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Are the Rich more unethical?

Are the Rich more unethical than middle-class/poor?

  • yes

    Votes: 11 34.4%
  • no

    Votes: 21 65.6%

  • Total voters
    32

Cameron

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Are rich people more unethical? - CNN.com

A series of experiments conducted by psychologists at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that people who are socially and financially better-off are more likely to lie, cheat, and otherwise behave unethically compared to individuals who occupy lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder.

"Elevated wealth status seems to make you want even more, and that increased want leads you to bend the rules or break the rules to serve your self-interest," says Paul Piff, the lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate in psychology at the university.
 

A bit surprising...
I'd think that greed affects people regardless of economic position...that the poor are more liable to use blatant criminal means, the rich bend and twist the rules or write them themselves...which, right now, we have far too much of....and this will not change until the conservatives are out of Congress.
No vote, again, the options are too limited.
 
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I don't think it's that they're *more* unethical: I think it's that they get caught *less* often or are able to get out of trouble more quickly using money and influence as a bargaining tool.

[Edit: also - many people "look up" to those who are better off thinking that those who appear better off *know* more - I remember John Stossel did a show that set up an experiment which had a mother abandon her children (all actors) on the side of the road. If the mother looked like a mess with a trashy car - people intervened and even prevented her from getting close to the children and they argued with the mother. But when she was well dressed and they were driving a nice car they watched but let it happened and the mother even managed to drive away.

If people can't SEE people as being the same they won't TREAT people all the same.]
 
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I don't think rich people are any more or any less unethical than anyone else.
 
More unethical than who? Mother Theresa? Probably. Osama bin Laden? I doubt it.
 
I don't agree with the OP. If one is talking about Federal income tax, then I think the rich tend to bend the rules. Most other things? Not so much. Money solves a lot of problems, and one of them is allowing people to be personally responsible for their wrong-doing without breaking the bank. I think they're much less likely to try to return something they've purchased when it doesn't concur with store policy...less likely to leave the scene of an accident...lie about how it happened...take something that doesn't belong to them...misrepresent their income...not take responsibility for damage their kids may do...that kind of thing.
 
I've heard this before...

You never know...maybe positions of power are usually held by those willing to bend the rules and do whatever it takes to succeed...it could also be that those in positions of powers feel entitled to things and don't view the rules as necessarily pertaining to them.
 
great wealth, brings a great sense of entitlement.

its like the whole Pre-Destination thing. Rich folks are that way, because they were supposed to be that way. Such attitudes lead to feelings of being special.
 
A bit surprising...
I'd think that greed affects people regardless of economic position...that the poor are more liable to use blatant criminal means, the rich bend and twist the rules or write them themselves...which, right now, we have far too much of....and this will not change until the conservatives are out of Congress.
No vote, again, the options are too limited.

True enough.

If the rich are more likely it is because they have greater opportunity, and a better chance of getting away with it. It's not something any more innate in them than in poor people. It is opportunity.
 
I don't agree with the OP. If one is talking about Federal income tax, then I think the rich tend to bend the rules. Most other things? Not so much. Money solves a lot of problems, and one of them is allowing people to be personally responsible for their wrong-doing without breaking the bank. I think they're much less likely to try to return something they've purchased when it doesn't concur with store policy...less likely to leave the scene of an accident...lie about how it happened...take something that doesn't belong to them...misrepresent their income...not take responsibility for damage their kids may do...that kind of thing.


The rich use the tax rules in their favor to avoid paying less just like 50% of households are using the tax rules in their favor to avoid paying any federal income tax.
 
The rich use the tax rules in their favor to avoid paying less just like 50% of households are using the tax rules in their favor to avoid paying any federal income tax.

Yes, that clever scam of "being really poor" to get out of paying an income tax. Genius!

I'm honestly shocked that this is even a question. Of COURSE the people who have the most wealth and power had to hurt other people and break rules to get it. It takes some really slimy things to get that much wealth and power in the first place. All those politicians on TV that we spend so much time complaining about. They're lying to us constantly, and we all know it. How many of us, who are not wealthy and powerful, are that okay with deceiving people? Or taking bribes in the form of campaign contributions? How many of us could do like Mitt Romney and fire thousands of people in order to make stock prices go up? How many of us would be okay with building wealth based on selling items made in terrible working conditions in the third world? How many of us are willing to pollute willy nilly in order to get rich? I would imagine that the answers to these questions are "very few of us". Serious wealth and power requires some pretty heinous actions.
 
Yes, that clever scam of "being really poor" to get out of paying an income tax. Genius!

