to choose what kind of coffee they liked by experiencing it. When all was said and done barely anyone liked a "rich, dark roast." Most people preferred a light roast with caramel and/or chocolatey overtones, not similar in the slightest to the "rich, dark roast" they claimed was their favorite! The percentage of people who liked a "rich, dark roast" when computed from taste tests was in single digits.
Why the disparity? People are ignorant, and they believe what they're told.
When that coffee survey was done, Folgers and Maxwell House were in a marketing war over who would lead supermarket coffee sales. One of the things they told consumers was good about their coffee was that it had a "rich, dark flavor and aroma." In reality, they weren't selling anything of the sort, the ads were complete bullshit. But since consumers bought what they THOUGHT were coffees with rich, dark flavor and aroma, that's what they BELIEVED they liked!
The same principle is illustrated beautifully in a short piece from Nicole Belle on the Crooks & Liars web site, which shows exactly why the often-repeated truism that "we are a center-right nation" is, in fact, beyond nonsense --- it is demonstrably false.
She goes into some detail, and has a couple of other links that are useful, but I'll say what she won't: people are too stupid to attach the correct label to their own political beliefs. They believe they like a "rich, dark roast," from a political point of view. They are ignorant, gullible, and will believe anything they're told if they believe in the authority of the person telling them.
But when the rubber hits the road, when people are actually forced to make choices about their lives --- not in the voting booth, in their LIVES --- they are decidedly liberal. And no subject in the political universe illustrates this point more clearly than abortion.
Are you in favor of abortion? "No," people say. Why? "Because too many people use it as a form of birth control." Fair point. But if your own daughter needed one, would you help her get it?
"Yes..."
Followed almost immediately by, "...but that's different."
Really? It's different, how? How is your daughter a special case among the thousands of women who receive abortions every year? Aren't they somebody's daughter too? What makes their case any less "special" than your daughter's? What if your daughter needed a second abortion, would you do it then? And who gave you the right to choose whose case is "special" and whose isn't? Why can't I choose? Or a member of the clergy? Which denomination? Christian, Jewish or Muslim, or something else? And should it be a man or a woman making the decision?
Are you in favor of increasing funding for education? "Yes, my school district is cutting more and more programs every year." Do you favor an increase in benefits for military veterans? "Yes, they have risked their lives for our country and deserve the best benefits we can give them." Do you favor asking the super-rich to pay more in taxes to balance the budget? "Yes." (90% of Americans give that answer, folks.) Do you favor closing tax loopholes so billionaires can't use offshore accounts and shell companies to cheat the IRS? "Yes." Should corporations be allowed to pollute as much as they want? "No." If your child were gay, would you want them to have the right to get married? "Yes." Do you think people should be able to buy any kind of gun they want? "No." Do you think anyone buying a handgun should go through a background check first? "Yes." (Another 90% answer.)
My point is this: on topics as far-reaching as abortion, education, the military, Wall Street reform, taxation, infrastructure repair, the environment, gun rights, and a balanced budget, we are anything but a center-right nation. We are a fully left nation, the center is being vacated very quickly, leaving the true conservatives out in the desert to cry and whine and bitch and moan, and long for the good old days of 1855 --- when everything was right with the world.
People think they're conservative in the same way they think they like a "rich, dark roast." They're just too ignorant and gullible to figure that out.
