Is it the Wealth Gap that's bad or the Empathy Gap that comes with it?
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Re: Is it the Wealth Gap that's bad or the Empathy Gap that comes with it?
#2It's not just empathy in the social buddies sense, but also that -- to quote a study name -- "Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior."
Abstract: http://www.pnas.org/content/109/11/4086
PDF: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/02/21/1118373109.full...
And yes, there are some hints to causation in there, where a participant was made "wealthier" (in a game context) and then differences were observed.
Re: Is it the Wealth Gap that's bad or the Empathy Gap that comes with it?
#3This guy put into much better words what I've been thinking for a while.
It doesn't matter to me at all that Bill Gates has more money than God, because he's empathetic to people who aren't as rich and aren't as great as he is, and wants to continue to use his strength to lift people up instead of feathering his own nest even more.
It's when people get the idea that "I'm better, so I deserve better than Them!" that really raises my eyebrows. I have no problem with people having more money than me, it's when they make a new world for themselves (like the movie in the article) and cut themselves off from the world they served in order to get rich is when Really Bad Things Happen.
Re: Is it the Wealth Gap that's bad or the Empathy Gap that comes with it?
#4The empathy gap is just one way in which the distribution and flow of capital organizes social relations.
My position is that it isn't even the wealth gap that is the issue. The wealth gap is itself just one way in which the distribution and flow of capital organizes social relations. I think it is short-sighted to focus on particular rich people and their exorbitant wealth even though it is a grotesque experience: gawking at the rich has a visceral appeal like watching a horror movie or reading a Kafka novel.
Nobody talks about the 'wealth gap' between governments and people. Nobody talks about the 'wealth gap' between banks and people. They talk about the relationships i mentioned, they just don't frame it as a 'wealth gap'. Nobody talks about the 'wealth gap' when the police harass homeless people. Ultimately though, the relation between government and people and financial institutions and people and police/army and people is as much a consequence of the dynamics of capital as rich people being inconsiderate assholes.
And of course it's a self-referential non-linear system. Governments and financial institutions and individual capitalists and armies shape the rules and command the forces that make capital a thing. Even so, governments, banks, capitalists, and armies may each in turn fall as the wheel of fortune turns, but Government, Bank, Capitalist, Army in the abstract are part and parcel of capitalism.
Re: Is it the Wealth Gap that's bad or the Empathy Gap that comes with it?
#5>But, as Paul Graham points out, that is not the same thing as saying that inequality is bad. What it says is that poverty is bad. And that’s something that I don’t think anyone would argue with.
I think that's the point isn't it? The rest of the post talks about how you don't have empathy with a wealth gap, but the examples given are really showing how it is hard to empathize with those in poverty and that's where the the problem is. It is hard for someone who even was in poverty in the past to empathize with people currently in poverty because you aren't going through it every day.
Re: Is it the Wealth Gap that's bad or the Empathy Gap that comes with it?
#6This guy put into much better words what I've been thinking for a while. It doesn't matter to me at all that Bill Gates has more money than God, because he's empathetic to people who aren't as rich and aren't as great as he is, and wants to continue to use his strength to lift people up instead of feathering his own nest even more. It's when people get the idea that "I'm better, so I deserve better than Them!" that r…
Can you give some examples of the "Really Bad Things" you are thinking of?
Re: Is it the Wealth Gap that's bad or the Empathy Gap that comes with it?
#7This guy put into much better words what I've been thinking for a while. It doesn't matter to me at all that Bill Gates has more money than God, because he's empathetic to people who aren't as rich and aren't as great as he is, and wants to continue to use his strength to lift people up instead of feathering his own nest even more. It's when people get the idea that "I'm better, so I deserve better than Them!" that r…
Can you give some examples of the "Really Bad Things" you are thinking of?
they wear bathrobes and gucci slippers around for one!
Re: Is it the Wealth Gap that's bad or the Empathy Gap that comes with it?
#8> But, as Paul Graham points out, that is not the same thing as saying that inequality is bad. What it says is that poverty is bad. And that’s something that I don’t think anyone would argue with. I think that's the point isn't it? The rest of the post talks about how you don't have empathy with a wealth gap, but the examples given are really showing how it is hard to empathize with those in poverty and that's where…
all his anecdotes really showed was he hasn't got a damn clue what "poverty" is.
Re: Is it the Wealth Gap that's bad or the Empathy Gap that comes with it?
#9there's no reason to believe that wealth destroys one's empathy. i can think of numerous examples of the exact opposite (bill gates, etc.)
Re: Is it the Wealth Gap that's bad or the Empathy Gap that comes with it?
#10Capitalism works best when two parties have similar information, resources, etc. Cell phone contracts are a perfect example. They've had teams of lawyers, arbitration and everything thing else on their side and lobbyists to write the laws to fit them. I can sign it or leave it. I also remember democracy isn't two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner. So I'm not saying socialism's the answer either. I think taxing the rich is the lazy way out. like libertarian-ism "let's do nothing and that will fix it". I think we're on the wrong side of the Laffer curve and because poor people spend more and there for generate more now income.