I prostrate myself, once again, before the Sideshow; Avedon found and quoted the study I vaguely remembered -- where people will opt out of playing a game they see as unfair, even when it seems economically rational to do so:
If both monkeys got the same reward, there never was a problem. Grapes are by far preferred (as real primates, like us, they go for sugar content), but even if both received cucumber, they’d perform the task many times in a row.
However, if they received different rewards, the one who got the short end of the stick would begin to waver in its responses, and very soon start a rebellion by either refusing to perform the task or refusing to eat the cucumber.
This is an “irrational” response in the sense that if profit-maximizing is what life (and economics) is about, one should always take what one can get. Monkeys will always accept and eat a piece of cucumber whenever we give it to them, but apparently not when their partner is getting a better deal. In humans, this reaction is known as “inequity aversion.”
I actually don’t think the response is irrational at all, but related to the fact that in a cooperative system, one needs to watch what kind of investment one makes and what one gets in return. If your partners always ends up getting a greater share, this means that you’re being taken advantage of. So, the rational thing to do is withhold cooperation until the reward division improves.
This holds an important message for American society which is becoming less fair by the day.
What can I say? I'm a primate.
So, is it any wonder that--granted a basic context of perceived unfairness by Hillary supporters from issues of press coverage and misogyny, along with vote theft--the more the Village
and the Boiz demand that Hillary withdraw from the race, the more her supporters withhold cooperation?
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For some, may be
For others, Obama is a freak show.
Suppose someone had proposed that the country will change the "sex process." (Couldn't find something suitable except graphical terms.) The whole world would consider the guy a freak.
But when Obama promises to change the way politics is done the last 10000 years, Matt Stoller pees in his pant (with the other 50% of the "educated" Democrat.
Are there freak monkeys?
KoshemBos
Koshembos: They can't change the Constitution
Not overnight anyway.
Much of the current system is a result of the Constitution. Separation of powers, freedom of speech, right to petition for redress of grievances, etc. Then there is the two-party system. It's not going away either. Just ask Karl Rove.
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" . . . we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender . . ."- Winston Churchill
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“I don't belong to any organized political party. I'm a Democrat.” - Will Rogers
myiq2xu
Did I say anything about the structure of our system?
KoshemBos
You didn't Koshembos,
but how does someone change the process when it is a product of our political structure?
That's like someone claiming they would change the sex process without changing human reproduction, no?
" . . . we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender . . ."- Winston Churchill
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“I don't belong to any organized political party. I'm a Democrat.” - Will Rogers
Process is a four letter word
My experience with the term "process" is that it is a substitute for content and reality. The Obama mob talks about change the way Bush talked about changing the White House. Namely, it's empty talk. The Obama mob talks about "in the end of time" beautiful relationship between Dems and the GOP, politician of different persuasions, etc.
The mechanism and relationships of politics are the same whether you talk US, UK or a tribe in Zambia. We all do it the same way. This is the physics of politics. Obama, of course, will change physics.
KoshemBos