Trump or Biden: What Your Vote Says About Your Character

Bo Brusco | August 27, 2020

Note: The following is meant to be a philosophical commentary and not a politically charged opinion piece.

"Trump & Biden" by ekaden is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Political debates often result in ethical disputations—what is the morally correct solution to an issue? When followed beyond the specific point in question, this thread commonly leads to one political party asserting its moral superiority over another. It is no surprise then—especially considering America’s polarization—that voting has ethical implications. With election day around the corner, we ought to ask ourselves: Does who we vote for really determine the quality of our character?

What is Character?

As we understand it, the concept of character began with what Aristotle referred to as the “excellence of thought” and the “excellence of character” in his book Nicomachean Ethics. Thanks to his work, “When we speak of a moral virtue or an excellence of character, the emphasis is on the combination of qualities that make an individual the sort of ethically admirable person he is.” 

Character, then, is a nuanced summary of our individual quality, the measurement of which is dependent on one’s culture, philosophy, or religion. For example, in the Christian world, character is understood in terms of the “Christlike Attributes,” which is a combination of qualities that include: Charity, Love, Virtue, Knowledge, Patience, Humility, Diligence, and Obedience. For the Stoics, however, it was determined by their four virtues: Wisdom, Courage, Temperance, and Justice. Of course, not everyone believes in Christ, and very few of us are practicing Stoicism, so how do American’s in general measure character?

How Do We Judge Character?

Judging the nuanced summary of an individual’s quality on the sole basis of who they vote for would require us to make wildly inaccurate generalities. For example, some erroneously claim that voting for Trump makes you racist, while others maladroitly assume that voting for Biden means you’re a socialist. Both are false claims that stereotype two diverse groups of people. While it is true that one could derive specific attributes or qualities from a vote, there are more effective methods of calibrating one’s character. 

This calibration is not contingent on any philosophy or religion, but on the principle of collectivism. To succinctly explain, “collectivism” denotes prioritizing a group over each individual in it. The moral guidelines of collectivism adhere to whatever behavior is unanimously accepted within a community’s culture. Using collectivism, then, as a sort of measuring stick for character, we ought to examine how our personal decisions affect our community—not activities such as voting or protesting because the moral implications of both are clearly not unanimously agreed upon in 2020’s America, but observable actions that objectively and immediately impact the collective communities in which we live.

Garbage Character

An often overlooked indicator of a person’s character lies in what we do with our garbage. It might seem like a small or insignificant thing, but as our character is the summary of many qualities, if one such quality is an unwillingness to dispose of our trash properly, it begs the question: what else are we unwilling to do? Littering is unacceptable behavior in most cultures. In America, it is so unanimously condemned that we even have laws prohibiting it. There is no debate over whether or not littering is a bad thing—of course it is. It is terrible for the environment, appalling for any community, and while it is blatantly abhorrent behavior, it is also incredibly easy to avoid.

Throwing our trash away—be it candy wrappers, grocery bags, straws, or plastic cups—requires such minuscule effort from an individual, but it leads to clean communities and healthy environments. Unfortunately, some think that such rewards are not worth the expenditure of their energy. Simply put, some individuals are not willing to compromise their convenience for the good of their community. It is this inability to behave selflessly that is so unbecoming of a person’s character.

Grocery Carts

Another accurate indicator of a person's character is whether or not they return their grocery carts. Returning a grocery cart has become a popular topic for discussion on social media. A Twitter user recently made a post claiming that “The Shopping Cart is what determines whether a person is a good or bad member of society.” The reasons the user cites are pretty compelling, stating that the task requires minimal effort and that returning the grocery cart is the objectively right thing to do according to societal norms. If this all sounds familiar, it is because littering and not returning the grocery cart carry the same negative implications of a person’s character. 

Leaving grocery carts out in the parking lot, like littering, objectively harms the community. Loose grocery carts are hazardous to drivers and makes more work for store employees. And returning grocery carts, like throwing trash away, has been made super convenient for shoppers as cart stations have been set up in grocery store parking lots across the country—much like trash cans are everywhere in public places. So what is the excuse? There is none. Again, this despicable behavior happens when one would rather harm their community than inconvenience themselves.

What Do You Think?

Though it is not nearly as legitimate as a Pew Research poll, I recently asked a pool of over 200 friends and acquaintances on social media how they felt about this matter. The question was which is the better indicator of poor character between littering and voting (specifically for whom a person votes)? A whopping 94% said that littering was the superior indicator of a bad person. I asked the same question a second time, but the options were between which movement someone supports and whether they return their grocery cart or not. The majority still felt that the smaller task—the option that had more immediate and objective ramifications—was the more accurate indicator of a bad person, with 77% siding with the grocery cart.

Small and Simple Things

These two simple inactions can say so much about a person’s character. Their integrity is called into question. Their selflessness, dependability, work ethic, and more are all questioned. As Anne Frank said, “the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.” If those hands are unwilling to meet their community’s most basic expectations, then whether they vote for Biden or Trump seems like a less significant criterion for their moral character. 

I decided to investigate the matter further. As leading medical experts widely accept the science for wearing masks as a preventative measure against the transmission of COVID-19, I asked the question again. This time the options were between a person’s religion and whether or not they wear a mask. Of the 200 people who responded, 89% said that not wearing a mask was the more accurate sign of a bad person. These results conclude that if one insists on jeopardizing the well-being of their group in order to preserve their personal comfort, then that individual’s character is of poor quality.

Consider This

Though anecdotal, these results demonstrate how we generally judge each other more by our actions and less by our ideology (whether political or theological). So before we ask ourselves how a morally decent person, or a “True American,” or a “REAL PATRIOT” could ever vote for someone like Biden or Trump, we ought to consider how little who we vote for says about our character. 

As Aristotle suggested, our moral character cannot be summarized by a single aspect such as who we vote for or which political party we endorse. It is a combination of qualities that determines if a person is good or bad. Such qualities are most visible in our smallest actions because they exhibit how much or how little we value the other people in our community.