One possible thing to do could be pointing out that the shorter stick can still be long enough. E.g. i can perfectly sustain my lifestyle without getting "smart

One possible thing to do could be pointing out that the shorter stick can still be long enough. E.g. i can perfectly sustain my lifestyle without getting "smart" with my taxes and more expensive toys would not outweigh the loss in honesty. Unfortunately, even this has an inequality hidden inside: for the shorter stick to be sufficiently long, a certain level of privilege might be required and then privilege multiplies itself when people egoistically think along the lines of "i don't know if any of those guys are honest, but i'll go with that privileged one, he looks like he could at least afford to be". Thinking of it, this might actually be the reason why we still suffer from this stupid tendency to trust the salesperson in the flashy BMW more than the one in the skimpy Honda, even if we consciously suspect that he paid for it with money he got for screwing his previous customers.