Disguised self-interest can be the sole refuge of democratic hope

Evidence

The people portrayed here worked hard to appear politically disconnected and self-interested. They did not want to be apathetic and selfinterested, but feared that expressing self-interest was the only way to retain faith in the possibility of democracy. … The point is to draw these openings out; that is what theorists, politicians, journalists, and activists should be doing, instead of just glumly taking citizens’ expressions of apathy at their word. — Nina Eliasoph, “Close to home”, 174

Categorization

• corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — Nina Eliasoph, “Close to home”: The work of avoiding…, 174
• XREF: connects to: The discourse of self-interest forces even altruistic citizens to describe themselves as selfish — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 1361; Modern avarice consists of stinginess toward others masked as rational self-interest; Majority rule depends on citizens committing to the common good over self-interest — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 24 (+2 more)

Related

• The discourse of self-interest forces even altruistic citizens to describe themselves as selfish (similarity 0.85)
• Self-interest framing makes citizens appear as undebatable as corporations (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Freedom that withdraws into self-interest denies its own nature #complicates (0.80)
• Majority rule depends on citizens committing to the common good over self-interest #qualifies (0.78) — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 24
• The discourse of self-interest forces even altruistic citizens to describe themselves as selfish #qualifies (0.75) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1361
• Modern avarice consists of stinginess toward others masked as rational self-interest #complicates (0.75)
• Benevolence masks malice by approving people’s role as their own hangmen #complicates (0.72) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1112