General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTurns out that having money does make people into jerks.
http://blog.ted.com/2013/12/20/6-studies-of-money-and-the-mind/As a persons levels of wealth increase, their feelings of compassion and empathy go down, and their feelings of entitlement, of deservingness, and their ideology of self-interest increases, he says in his talk from TEDxMarin. Through surveys and studies, Piff and his colleagues have found that wealthier individuals are more likely to moralize greed and self-interest as favorable, less likely to be prosocial, and more likely to cheat and break laws if it behooves them.
The swath of evidence Piff has accumulated isnt meant to incriminate wealthy people. We all, in our day-to-day, minute-by-minute lives, struggle with these competing motivations of when or if to put our own interests above the interests of other people, he says. Thats understandablein fact, its a logical outgrowth of the so-called American dream, he says. And yet our unprecedented levels of economic inequality are concerning, and since wealth perpetuates self-interest, the gap could continue to widen.
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On average, households that earned $50,000 to $75,000 gave of 7.6 percent of their income to charity, while those who made make $100,000 or more gave 4.2 percent. Rich people who lived in less economically diversethat is, wealthierneighborhoods gave an even smaller percentage of their income to charity than those in more diverse neighborhoods: in ZIP codes where more than 40 percent of people made more than $200,000 a year, the average rate of giving was just 2.8 percent.
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The more expensive the car, the less likely the driver was to stop for the pedestrianthat is, the more likely they were to break the law. None of the drivers in the least-expensive-car category broke the law. Close to 50 percent of drivers in the most-expensive-car category did, simply ignoring the pedestrian on the side of the road.
panader0
(25,816 posts)Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)I really admire those that do prosper and still retain their compassion. Even better when they help by spreading their wealth.
AZ Progressive
(3,411 posts)About the psychological effects of money.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)1000words
(7,051 posts)AZ Progressive
(3,411 posts)A cold blooded, greedy and selfish asshole that is at the same time a slave of the system of money and saddled with lots of debt just to have the pretty house and showcase family to please the parents and society?
Makes one wonder if the perks that people who conform to the system get are really worth it.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)For my job I go to people's houses and interview them. My territory is usually the working class and poorer neighborhoods. I come from those kind of neighborhoods so it's no big deal for me. I often have the MOST cooperation from these individuals. They invite me in, offer me a glass of ice water on a hot day, and are generally cordial and cooperative. This month I had to help out on another person's cases. She has cases in the ritzier part of town. I swear to goddess I've never met more uncooperative, rude, bitchy people in my life. They all hate the government, they all hate Obama. I had to do interviews out on the porch (they wouldn't let me in their hoity toity houses), that is when the would agree to do interviews, and they generally treated me like I was sub-human. Not all of them but a good portion of them. The person who usually does these cases says it's like that every month.
I see some houses that are in the most abject poverty you've ever seen, yet, for the most part, they're happy and cordial. The wealthier people seem to be the most miserable, distrustful of everyone and everything.
annabanana
(52,791 posts)It makes the bad things go away