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Life's Not Fair! So Why Do We Assume It is ?

posted by cmn32480 on Thursday September 10 2015, @05:46PM   Printer-friendly
from the get-a-helmet dept.

AnonTechie writes:

Income inequality in America has been growing rapidly, and is expected to increase [PDF]. While the widening wealth gap is a hot topic in the media and on the campaign trail, there's quite a disconnect between the perceptions of economists and those of the general public.

For instance, surveys show people tend to underestimate the income disparity between the top and bottom 20% of Americans, and overestimate the opportunity for poor individuals to climb the social ladder. Additionally, a majority of adults believe that corporations conduct business fairly despite evidence to the contrary and that the government should not act to reduce income inequality.

Even though inequality is increasing, Americans seem to believe that our social and economic systems work exactly as they should. This perspective has intrigued social scientists for decades. My colleague Andrei Cimpian and I have demonstrated in our recent research that these beliefs that our society is fair and just may take root in the first years of life, stemming from our fundamental desire to explain the world around us.

http://theconversation.com/lifes-not-fair-so-why-do-we-assume-it-is-45981

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday September 11 2015, @02:36AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 11 2015, @02:36AM (#235041) Journal

    This man made over $100k a year with Hewlett-Packard before *he* trained his H1-b replacement

    He has no excuse to be homeless then. He should have over a million saved away, even after his ex-wife took her cut. I think we have better things to do than punish some executive of HP for this person's decades of poor life choices.

    Fair? The Justice Department just announced in the most retarded press conference of all time that they were finally going to perform the basic tenets of their fucking jobs for once.

    I'll believe it when I see it. Still making the announcement (to punish actual people for actual crimes committed) is a small step in a good direction.

    Americans are desperately trying to deceive themselves that our country is fair, but we know better. Of course life is not fair! It can't be with Ivy League schools pumping out MBAs, and Presidential campaigns being effectively bought and sold with toxic pieces of shit like Adelson having every Republican in office attempting to blow him in person. Just because he has ~$26 billion.

    So what? I see this as Adelson squandering his wealth on some very expensive blow jobs. Political spending is notoriously ineffective. I notice that the Wikipedia article on him states that he has started over 50 businesses. That's probably a vast number of people helped by this toxic piece of shit.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 11 2015, @02:59PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 11 2015, @02:59PM (#235248)

    I hope you lose your job to an out-sourcing shit-mill in India or China. I really, really do.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday September 11 2015, @03:14PM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 11 2015, @03:14PM (#235256) Journal
      And I hope you get a clue some day. In the example I noted, why should we do a two minute hate on rich people just because of a sad story where someone makes bad decisions about providing for their future? You have a brain - use it.