Un-Interested?

Virtually all of Western social science is based on the rationality of the individual -- the idea that an individual always acts in his or her best interest, narrowly defined. Far from destructing society, many thinkers have proposed that self-interest in fact maximizes social welfare; that aggregated self-interests make a social interest.

This kind of thinking led to the claim that democratic countries are less prone to go to war than un-democratic ones. Since the working class generally pays most of the costs of modern warfare, it would be in their interest to oppose war, in general. Democracy gives the working class a forum to express their views and the power to act on them.

The cost calculus has not changed. It is still the working class that is paying the cost of this war in Iraq. The soldiers who are risking their lives are not graduates of private universities such as this one. That front line is much different from the "front line" against terrorism, the 3,000 that died in the World Trade Center.

But thinking about America today, and reading opinion polls, the working class is much more favorable towards the war than the upper class. Where's the one place where you are always sure to find an American flag? On a construction vehicle. I don't think I've seen a construction truck since September 11 without a flag either painted on the side or attached to the hood.

Meanwhile, universities, particularly private, elite, universities, are full of anti-war sentiment. There's probably a contingent of silent supporters of the war, but even so, here at Tufts, general opinion seems to be anti-war, and the same would be true at most similar institutions.

This is why university students and professors can't understand how polls can show support for President Bush and the war in Iraq. After all, everybody they've talked to is against the war. The reason is that the lower portions of the income bracket, irrationally, are in favor of the war.

I don't know if I can even count the number of times in the last two months I've heard professors or fellow students call for democracy in Iraq in order to empower the Iraqi population, and ridicule the stupidity of the general public in America in the same breath. Democracy is rule of the majority. It does not guarantee that everyone will agree with you, and you still have to live by their decision. Even if they're stupid.

Why would the American working class act and vote in opposition of its interests? There is a duo of ideologies at work that I believe is much stronger among blue collar workers than among white collar ones. The first is religion, the second is patriotism.

Living on a college campus, it is difficult to remember and understand how religious this country is. Forty-six percent of Americans describe themselves as evangelical or born-again Christians. These Christians are keen on human rights and are willing to support a war to "liberate" Iraq once they are shown the regime's transgressions. This is the same group that wanted to revoke China's MFN(Most Favored Nation) trade status in the early Clinton years because of its human rights violations.

Those outside the Ivory Tower are also determined in their patriotism, especially once a war has started. I even found on the Web (http://www.conknet.com/~mmagnus/PatriotDemog.html) a survey someone had done, counting the proportion of flags flying outside houses in a given neighborhood in February 2002. This is what she found: Total houses counted -- 892. Total houses displaying American flags -- 391 or 44percent. Houses in upper class neighborhoods displaying flags -- 2/36 which is six percent. Upper middle class houses displaying flags -- 160/486 which is 33 percent. Lower middle class houses displaying flags -- 229/370 which is 72 percent.

The sample size isn't huge, but it's large enough to see that there is a strong correlation between income and flag-waving. Flag display may not necessarily be a good indication of "patriotism." Maybe people in upper-class neighborhoods think that putting a flag outside their house is tacky. In any case, I don't mean to question the patriotism or loyalty of those who don't show their colors on their doorstep. I only want to show that patriotism is especially strong in lower and lower middle classes.

People are not always rational in their opinions and decisions. In America, we see that people's faith in their religion or their country can outweigh their own self-interest. That's not necessarily a bad thing. In Iraq, the opposite is occurring -- people are looting their country's national treasures for personal gain (in an entirely rational way). But we should be careful that our support for wars remains based on rational calculation, even if our determination and will come from love of God and country.