This study conducted by researchers in behavioral science at University of California, Berkeley tells us something about the effects of money on the human mind. We only take issue with an important statement in the the Deseret article and PBS video (below) which states, "there are plenty of billionaires — such as
Warren Buffett and Bill Gates — who have pledged to give their wealth to
charity, showing that the findings are, at minimum, not universal." Giving "one's wealth" raises a couple questions: (1) how much of their wealth is the writer talking about? and (2) what are the actual benefits of this giving to humanity?
We will take a look at Bill Gates as just one example to examine these 2 questions in greater detail. Gates has an estimated wealth, of about $65 billion (USD). According to The Telegraph, this is equal to "... the annual GDP of Ecuador, and maybe a bit more than that of Croatia. By this rather crude criterion, the founder of Microsoft is worth two Kenyas, three Trinidads and a dozen or so Montenegros." Among the many companies in which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invest their money for humanitarian causes in Africa are notorious GM company, Monsanto, 'faceless agro-giant', Cargill and in sixty-nine of the worst polluting companies in the US and Canada, including Dow Chemical, according to Democracy Now!. But the Gates is probably best known for his contributions to vaccines and birth control, particularly in Africa and the "third world" - work which has been touted by the corporate media and heavily criticized by others for the actual intent and medical effects.
One reader of the Telegraph article/interview cited above comments,
and
another writes,
The effects of Bill Gates' vaccines have proved to be at best, ineffective and at worst very dangerous. But rather than arguing the positive or dangerous effects of the largesse of "philanthropists" like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and others holding vulgar amounts of net wealth, let's think about what giving 5% of one's wealth to "global health initiatives" really means while investing the other 95% in transnational corporations that cause far more disease than can be eradicated with vaccine programs - even if one assumes that those programs are beneficial to the population. Aside from how Gates invests his other $37 billion, in 2010 the LAT reported how Gates uses "his" philanthropic money:
When considering all of this, a few very simple questions arise about those who end up controlling so much wealth and power:
1. Eugenics: the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, especially by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics) or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics) (Dictionary.com) - Les Blough, Editor PBS News Hour What is it about being wealthy that might make people behave differently? Is it the feeling of societal advantage? Or maybe it's the belief that wealth is proof of hard work, and therefore comes with certain entitlements. A PBS "News Hour" report titled “Money on the Mind” (video below) explores these concepts and more, attempting to zero in on how and why money affects attitudes and behavior. Citing the research of Paul Piff, a doctoral student in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, the report claims that having more money typically leads to more aggressive, selfish and “morally reprehensible” behavior. By asking the study’s participants to perform seemingly mundane tasks, like playing Monopoly and other dice games, the researchers tested what the mind does to make sense of advantage or disadvantage. The results were rather alarming. “You become less attuned to all of the other things that contributed to you being in the position that you’re in,” Piff said about the “advantaged” test subjects in the report, noting that the participants given the upper-hand showed sings of increased greed and a lack of empathy. Another startling conclusions from the study was that wealthier people are more likely to endorse unethical behavior, such as stealing at work. “One of the things that money does is it comes with a set of values,” UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner told "News Hour." “One of them is (that) generosity is for suckers and greed is good. “But it turns out there is a lot of new data that shows if you’re generous and charitable and altruistic you’ll live longer, you’ll feel more fulfilled, you’ll feel more expressive of who you are as a person. You probably will feel more control and freedom in your life.” The video points out, however, that there are plenty of billionaires — such as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates — who have pledged to give their wealth to charity, showing that the findings are, at minimum, not universal. The study — and its researchers — have come under heavy criticism for its controversial conclusions. “We published these studies in relatively obscure scientific journals, and literally the next day we were getting hundreds of emails from around the world, and a lot quite hostile,” Keltner told the segment’s host, Paul Soloman. When charged that the findings were tainted by a liberal agenda to criticize the rich, Piff comments that he hears the “Berkeley, idiot scientist who’s finding what they expect to find” criticism all the time. “Let me tell you,” he told Soloman, “We did not expect to find this.” “Our findings apply to both liberals, conservatives,” he continued. “It doesn’t matter who you are. If you’re wealthy, you’re more likely to show these patterns of results.” JJ Feinauer is a graduate of Southern Virginia University and a content writer for the Moneywise page on DeseretNews.com. Email: jfeinauer@deseretdigital.com, Twitter: @jjfeinauer.
Source: PBS Newshour
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