Ensuring that our team wins has become a much more coveted prize in the last 100 years. As we have seen the state grow larger as a percentage of the economy , the ability of ones “winning team” to distribute the largesse that it controls should it win power becomes that much more important. They are able command upto 50% of the economy to the “winning side”.
When the state is a much smaller entity they control a lot less resources so when the other side wins we may have once thought “oh well they only control 10% of the economy”
In a modern setting where the state is nearly 40 to 50 of the economy a voter may now believe that “I better back a team that I agree with most of the time at least that way I can ensure my team direct some of the state pork my way” An individual who would normally have just carried on about their life gets drawn into a political process that previously would have ignored.
Although there are many dimensions to this meme, the growth of power and influence of central state makes the prize that more coveted and then stakes higher for those who ultimately want to impose their will on us all.
