Congresspeople are going to decide whether they want to stick it to big financial firms that they claim are pushing up the cost of living by buying up all the houses. Or so they say.
The truth about institutional investment in the housing market is far more complicated, and the effects aren’t all bad. But politicians would prefer you not look at the issue too hard. They would like you to pretend this is a simple story with a villain you can punch.
The point touches on people’s sentiments. Sentiments are more than feelings but less than ideas. They cause reactions to comments, appearances, or even something as subtle as the tone of someone’s voice. When something rubs you the wrong way, that’s your sentiment at work. When something looks glamorous, that’s your well-developed sense about what is enchanting making a judgment. You might struggle to explain why you have that reaction, but it’s a potent and personal part of your views.
Whether officials are telling the truth is irrelevant. They cause a reaction, and lawmakers often play pretend to get that reaction.
Once you see this tendency in American politics, it’s hard to unsee.
“No student should go hungry at school,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said. Her policy was to have taxpayers cover the costs of school meals for children who come from wealthy households and are in no danger of missing a meal. What that could possibly do to help poor children facing genuine hunger is left unexplained. The governor wants us to pretend that the policy performs the task she says it does.
State and local officials offer billions of taxpayer dollars to build stadiums for privately-owned sports teams and pretend that the payments don’t cost a dime. All the added economic activity from continuing to have the same team in the area will mean the city comes out ahead. It doesn’t. Officials implore you to pretend otherwise.
Or, as Donald Trump famously put it in the 2024 debates, “In Springfield [Ohio], they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” People scurried to validate the claim. They could not. That immigrants do not abide by American norms and would eat someone’s beloved pet was too compelling a point against immigration. Some preferred to pretend it was true.
The examples resonate with people. Some want our governments to do more to help the poor. Some want their local sports team to stay in the area. Some worry that immigration will diminish American culture.
It does not resonate with everyone. But it doesn’t need to in order to be effective. It must resonate with the group that will help lawmakers win their own elections. Whether it upsets others matters less.
Lawmakers prey on people’s sentiments because it works. People want candidates on their side; they want representatives who share their tastes. Some people will like being told a story regardless of its truth.
This is not responsible behavior. People should want to know when officials manipulate voters by pretending that ridiculous claims are true. We should demand the kind of political debate that can lead to better policy.
There is a way out. There must be costs for playing pretend and benefits for truth-telling. Candidates give people what they want, or at least what enough people want. The only way they will stop tilting at windmills is if people understand that the windmills are not giants. This starts with the individual citizen. Look for the subtle manipulation of your sentiments by lawmakers and demand to be treated like an adult instead. We can all hold our elected officials to higher standards.
