"The great bulk of the legal voters of the South were men who owned no slaves; their homes were generally in the hills and poor country; their facilities for educating their children, even up to the point of reading and writing, were very limited; their interest in the contest was very meagre—what there was, if they had been capable of seeing it, was with the North; they too needed emancipation.
-Ulysses S. Grant
People fighting or voting against their own self interest has gone on for a long time, sadly.
I've come to the conclusion that the logic becomes "well if I can't have it, no-one will". People basically trying to take away assistance/help to others by trying to vote it away from everyone, since they somehow perceive themselves as better than others suffering on the lower rungs on society.
This also explains why people try to vote away unions and benefits for teachers/schools, the very foundation of society, while they are okay with CEOs having multi-million annual stock bonuses while getting paid $1 to dodge taxes.
The biggest scam is that the wealthy have managed to convince even the poorest that they are just a "little hard work" away from being a successful owner of family business or the next Donald Trump. It is the American Dream.
So ... they should vote accordingly and just get their future selves those nice tax cuts for when they become wealthy.
There is also the good'ol "trickle down" trick. Vote for us and we'll trickle it down, we promise...
Steinbeck: “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”
I was pretty surprised when I learned about Huey Long - he was a genuinely left-wing US pre-war politician (including Governor of Louisiana and Senator).
I think your last sentence is painfully false. I don't think most people are OK with CEOs dodging taxes. I also don't think they have the slightest clue (I sure don't..) of what to do with it. These things are decided in the details (capital gains vs income in this case) that I think can very easily fly past most people. Then it comes down to rhetoric/politics, and no one ends up winning once it's at that point.
I also don't think that people are trying to vote away unions and benefits for teachers/schools, but unions/benefits for crappy teachers/schools. It's incredibly difficult for schools to get rid of bad teachers, and a decent number of people come into contact with it. This doesn't do anything for the other side of the equation — getting less bad teachers, but again, I don't think spite is the reason people vote against teachers unions.
"I've come to the conclusion that the logic becomes "well if I can't have it, no-one will"."
I don't think the poor who consistently vote Republican really care about the economics of social services. That's too removed and abstract a concept for them (ironic, given that it affects them directly). Instead, they're voting emotionally: on social values, and on the politics of identity and nationalism. These abstract concepts are very "real" to a lot of Americans, because they're the things people cling to and hold fast when everything else is taken from them.
Bear in mind that a lot of these people have seen social values work for them amidst their own circumstances. Those among them who work their asses off, keep out of trouble, go to church, stay clean, and don't overspend will do markedly better than their peers who slack off, abuse government assistance, and engage in reckless behavior. Meanwhile, a preponderance of military personnel are drawn from the families of the working poor -- so these folks eat, breathe, and sleep patriotism. They love America, even if the version of "America" they love is largely a myth.
Republicans have become masters of speaking the language of identity politics and values. They understand what tune these guys want to dance to, and they play it flawlessly. Meanwhile, Democrats are tonedeaf. Nevermind that Democrats may actually have the interests of the little guy in mind; they don't speak the little guy's language. And that makes all the difference.
Case in point: the Democrats consistently talk about "the middle class," and sometimes "the working class" or "the poor." Meanwhile, Republicans always talk about "Americans." They rarely even speak of classes or social divides. It's a brilliant rhetorical gesture, because it recognizes that the working classes don't enjoy hearing about how shitty their lives are. They don't like the labels. If you ask them, many of them won't even agree that they're "working class" or "poor." They're in denial, and it's a defiant denial. They're too proud to face reality, and when Dems constantly throw the reality of their misery in their faces, they get angry and resentful.
There is a huge difference between voting on compensation for public employees, and punitive taxation on private employees.
Plus the vast majority wouldn't vote for teacher pay cuts. There are a few exceptions, but look at the trends for education spending. America spends more per capita on education than most developed countries.
-Ulysses S. Grant
People fighting or voting against their own self interest has gone on for a long time, sadly.