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So, you're arguing that mean people don't fail, as pg posited, and that this study isn't flawed. But, you're also arguing that selfishness is a rational choice that leads to wealth. I don't think I buy the correlation is causation claim you've made between selfishness and wealthy people; or, to flip it, that poor people are poor because they aren't more selfish. There are too many other variables that can explain most poor people being poor; by far, the single best indicator of whether a person will be poor is whether their parents were poor. Many other indicators, education, health, nutrition in childhood, abuse, addictions, etc. follow from the first. So, I find it hard to swallow your premise that greed makes one wealthy and generosity makes one poor. Certainly there are extremes, and it's entirely possible to give away the entirety of ones wealth and become poor, but I don't know of many examples of that (I've read about some cult members who have given away all of their money to the cult, but not a lot of other examples) or any research indicating it is common. There was recently an article about meritocracy, which had the same basic takeaway I get from this video: That rich people assume they got there by merit and that they deserve everything they have. And, it discussed the tendency among those at the top to exhibit little desire to help others up, or any sense that they might be ethically obligated to do so. I went through an Ayn Rand phase when I was a kid, so I can kinda see where this mentality comes from. But, I don't know that it actually maximizes happiness or utility (if one allows "utility" to contain values other than money). And, I also doubt it results in wealth for the majority of people who grow up poor and practice selfishness. |