The relatively new field called Behavioral Economics no longer makes headlines, but it’s worth recalling one of its key findings as it explains the support for Trump among the people he is most likely to screw.
One of the classic experiments involved the Ultimatum Game, which works as follows: Player 1 is given a sum of money, say $100, and must propose a split with Player 2: anything from “Let’s divide it 50:50” to “How about I take $95 and you still get a free $5?” If Player 2 accepts the offer, the money is distributed. But if Player 2 rejects the offer, neither player gets anything.
To a traditional economist, Player 2 should accept any offer; after all, it’s free money. But they were shocked to find that most offers below about ⅓ of the money were rejected. In other words, people will incur a cost to themselves in order to punish someone they think is behaving badly. The term for this is “Altruistic Punishment”.
Trump supporters glory in the fact that their man is sticking it royally to the elites they despise. If he dips into their pockets for a few of their taxpayer dollars, well, that’s a price they’re willing to pay. It’s like buying a ticket to the greatest show they’ve ever seen. (And Trump knows how to play to this audience!)
When liberals scratch their heads over why the working class votes against their own interests, they’re in the same position as the traditional economists mentioned above: they don’t understand that to these folks, it’s worth it to make the pointy-headed elites squirm.
The bottom line is: you’re not going to convert many Trump supporters by pointing out his scams. It’s all part of the show. And they LOVE the show!