Economists say it doesn't pay to be an informed voter

Economists say it doesn't pay off being an informed voter. They say that, for all the time and effort we put into keeping up with the news and understanding how our government works, it doesn't pay off in the end because our informed vote has almost no chance of making any positive effects on the system.

I guess they think watching American Idol is a more economical use of our valuable time?

Do you know which political party holds the majority in the House of Representatives? How about the largest congressional budget item or the rate of inflation in the United States? Surveys show that fewer than half of respondents knew the answers to these questions in 2010. So why does the public know and care so little about government and politics? Prof. Diana Thomas shows how the answer is founded in basic incentives. It may take a lot of time and energy to become an informed voter, but there is little chance even the most informed voter can have any effect on the outcome of an election. Based on the lopsided incentives involved, most economists will say it is, in fact, completely rational to be ignorant about politics.

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It makes me wonder if they factored in the economic consequences of being an UN-informed voter? Constantly voting in the same jerks who screwed us over last time or replacing him with another jerk with EXACTLY the same policies. Not to mention the fact that the country is currently on a death spiral with no hope of pulling out unless something big changes and real fast.

Economists are idiots. The cost of being an uninformed voter seems to be much greater than the cost of being an informed voter, no matter how little difference that informed voter can make on the system.

Last I checked, it was the uninformed voters who end up canceling out the votes of all the informed voters and brought this country to the state that it is in.

Demoralization is part of their agenda... truth.
next.

reply to post by FortAnthem

They say that, for all the time and effort we put into keeping up with the news and understanding how our government works, it doesn't pay off in the end because our informed vote has almost no chance of making any positive effects on the system.

I guess they think watching American Idol is a more economical use of our valuable time?

I think what they are saying is that most people are stupid uninformed voters who simply vote for the mainstream candidates who are pushed on the mainstream news. The informed voters who vote for the true politicians like Ron Paul have no chance of making a difference because the masses are too stupid... that seems to be what they are saying.

It's true... but it's flawed because it's a self-defeating outlook. You only lose the game when you give up hope that the game can ever be won. If we all just vote for the mainstream dudes because we think the others have no chance... what else can we expect but the others not having a chance. We create the problem we believe we can't solve.

reply to post by FortAnthem


How insulting!

"Bury your head in the sand"
"stop paying attention"

It reminds me of that scene in "They Live" when he puts on the glasses and sees "Obey", "Conform" signs everywhere.

reply to post by FortAnthem


Not if we made in a requirement to at lest know what the hell you are voting on! A standardized test like at the DMV. Give people months to research the topics then apply for the test once they understand the subject and have passed the test, only then are they allowed to vote. Stop making the political system an American idol style popularity contest. Imagine how fast this would affect the outcomes of politicians careers.

Also i was thinking about a program that can compute how policy change can effect other aspects of the nation overall and see if in the simulation it actually helps at all. Only after the simulation with favorable results do we began to discuss it

I dunno if I agree with that.

100 thousand motivated and educated voters against any number of elected officials and I bet you that the electorate wins every time.

As pointed out, when the largest tools of control in use by the Oligarchs is to pretend like humans are powerless and that the hold they have on the systems we live within are absolute.

Their ever increasingly desperate attempts to pretend like I and my fellow citizens are insignificant, and powerless, just show me how much of their control they are about to loose.

~Tenth

They're right, we're all just pawns, unless we actually do the simple but right things.

In every region, the majority have to band together, well off and poor alike, and start to share. Ie. those with tools and garages need to set up backyard aquaponics, everywhere, heritage food, tons of food and fish for all. And pool money to create small businesses and buy from each other, not form monopolies. Don't buy new things, buy things second hand. They can all take a leap, but the grass roots will be doing just fine.

In fact in the end, those who could and didn't when it was so obvious that if the leaders aren't your employees and the system is rigged you have to become the local governments and start to problem solve and really find good solutions, such as food, land, businesses, and energy supplies, together. And for the obvious solutions, when we pass over, the ones who had the ability and yet just dropped it, they're going to feel really ashamed. How many in the first world have garages, back yards and tools? Its time to be community and people oriented and pro active.

If people did this they would be completely wrong on all counts.

And aside from food production, energy devices, and goods/services, I think the first business all regions should replicate is a free press.

That made me think of this video made back in Dec. during the "fiscal cliff" scare hype....

This guy talked to about 2 dozen people or so on the streets of DC and asked random questions on a hot topic at that time.
Maybe half got some answers right and one girl didn't know squat. But a lot were [are] uninformed on a lot of issues.

Now, when you click onto the video, be warned, it's from the O'Reily show BUT he's not the one doing the interviews.
And the video is only a little over 4 minutes long.
At the end of his show is the best part called Watter's World, where Jesse Watters will go out and question people about various topics. He's a lot more like-able person the O'Reily.....it's not a youtube vid so I can't link it.

video here


But I do find a lot of people I talk to not in the know about the nations problems. Maybe they simply don't care.
Nor do some really know about who it is they are voting for. They just vote......

That's one reason why I like ATS, to keep up with the latest goings on in our country [world as well] and to keep tabs on the politicians. And I know some one here will inform us of the latest news.

Based on the lopsided incentives involved, most economists will say it is, in fact, completely rational to be ignorant about politics.

It is only completely rational when you become a victim to the cause that made it rational. We live in a society of incentives, bombarding our brain to focus on the mundane. Only think profoundly of that which will pay dividends. Knowledge for knowledge sake? No way that is stupid. Treat everything and everyone as a means to your end and not an end in themselves.

Now to be honest, I'm ignorant of the money systems of other nations, ie I don't know if their currency is backed by anything or not, but coming at this from an american perspective I just have to state:

Why are we listening to people (economists) who have a mathematical system for money based on a flawed concept of 0=1 + debt. People who use make believe math are telling us about social and political issues?

In the short therm, no it does not pay off. If you vote on a senior position, like the presidency, then it does not pay off to be an informed voter, as all angles have been bought up.

However at the entry level nothing is feared more than the informed voter. An informed voter could keep out those working for somebody else instead of the people, preventing them from entering the system, unless they resort to outright voting fraud.

However that would require an Utopian interest in politics.

Let's not forget that it was a "well educated" and published economist that thought it would be a great idea to mint a trillion dollar coin to circumvent the debt ceiling debate....

I don't put a ton of stock into a lot of these folks, but I will say this.

When the economy crashed in 07/08...the economists back then said that our economy had fallen so far that it was going to take any where from 10 to 12 years to recover. You know what? THOSE folks were probably the only ones speaking the truth. There is no magic wand to fix what was broken, only time heals these kind of epic failures.

I completely disagree that being an informed voter is a waste of time. I think that might be one of the dumbest pieces of propaganda I have heard in some time.

But I also agree with another poster above me...if you want to make changes in our political arena, you have to start small...make sure you participate in your municipal, country and state elections. These are the people that influence your daily life the most...and...they will more than likely be the ones that try to rise up into the Federal ranks. If you groom them when they are local, you might have a slightly better chance of knowing what monster you get as a Congressman, Senator or President.

Too bad those economists didn't do any research to find out how much it costs to be an uninformed voter.

Here's a couple of places they could have looked:

US Debt Clock 16 trillion and climbing fast.

U.S. ranked 32nd in press freedom index

Index of economic freedom US has fallen to #10.

World Freedom Index 2013 The US comes in at a whopping #7

We're still not the worst but, we're fading fast.