As the Worm Turns

So, for any one of my thirty or so readers who thinks that my reduction of politics to psychology seems odd, take a look at this article about a study linking feelings of pleasure to giving money.

Knowing your money is going to a good cause can activate some of the same pleasure centers in your brain as food and sex, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
…
Ulrich Mayr, a psychology professor at the University of Oregon, said the research sheds light on the nature of altruism and could help people feel better about being taxed.

“It shows that in an ideal world you could have a tax situation where you could be a satisfied taxpayer,” said Mayr, whose study appeared in the journal Science.

The leap from neuroscience to taxation seems like a bit of a stretch, but still an interesting result.

It also puts lie to the oft-repeated claim from the right that liberals like big government because they are closet totalitarians, utopians or just want to destroy capitalism.

Nope. Liberals like big government — and the welfare state — because it makes them feel good on the inside.

[h/t: The Barefoot Bum]

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Science, Liberals, Psychology