Analyzing One of Sam's Quotes
One of Sam's favorite quotes was: "As wealth goes up, compassion goes
down." (Does Money Make You Mean?)
In the TED Talk "Does Money Make You Mean" Paul Piff
illustrates how in the world today the generalization that money makes you
mean can be proven true in some cases. For example, in his testing of the
monopoly game, results showed that as the players who earned more and were
winning were more likely to take the pretzels from the bowl. They felt more
comfortable taking because they were wealthier in the game. Another
example is when they were in the room with the candy jar. After being told the
candy was for kids, results showed that the wealthier upper hand of the bunch
took two times as much compared to the less wealthy. A third and final example
was the car example. When tested it showed that the nicer and more expensive
cars where less likely to stop in comparison to the no so nice and less
expensive cars. All three examples show results that lead to the generalization
that money can essentially make you mean and less compassionate.
One thing that can
contradict the generalization that money makes you mean is that being poor
humbles you. Being less wealthy will give you a different perspective on life
because you will see things differently without money. Often times people
categorize the poor as either very greedy or very generous. More times it is
often very generous because they know what it is like to have nothing so they
too will give everything. There is always two sides to a story, so when saying
money makes you mean you also can argue that being poor humbles you.
Hanna, I really your point at the end where you say being poor humbles you. In Paul Piff's TED talk he hinted at how wealthier people sometimes saw themselves above the law, but once they watched a video of people in need, or something like that, they were more compassionate for people in tougher situations. Money can be a good thing, but it can also hurt you. I have been around some of the poorest people in the world when I was in Kenya and it really seems true to me that when you said "being poor humbles you". The poor people in Kenya valued family and friends more than they would ever value money. They were not distracted by the material things around them, rather they saw what would last, and were great at making the best out of the situation they were in. They were by far the happiest people I have ever met. I think it is important to realize that money can’t buy you true happiness, it’ll only keep you wanting more.
ReplyDeleteReally thorough!
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