Thread by @normative

One thing recent years have highlighted is that we’ve been substantially kidding ourselves about the answer to the puzzle of why so many people vote & are otherwise politically engaged. radicalclassicalliberals.com/2021/02/02/wha…

The “puzzle” had been that from the POV of narrow self-interest, investing time & energy in learning about politics & voting can seem irrational. The probability of your individual engagement as a voter affecting the outcome in a statewide or national contest is virtually nil.

So why do people do it? Why invest the time & energy when, for 99.9% of people, it makes zero difference to the outcome? The optimistic answer is OF COURSE people aren’t just narrowly self-interested and act out of civic duty.

And that’s... part of the truth. But the less sanguine answer is that people DON’T actually behave as though their votes will determine policy outcomes, but instead politically engage for other psychological reasons, like entertainment or a feeling of belonging.

But of course, if those are your reasons, it makes no difference whether your polical beliefs are even remotely accurate. It’s not like buying a car, where you individually bear the consequences of having objectively correct or incorrect information.

And it also means that the rewards to being a SUPPLIER of political information don’t need to bear much relationship to the accuracy of that information either. A cable news bloviator has no more market incentive to be factual than WandaVision.