---
[ SAY WHAT? ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/say-what)
# Why DO the Poor Keep Voting for the Rich?
January 20 2020
Written by Thomas KR.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
****
**WHAT THEY’RE SAYING**--While scratching around for some Christmas cheer through the oft disgraced but equally celebrated ‘Poet Laureate of LA Low Life’, [Charles Bukowksi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bukowski), I wandered upon an old favourite.
Paraphrased, it, goes:
*“The problem was you had to keep choosing between one evil or another, and no matter what you chose, **they sliced a little bit more off you**, **until there was nothing left**. At the age of 25 **most people were finished**. A whole god-damned nation of assholes driving automobiles, eating, having babies, doing everything in the worst way possible, **like voting for the presidential candidates who reminded them most of themselves**… I had no idea how I was going to escape... **They seemed to understand something that I didn’t understand.***
*— **Charles Bukowski**, Ham on Rye (1982)*
I’ve been thinking about this, a lot — with some specific focus on:
- Why do the poor keep voting for political parties and corporate bodies that can only exist by exploiting their vulnerabilities and their trust? What are the social and psychological stressors that cause this?
- Although we’ve seen brutal authoritarian nationalism rise and fall within the lifetimes of our own living relatives, why have Western democracies now made such a synchronised lurch to the right (with particular focus on the Trump and Johnson administrations)?
- There’s always been lies in politics — but why, has Western political campaigning now [entirely abandoned the truth as a necessary component of the election cycle](https://medium.com/@thomas_k_r/an-exotic-rot-how-boris-johnsons-success-story-changes-uk-democracy-forever-36b01417b794)?
- Within public conversation, why are we reduced to two equally ridiculous, warring possibilities: corporate-powered, free-market capitalism or Soviet-bloc communism?
How do we reconcile capitalism’s enormous success in raising standards of living (with particular focus on absolute poverty) across the world, with what is now massive, disproportionate wealth consolidation at the top of the economic food chain? Is ‘less poverty’ a good enough result for people …living in slightly less poverty? *[(**Read the rest**.)](https://medium.com/@thomas_k_r/why-do-the-poor-keep-voting-for-the-rich-4a9ddb1e6878)*
-cw
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/115 "Brian Goldsmith Vertical R. Col")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/114 "McKinney Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/112 "Anna Reitano Vertical R. Col")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
Last Name
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/113 "Rhonda Haymon campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33624-prosecutor-democrat-city-attorney-mckinney-makes-his-case-to-los-angeles-voters)
### [Prosecutor, Democrat, City Attorney? McKinney Makes His Case to Los Angeles Voters](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33624-prosecutor-democrat-city-attorney-mckinney-makes-his-case-to-los-angeles-voters)
ELECTION 2026 - The race for LA City Attorney has been laced with political accusations and allegations that when close…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-watchdog/33544-the-la-watchdogs-2026-voters-guide-2)
### [The LA Watchdog’s 2026 Voter Guide](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-watchdog/33544-the-la-watchdogs-2026-voters-guide-2)
LA WATCHDOG - My recommendations are influenced by the need for truly balanced budgets, fiscal responsibility, long ter…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33626-the-fools-blame-game)
### [The Fools’ Blame Game](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33626-the-fools-blame-game)
THE VIEW FROM HERE - Angelenos do not use elections to plot a wiser course of conduct for Los Angeles, but rather they…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33619-california-film-tax-credits-arent-enough-the-guilds-need-to-change-too)
### [California Film Tax Credits Aren’t Enough. The Guilds Need to Change Too.](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33619-california-film-tax-credits-arent-enough-the-guilds-need-to-change-too)
LONNIE’S VIEW - California used to be the center of the movie and television universe. If you wanted to make movies, yo…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
### [Here’s What Zionism’s Got To Do With It](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
ICAN - The anonymous website “BHUSD Watch” recently published a long, detailed article about the current BHUSD board an…
---
## [ SAY WHAT? ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/say-what)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/say-what/29907-oh-for-f-ks-sake)### [Oh For F\*\*k's Sake](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/say-what/29907-oh-for-f-ks-sake)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/say-what/29692-a-monument-to-cruelty)### [A Monument To Cruelty](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/say-what/29692-a-monument-to-cruelty)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/say-what/29532-omg-now-theyre-coming-for-our-cats-and-chairs-and-ducks)### [OMG Now They're Coming For Our Cats and Chairs and Ducks](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/say-what/29532-omg-now-theyre-coming-for-our-cats-and-chairs-and-ducks)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/say-what/29066-shame-shame-shame-martha-ann-is-an-ungodly-piece-of-work)### [Shame, Shame, Shame: Martha-Ann Is an Ungodly Piece of Work](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/say-what/29066-shame-shame-shame-martha-ann-is-an-ungodly-piece-of-work)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/say-what/28868-they-walk-among-us-mississippi-goddamn-still)### [They Walk Among Us: Mississippi Goddamn, Still](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/say-what/28868-they-walk-among-us-mississippi-goddamn-still)