{"id":119253,"date":"2014-05-19T16:45:22","date_gmt":"2014-05-19T16:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=119253"},"modified":"2014-05-19T16:45:22","modified_gmt":"2014-05-19T16:45:22","slug":"evidence-meritocracy-made-poor-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/evidence-meritocracy-made-poor-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Evidence that the Meritocracy is Made Up of Poor People"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul Buchheit
\nRINF Alternative News<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Many wealthy Americans believe that dysfunctional behavior causes poverty. Their own success, they would insist, derives from good character and a strict work ethic. But they would be missing some of the facts. Ample evidence exists to show a correlation between wealth and unethical behavior, and between wealth and a lack of empathy for others, and between wealth and unproductiveness.<\/span><\/p>\n

The poor, along with a middle class that is sinking toward them, make up the American meritocracy. Here is some of the evidence.<\/span>

1. The Poor Don’t Cheat As Much<\/b>

An\u00a0<\/span>analysis<\/a>\u00a0of seven different psychological studies found that “upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals.” A series of experiments showed that upper-class individuals were more likely to break traffic laws, take valued goods from others, lie in a negotiation, and cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize.<\/span>

And this doesn’t even begin to examine the many, many significant<\/span>cases<\/a>\u00a0of fraudulent behavior in the banking industry. Or private equity firms that cheat their investors over\u00a0<\/span>50 percent<\/a>\u00a0of the time. Or the many unscrupulous corporate\u00a0<\/span>tax avoidance<\/a>strategies.<\/span>

2. The Poor Care More About Other People<\/b>

Numerous reputable\u00a0<\/span>sources<\/a>\u00a0have concluded that lower class individuals tend to be more generous and trusting and helpful, compared to the upper class. As people gain in wealth, they\u00a0<\/span>depend<\/a>\u00a0less on others, and thus they have\u00a0<\/span>less reason<\/a>\u00a0to understand the\u00a0<\/span>feelings<\/a>\u00a0and needs of the less fortunate. The poor are better at\u00a0<\/span>interpersonal<\/a>\u00a0relationships because they need other people.<\/span>

In addition, careful studies have determined that money pushes people further to the\u00a0<\/span>right<\/a>, making them\u00a0<\/span>less egalitarian<\/a>, and less willing, as a practical consequence, to provide broad<\/span>educational opportunities<\/a>\u00a0to all members of society.<\/span>

One neuro-imaging\u00a0<\/span>analysis<\/a>\u00a0even suggested that the super-wealthy view photos of impoverished people as\u00a0<\/span>things<\/i><\/a>\u00a0rather than as human beings. They react to the poor not with sympathy, but with contempt.<\/span>

3. The Rich Focus on Me, Me, Me<\/b>

The authors of a recent psychological\u00a0<\/span>study<\/a>\u00a0argue that rich people are different because they have the\u00a0<\/span>freedom<\/i><\/b>\u00a0to focus on\u00a0<\/span>self<\/i><\/b>. In support of this, a number of\u00a0<\/span>studies<\/a>\u00a0have demonstrated that higher social class is associated with increased\u00a0<\/span>narcissism<\/a>, even to the point of looking at themselves more frequently in a mirror. The rich feel entitled. They\u00a0<\/span>attribute<\/a>\u00a0success to their ‘superior’ traits, while people from lower economic backgrounds attribute success to societal values, such as educational opportunities.<\/span>

4. The Poor Give a Greater Percentage of Their Money to Others<\/b>

Research has shown that low-income Americans spend a much higher percentage of their income on charitable giving.\u00a0<\/span>Results<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0<\/span>three<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>studies<\/a>\u00a0average out to 4.5% from low-income people, 2.7% from those with high incomes. With respect to helping people in need, the rich give even less. As Robert Reich\u00a0<\/span>notes<\/a>, about\u00a0<\/span>two-thirds<\/a>\u00a0of ‘charitable’ donations from the rich go to their foundations and alma maters, and to “culture palaces” \u2014 operas, art museums, symphonies, and theaters.<\/span>

Charles Koch said, “I believe my business and non-profit investments are much more beneficial to societal well-being than sending more money to Washington.” The well-being of<\/span>high society<\/i>, perhaps.<\/span>

5. Entrepreneurs are in the (Sinking) Middle Class<\/b>

The meritorious behavior of job creation comes from the\u00a0<\/span>middle class<\/a>, which is quickly\u00a0<\/span>sliding<\/a>toward lower-income status. The very rich generally don’t risk their money in job-creating startup businesses.\u00a0<\/span>Over 90% of the assets<\/a>\u00a0owned by millionaires are held in a combination of low-risk investments (bonds and cash), the stock market, and real estate.<\/span>

With the demise of the middle class,\u00a0<\/span>entrepreneurship is decreasing<\/i><\/b>. According to a Brookings Institute\u00a0<\/span>report<\/a>, the “firm entry rate,” a measure of new firms and thus of entrepreneurial startup activity,\u00a0<\/span>fell by nearly half<\/i><\/b>\u00a0in the thirty-plus years between 1978 and 2011. America’s average entrepreneur is\u00a0<\/span>26 years old<\/a>, but most of our 26-year-olds are burdened by student loan debt.<\/span>

Meriting Our Respect and Appreciation<\/b>

Lower-income Americans serve our food, care for our sick, and clean up after us, with minimal benefits and few complaints. More and more middle-income workers are falling into this struggling group, as 9 out of 10 of the fastest-growing\u00a0<\/span>occupations<\/a>\u00a0are considered low-wage, generally not requiring a college degree.<\/span>

These people merit our admiration for persevering in a society where a privileged few are taking almost everything.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul Buchheit is a college teacher, an active member of US Uncut Chicago, founder and developer of social justice and educational websites (UsAgainstGreed.org, PayUpNow.org, RappingHistory.org), and the editor and main author of “<\/span>American Wars: Illusions and Realities” (Clarity Press). He can be reached at paul@UsAgainstGreed.org.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul Buchheit RINF Alternative News Many wealthy Americans believe that dysfunctional behavior causes poverty. Their own success, they would insist, derives from good character and a strict work ethic. But they would be missing some of the facts. Ample evidence exists to show a correlation between wealth and unethical behavior, and between wealth and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-119253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-breaking-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119253\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}