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A big reason people vote conservative that nobody talks about (much).

The reason: having to deal with government. Having to deal with the sheer amount of bureaucratic nonsense and pettifogging overregulation in our day-to-day lives.

Note this is not the same thing as wanting tax cuts. This is usually how liberals (with a hand-wave) dismiss conservative voters’ concerns about government regulation- ‘they are just greedy and want to pay less tax’. No. They are sick and tired of the mind boggling, time wasting, pointless bureaucracy, which is so maddening as it is unneeded. In fact, where I am (Australia), taxes aren’t particularly high, but oh my god how we are overregulated.

Why don’t conservatives talk more about this reason? Its massive. I can count at least a dozen people in my circle who’ve been thoroughly converted from voting for anything that involves big government. And there are many more out there.

Obviously many non-conservative voters are bureaucrats themselves, and just don’t understand how much they are resented, and how pointless most of their huffy-shouldered clipboard ‘work’ is.

The opposition to Obamacare is instructive. Firstly, despite what the media says, this opposition is from the ground up. It is not directed from the top, by evil insurance companies etc etc, it is driven by ordinary Americans who have a deep set hatred of government bureaucracy. A look at the massive, genuinely grassroots, rallies against it would immediately show you that. (Now let me say firstly I think national healthcare is probably a good idea, and its one of the few areas where the free market fails and government should run it. But I find it equally curious how we dismiss without explanation people’s extreme and well founded distaste of government as some sort of delusion).

Finally, I am not opposed to sensible regulations that stop me polluting the rivers, injuring workers etc etc. I am against the mountain of pointless rules and regulations, of useless commissioners and public servants that blight our lives with rubbish.

It’s time we talked more about this issue.