#150 The Avatar Election
 
Political candidates present Avatars of themselves, hoping to get elected.  Christian Economists seek reality, not fake people. 
 
In the recent election, we were encouraged to vote for a representation of a representative, not for a real human.  Many candidates avoided debate, stayed out of the public, and hoped their constituents would have a greater fear of the competition, than appreciation for the candidate.  Many Avatars won. 
 
What is an Avatar?
The first definition is from the Hindu belief system.  An avatar is a manifestation of a deity.  The second definition is the one we are most familiar with, “A figure representing a person.”  An Avatar is a representation of a human.  They are NOT human.    
I took one of my granddaughters to see the movie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.  I have often said, “If you want to see divorce and bankruptcy, go talk to your neighbor.  We pay $15 and invest over two hours of time to escape reality.”  But the latest Wakanda movie is just too far for me.  There is so much sci-fi content that I didn’t enjoy the movie.  I really liked the first one, by the way.  That’s because it developed the characters, and I gained an appreciation for them.  But, undeveloped strivers who can’t make a decision bore me.  I’m not even going to get into the Anti-Christian and anti-American themes in the movie.  I’ll let you invest your own $15 and 160 minutes for that information.  It’s just a bunch of fake good people, fighting fake bad people, and I didn’t much care about either of them. 
Oh, there is an economics story in the movie.  It’s fake also.  They assume that Wakanda got rich by hoarding its supply of Vibranium in a closed economy.  That’s never happened in the real world.  Closed economies die, and open economies thrive.  
 
The Basement Election
Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, campaigning mostly from his basement.  Humans are pretty simple creatures in this regard: We observe what works, and do more of it.  Students in my class at Dallas Baptist University have figured out that class attendance correlates with higher grades.  National Football League teams have figured out that passing wins more games than running.  My grandkids have figured out that I will buy them any flavor of Slurpee at 7-11.  Candidates figured out that they can win an election by hiding in their basements.  That’s dangerous.  
It's dangerous to vote for a candidate you don’t know.  It’s dangerous to accept a religion you can’t explain.  And, it’s dangerous to participate in an economy you don’t understand.  
 
Feeling vs Thinking
So, if there was a lack of debates and public information, how do voters make their choices?  Mostly from the impact of ads.  Those ads are NOT about the candidate, they are about the avatar that the political campaign creates.  I unpack feeling vs thinking in podcast #97.  When voters can’t get factual information about the candidate, they vote based on feelings, not facts.  And they are more motivated by fear.
Ginger reminds me that #88 Don’t Fear the Future is the most viewed of my podcasts.  But people DO fear.  They fear the future, they fear a lot of things.  Fear is a good motivator, and it’s becoming the greatest motivator in elections.  Think about it: Most of the campaigns smeared the opposition, they didn’t build up their own candidate.  
Back to my previous discipline of management, it’s often said that there are two motivators: Carrots and sticks.