Kevin Quinn wrote:
> . We act collectively by not free riding on the efforts of
> the rest.
>
> I think this *is* why we vote, as opposed to the norm-following that Witek
> suggests.
I agree. On a strictly individual basis I would either have stayed home or cast a blank ballot. I voted for Nader to affirm my solidarity with other anti-Democrat leftists around the nation, not particularly to indicate any strong feeling for Nader or the Greens. But isn't this the real content of Witek's norm-following. It seems different only because Witek assumes there are only two alternative explanations, either rational choice or mere delusion. I think the Democratic votes, mistaken as they were, were (mostly) legitimate votes, affirming solidarity (norm-following) with a collectivity that they believed they were part of. What is sometimes called "false-consciousness" and sometimes "herdlike," etc. really should not be confused with stupidity.
The "left" (when and if a left materializes in the U.S.) has a job to bring as many people as possible to shift their collective allegiance -- Wojtek's sneers are no aid in this endeavor. Nor are the despairing calls of left Gore-supporters to postpone the worst for another few years. Lesser-evilism concedes the inevitability of defeat but seeks to postpone it.
Carrol