From the Department of No Shit comes this howler of a no-brainer enlightening study:
Fear of death may factor into who we vote for.
Authors of a study published in the latest issue of Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy believe that voting behavior should be the result of rational choice based on an informed understanding of the issues.
Bwaaahaahahahahahaha! Well, we here in arse poetica's UtopiaLand strongly believe that our Dingo should be recognized as the next incarnation of the Buddha, that fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice should appear magically every morning for our breakfast, which should be taken on the terrace of our pied-a-terre in the 5th (maybe 4th) arrondissement, and that we should be enjoying it with that hot little biscuit Josh Lucas. Is it going to happen? No.
But using research based on the 2004 presidential election, they found that people may vote with their hearts, rather than their heads. Their findings demonstrated that registered voters in a psychologically benign state of mind preferred Senator Kerry to President Bush, but Bush was more popular than Kerry after voters received a subtle reminder of death. Citing an Osama bin Laden tape that surfaced a few days before the election, among other factors, the authors state, "the present study adds convergent support to the idea that George W. Bush's victory in the 2004 presidential election was facilitated by Americans' nonconscious concerns about death" The authors believe that people were scared into voting for Bush.
Ya think?? Gosh, not like there was any evidence for that theory.
More than 130 registered voters participated in the study. Split into two groups, the first group was asked to write down a description of their emotions regarding the thought of their own death and, as specifically as possible, write down what will physically happen when they die and after they are dead. The second group responded to parallel questions regarding watching television. Within the first group 32 responded that they would vote for Bush and 14 opted for Kerry. In the second group, the decision was reversed as 34 selected Kerry and 8 selected Bush. "The best antidote to this problem may be to monitor and take pains to resist any efforts by candidates to capitalize on fear-mongering," they conclude.
Priceless.
Anybody seen my magic wand? You know, the one I like to wave around when I'm in need of an informed electorate, incorruptible politicians, or pure motives? Maybe my unicorn took it to Atlantis for the weekend.
P.S. Above, in the first paragraph, when the authors note that "people may vote with their hearts, rather than their heads," did y'all replace 'hearts' w/ 'asses' like I did? Doesn't it read better that way?
Comments