I believe I solved the mystery that’s eluded political scholars for decades – the reason metro areas vote Democrat while everyone outside city limits votes Republican. The answer came to me after my wife and I visited Disney World, paid extra for their Lighting Lane Pass and then toured Universal Studios without their Express Pass. It came after the angry looks we received from those in line without Disney’s Lightning Lane pass and then the next day from the dirty looks we gave those swiftly passing us at Universal Studios with their fancy Express Pass that we did not have.
I understood then that class envy requires being stuck in large crowds observing those with something you don’t have that you want as in metro areas where every day pedestrians see the rich getting treated better and have stuff that they don’t have. Saturday, we looked through the eyes of “white privileged” conservatives and the next day we saw the world through the eyes of “tax-the-rich” liberals looking at those smug Express Pass people until my Republican voice reminded me that those “privileged” people may have scrimped and saved all year to afford something that might make their kid’s experience a little better.
For those of us living outside metro areas we don’t care that the rich have things that we don’t and we certainly don’t want them taxed more to feed an inefficient, bloated federal government. Who knew the political lessons one can learn at amusement parks?
Ben Furleigh is a resident of Charlotte.