wealth does not equal virtue

[rbnyc]

[azmom]

1. Some people think that fighting against wealth

Inequality means you are jealous of the rich. WTF


Go Bernie

[HereSince1628]

2. True, I'm told wealth is evidence of being blessed by God.

And wouldn't you want leaders who've been blessed by God?????????


Ya, I know...there is no point in being part of that conversation.

[Igel]

8. I'm also told the opposite.

That if you're poor, you're automatically superior and blessed by God.

[Fumesucker]

9. Wealth does tend to reduce compassion...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-wealth-reduces-compassion/

Who is more likely to lie, cheat, and steal—the poor person or the rich one? It’s temping to think that the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to act fairly. After all, if you already have enough for yourself, it’s easier to think about what others may need. But research suggests the opposite is true: as people climb the social ladder, their compassionate feelings towards other people decline.

Berkeley psychologists Paul Piff and Dacher Keltner ran several studies looking at whether social class (as measured by wealth, occupational prestige, and education) influences how much we care about the feelings of others. In one study, Piff and his colleagues discreetly observed the behavior of drivers at a busy four-way intersection. They found that luxury car drivers were more likely to cut off other motorists instead of waiting for their turn at the intersection. This was true for both men and women upper-class drivers, regardless of the time of day or the amount of traffic at the intersection. In a different study they found that luxury car drivers were also more likely to speed past a pedestrian trying to use a crosswalk, even after making eye contact with the pedestrian.

In order to figure out whether selfishness leads to wealth (rather than vice versa), Piff and his colleagues ran a study where they manipulated people’s class feelings. The researchers asked participants to spend a few minutes comparing themselves either to people better off or worse off than themselves financially. Afterwards, participants were shown a jar of candy and told that they could take home as much as they wanted. They were also told that the leftover candy would be given to children in a nearby laboratory. Those participants who had spent time thinking about how much better off they were compared to others ended up taking significantly more candy for themselves--leaving less behind for the children.

A related set of studies published by Keltner and his colleagues last year looked at how social class influences feelings of compassion towards people who are suffering. In one study, they found that less affluent individuals are more likely to report feeling compassion towards others on a regular basis. For example, they are more likely to agree with statements such as, “I often notice people who need help,” and “It’s important to take care of people who are vulnerable.” This was true even after controlling for other factors that we know affect compassionate feelings, such as gender, ethnicity, and spiritual beliefs.

[99Forever]

3. Every time I hear some yahoo saying how money is the ONLY thing that matters...

... in politics, I pity them for selling their soul to the darkside.

[swilton]

4. Social Darwinism

The notion that the rich rise to the top by virtue of their superiority in industry, talent, intellect, etc. is derived from US protestant (pro-capitalist) social history. Max Weber (The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism) traces the rise of capitalism and its prevalence in Northern Europe to the Protestant Reformation.

[BrotherIvan]

5. Awesome graphic

Thank you for making it. I hope posters take a moment to think about it.

I have a story about this. I've been talking about my few years teaching in an economically challenged inner city neighborhood. The kids had nothing, including food, some living 12 to an apartment, no future plans because they couldn't afford college and the only jobs in the area were fast food. So gangs ruled because they could offer a decent salary. There were bullet holes in the classroom windows.

Anyway, this was a continuation high school. Basically it was the last chance before they would be were expelled from school completely. Kids landed there because of behavior problems, learning difficulties, and truancy. Many students had been or were straight out of juvie. We had a parole officer on staff. But the kids were for the most part smart and funny as hell; street Smart and potentially school smart as well. It was a small school so everyone knew each other and surprisingly, there were very few fights. Much more of a family atmosphere.

So one day, we were working on writing an essay. We chose friendship as a class subject and were going over what makes a good friend and what makes a bad friend. I'm writing their suggestions up on the board.

The good column fills up very fast. So I say, "What makes a bad friend?" The first answer a student shouts out is "Poor!" I turn around from the board with a screwed up face. "Poor?" And all the students nod their heads. Then they talk about wearing poor clothes, not having a rad pad, not having money for a car filled with bikini clad women. And I realized that they had been fed the same line through media, that poor = bad. They had so internalized this message of self-hatred--because they were poor, so they must be bad--that it had effected their entire lives. They started talking about how they were dumb because they were poor. How they didn't have any future prospects, and they deserved it because they were poor.

I said, "Hold on; stop it right there. Being poor does not make you a bad person." They all stared at me like I was saying the sky is purple. We spent more than a few classes talking about this because I felt it was so important. We used the subject for many lessons. I just couldn't believe it and it still chokes me up to think about it.

This long story was not an attempt to derail your thread. But it is to say that we have all been fed these subtle messages all of our lives. Hail the King! He's got the jewels. Give deference to our "betters" because they were born rich. But it really ramped up in the 80s I think when we started seeing Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and similar reality shows. It became cool for the nouveau riche to flaunt their wealth where the old money knew it was smarter to hide it behind the manor gates so the peasants didn't get any ideas.

We have so internalized the idea that money = virtue, = power, = intelligence, = the blessings of Fortune, that we think that it is the only measure of success or fulfillment. Most especially in America, all virtues, talents, work, beauty, art, etc. are measured in money. We follow the box office numbers of movies, the sales of books and albums and can rattle off the numbers. That never used to be the case. We only judge the worth of something by how much money it is worth or has generated, not by its contribution to humanity or the world, not by its own intrinsic value.

And so now we have people talking about this election like it's a summer blockbuster box office. It's a game, a sport, not the process of our democracy. And because the supremacy of money over all else has been so drilled into everyone, it doesn't ping the radar of most people so they say, "Hey, this is madness. The cost of BUYING the presidency is two BILLION dollars now??" That should give everyone great pause. It should, in fact, make people very angry.

[rbnyc]

6. thank you so much.

Thank you for sharing that. I hope a lot of people read that!

I can't say more now because I'm blessed enough to be on my way to the grocery store.

[BrotherIvan]

7. Have a fun holiday!

I'm smelling barbecue in all the places around me and it's making me hungry!

[sabrina 1]

10. Money had become a GOD in this country, a religion, the more they have they more they want.

It's like a disease, and it needs treatment. Bernie is the answer. At least the first step and he will need a great progressive congress to help him do it. Plus millions of Americans on his side.