As a general statement, of course, not individuals. Before writing, let me cite some examples. In some societies, some demographic divisions are also political fault lines. For example, in the US, race is a factor. In India, religion is (and a note for casual Western pundits – no, it’s not caste).

And one finds the phenomenon that the economic right (similar policies across countries) are aligned with the majority while the economic left is aligned with the minorities. Locally, this might be mistaken for the a certain religion being aligned with the right. But adherents of the same religion, where in a minority, tend to go with the left.

The reason fundamentally lies in approaches to growth vs. inequality. Minorities have a real historical experience of having power and wealth captured away from them and the entire society’s growth is less of a concern to them than reducing how much they lag behind. Leftism, with its promise of equality is an attractive proposition. Lack of growth is not a real threat if you actually believe that the country’s GDP growth is going to mean nothing to you.

The majority, on the other hand, would like the country to grow economically. Both because they have greater confidence that this will translate to their personal gain and because they might not as personally take much issue with minorities being left behind. Growth first, is the main call and the demands of leftists and minorities are seen as annoying or even the very thing that is holding the country back from greatness.

There you have it!