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True. But to be fair that's what they see, so there's no reason to believe otherwise. When scarcity is all you know then zero-sum is all you think. When the Top
by chiefalchemist 3y ago
True. But to be fair that's what they see, so there's no reason to believe otherwise. When scarcity is all you know then zero-sum is all you think. When the Top 5 double their worth, and the poorest lose - while that might be correlation - it certainly looks like cause (read: zero-sum).
Per another comment I left on this thread, we need to be aware of the language the rest of us use, as it does create worlds. And we keep creating a world that favors the systems, metrics and paradigms of The Few.
- mlrtime 3y agoAgreed with your comments... So we are saying it is a problem of perception? If we didn't know about the top 5's wealth, and the bottom was rising in wealth (Maybe lower rate than the top, but we don't know). There would be no problem?
- chiefalchemist 3y agoPerception and "promotion". We've fetishized and normalized excessive wealth. Imagine you collected Fubar Widgets and the media promoted you as having a Fubar Widget collection with 50+ billion such Widgets...most would look upon you as being a weirdo, with some sort of personality disorder, etc. Do that with money, and the concept of normal and decent goes out the window. Your obsession...your hoarding (if you will)... Perfectly normal. Perfectly acceptable. But ultimately, textbook bonkers. Mind you, I don't have a philosophical issue with excessive wealth per se. To me, it's strange, but what do I know? However, in the context of poverty and a slew of countless other ills in the world, such hoarding feels disturbing and disconnected. I don't see such behavior as being enviable, let alone put on a pedestal as we do.