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Fascinating research! I wonder where it was conducted and whether or not the result would vary between countries. I think in the United States there's a pervasi

Fascinating research! I wonder where it was conducted and whether or not the result would vary between countries. I think in the United States there's a pervasive belief that the wealthy deserve their wealth because they earned it through hard work and/or personal merit. The counterpoint to this must be that poor people are undeserving because they don't work hard or because they lack merit.

zo1 6y ago
Odd, I've seen a pervasive belief that the wealthy did not gain their wealth through hard work/merit and either somehow stole it or inherited it. And I've also seen pervasive beliefs that the poor are only poor because of things such as: lack of education, evil capitalism, lack of opportunities, hunger, systemic issues, racism, etc. Perhaps each group has some level of both and we shouldn't generalize to entire strata and population groups too much. Instead maybe we shouldn't be so quick to measure outcomes and just fix the problems. Instead we're using outcomes as a (I would argue) poor measure of how well we're fixing the problems we should be agreeing are problems on their own worth fixing. That's where a lot of the argument/debate gets lost, quibbling over correlations instead of just solving bad things.
- sjtindell 6y ago
  Mainstream opinions are shifting more towards the narratives you’re describing.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- alistairSH 6y ago
  Not sure why you're being downvoted for sharing an opinion/observaton, but in my experience, opinions are changing slowly from the parent comment to your comment. Obviously, all of the following is a generalization, but I think it's fairly accurate... There is/was a pervasive belief in the US that the wealthy pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and that they provide more value to the world. 1980s Wall St boom, Yuppies, etc. Up until perhaps 30 years ago, this might have even been accurate. It's only recently that economic mobility in the US has started to noticeably lag behind similar western nations. However, starting with Gen-X and perhaps accelerating with Millenials, public opinion has started to shift. Three decades of failed Neo-liberal government (and GOP and Democratic leadership both largely fall into that category) has left the average person disgruntled and seemingly unable to find any bootstraps at all.
- gshdg 6y ago
  I think it depends on how wealthy we’re talking about. People who make 6 figures are assumed to have earned it. People who make 8 figures or have 9 figures of wealth are assumed to have inherited it or worked the system without having put in the effort to earn it.

zo1 6y ago

Odd, I've seen a pervasive belief that the wealthy did not gain their wealth through hard work/merit and either somehow stole it or inherited it. And I've also seen pervasive beliefs that the poor are only poor because of things such as: lack of education, evil capitalism, lack of opportunities, hunger, systemic issues, racism, etc. Perhaps each group has some level of both and we shouldn't generalize to entire strata and population groups too much. Instead maybe we shouldn't be so quick to measure outcomes and just fix the problems. Instead we're using outcomes as a (I would argue) poor measure of how well we're fixing the problems we should be agreeing are problems on their own worth fixing. That's where a lot of the argument/debate gets lost, quibbling over correlations instead of just solving bad things.

sjtindell 6y ago
Mainstream opinions are shifting more towards the narratives you’re describing.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
alistairSH 6y ago
Not sure why you're being downvoted for sharing an opinion/observaton, but in my experience, opinions are changing slowly from the parent comment to your comment. Obviously, all of the following is a generalization, but I think it's fairly accurate... There is/was a pervasive belief in the US that the wealthy pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and that they provide more value to the world. 1980s Wall St boom, Yuppies, etc. Up until perhaps 30 years ago, this might have even been accurate. It's only recently that economic mobility in the US has started to noticeably lag behind similar western nations. However, starting with Gen-X and perhaps accelerating with Millenials, public opinion has started to shift. Three decades of failed Neo-liberal government (and GOP and Democratic leadership both largely fall into that category) has left the average person disgruntled and seemingly unable to find any bootstraps at all.
gshdg 6y ago
I think it depends on how wealthy we’re talking about. People who make 6 figures are assumed to have earned it. People who make 8 figures or have 9 figures of wealth are assumed to have inherited it or worked the system without having put in the effort to earn it.