What’s The Matter With Kansas Is The Matter With Hollywood Too
By Margaret Snyder (09/15/04)
“Where visions conflict irreconcilably, whole societies may be torn apart.” - Thomas Sowell
What’s the matter with Kansas? This is the question posed by the title of a new book by Thomas Frank. From the liberal viewpoint, something must be the matter with Kansas and the rest of the “red” states, because they don’t vote Democratic. The thinking goes that the Democratic Party represents the interests of the non-wealthy, so when middle-class Americans vote Republican, they are voting against their own economic interests. The only explanation for such behavior is stupidity or ignorance: Evil corporations and the Republicans have hoodwinked them.
First, it is by no means clear that anyone’s long-term economic interests are served by the policies the Democratic party has espoused over the past several decades, other than those of Democratic politicians and their special-interest constituencies (public school teachers, trial lawyers and government bureaucrats). However, for the sake of argument, let’s assume that the liberal position is correct on this score. Why, other than stupidity or ignorance, would people vote against their economic interest?
Well, it’s not just about “the economy, stupid”. As the Democratic Party has moved toward redistribution of wealth, culturally it has moved toward the leftward fringes as well. Frank takes a dim view of the “hicks” who are outraged when their tax dollars are used to support “art” that offends their values, such as “Piss Christ”, which consists of a crucifix submerged in the artist’s urine. Liberals can’t understand why these “hicks” would allow their silly outrage over such things to keep them from voting their economic interests.
If it’s not the economy, what is it? It’s the values, the vision. Nobody wants to live in an environment of toxic air pollution. Well, we “hicks” don’t want to live in an environment of toxic cultural pollution either. And the Democratic Party has become the political home of the purveyors of cultural pollution.
When Kansans vote Republican, they are voting consistent with their vision of the world and of humanity and of what motivates human beings to act. Visions are our collections of assumptions, examined or unexamined, about how the world works. Thomas Sowell calls visions the “silent shapers of our thoughts”. He says, “Visions may be moral, political, economic, religious or social. In these or other realms, we sacrifice for our visions and sometimes, if need be, face ruin rather than betray them.”
It is even possible that some middle-class Americans think they would be richer under Democrats, but getting richer by taking somebody else’s money runs contrary to their vision.
It is not just conservatives who sacrifice for their vision. A clear example on the left is Hollywood. Have you ever wondered why Hollywood so clearly acts contrary to its own economic interest? The market begs for good movies that are not indecent. Every time there is a good G-rated movie it makes buckets of money. You would think that producers would notice all this unmined gold and start producing decent movies. But they don’t.
What is the matter with Hollywood? The same thing that’s the “matter” with Kansas. Hollywood will ignore its economic interests to act in accordance with its vision of the world. Hollywood’s vision of the world includes the idea that our culture should shake off its traditional values of restraint and be “edgy” and “cool”. Most directors would die of embarrassment if forced to make a movie that was not edgy and cool, no matter how successful at the box office. Public acclaim by the wrong public would only bring them shame if the people whose good opinion they crave were not impressed. Cool is what they live by, it’s their vision of the world and they will not betray it for something so base as money.
They shouldn’t expect Kansas to betray its values and its vision for that very thing. Yes, there are two Americas, Kansas and Hollywood, and neither is willing to betray its vision.
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