The national average household mediam income is around 50,000.That is not poor.,Maybe in places like New York or California where the cost of living is absurdly high it is poor. It still does not effect my point that people in every income tax brack exploits the loop holes to benifit themselves. The fact is a family household make 50K or less using the tax code to go from paying 10-15%taxes to 0% in taxes is no different than someone who makes 50 million using the tax code to go from paying 35% in taxes to 25-20% in taxes.All this bitching and whining over the rich not paying more is nothing more than class warfare by the green with envy crowd and the filthy rich politicians trying to exploit these suckers for votes.
http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acsbr10-02.pdf
 
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Yes, that clever scam of "being really poor" to get out of paying an income tax. Genius!

I'm honestly shocked that this is even a question. Of COURSE the people who have the most wealth and power had to hurt other people and break rules to get it. It takes some really slimy things to get that much wealth and power in the first place. All those politicians on TV that we spend so much time complaining about. They're lying to us constantly, and we all know it. How many of us, who are not wealthy and powerful, are that okay with deceiving people? Or taking bribes in the form of campaign contributions? How many of us could do like Mitt Romney and fire thousands of people in order to make stock prices go up? How many of us would be okay with building wealth based on selling items made in terrible working conditions in the third world? How many of us are willing to pollute willy nilly in order to get rich? I would imagine that the answers to these questions are "very few of us". Serious wealth and power requires some pretty heinous actions.
Here is a list of the top 400 richest people in the US:

The Richest People in America List - Forbes

Rather than smear everyone with a penny more than you, explain to me who these people hurt and what rules they broke in order to get the wealth they have.
 
great wealth, brings a great sense of entitlement.

its like the whole Pre-Destination thing. Rich folks are that way, because they were supposed to be that way. Such attitudes lead to feelings of being special.

funny though - because I've heard that exact same thing said about the poor who are on welfare.

How can the poor and reliant and rich and self sufficient both have this same view?

Is that saying that those in the middle don't ever think this way?
 
I doubt that the rich are actually more unethical, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were a little smarter (generally) and able to bend the rules for their advantage. That being said, the linked study indicates that self-interest is the same thing as greed, which I don't buy into. Self-interest is a normal human impulse.
 
Yes, that clever scam of "being really poor" to get out of paying an income tax. Genius!

I'm honestly shocked that this is even a question. Of COURSE the people who have the most wealth and power had to hurt other people and break rules to get it. It takes some really slimy things to get that much wealth and power in the first place. All those politicians on TV that we spend so much time complaining about. They're lying to us constantly, and we all know it. How many of us, who are not wealthy and powerful, are that okay with deceiving people? Or taking bribes in the form of campaign contributions? How many of us could do like Mitt Romney and fire thousands of people in order to make stock prices go up? How many of us would be okay with building wealth based on selling items made in terrible working conditions in the third world? How many of us are willing to pollute willy nilly in order to get rich? I would imagine that the answers to these questions are "very few of us". Serious wealth and power requires some pretty heinous actions.

I think its a mistake to generalize all rich people into these categories. I would say people such as mega ranch owners in Texas or something like that make an honest living and get rich doing it. A guy getting up at 4am to work and not stopping until 8pm is someone who earned his money IMO.
However, shockingly, I do agree with you that many politicians are bought off before we even cast a vote. I've been trying to find somewhere to fit this in a debate and I guess this is as good as any. Something that struck me from the GOP debate the other night, and infuriated me, was the part about Santorum endorsing Arlen Specter (D) because he said he would vote for W Bush's SCOTUS nominees if he did. Later that night, Specter released a press statement that never happened and Santorum is lying. What the heck man? Obviously, someone is lying here. Perfect example of why we don't trust politicians. Sorry, that was totally off subject but I've been holding that in for days.
 
funny though - because I've heard that exact same thing said about the poor who are on welfare.

How can the poor and reliant and rich and self sufficient both have this same view?

Is that saying that those in the middle don't ever think this way?

If a system can be played, someone will play it. It works with the rich as well as the poor. What I most often have a problem with is that too many conservatives only see it in the most poor and not in the wealthy.
 
If a system can be played, someone will play it. It works with the rich as well as the poor. What I most often have a problem with is that too many conservatives only see it in the most poor and not in the wealthy.

Goes back to what I try to teach young Marines. Before you do anything you believe may be in the gray area, think about what would happen if everybody did it. That goes with something as simple throwing a cigarette butt out the window while you're driving down the road or stuff as major as fleecing the welfare system or exploiting 3rd world labor. Of course, almost everybody is doing the last two and look where we are.
 
Here's the scoop.

When you are wealthy it affords you more freedom, including social freedom. Meaning of course, you no longer have to act all nice and happy and socially acceptable. You can literally, afford not to. So you don't. Most don't. That's why seemingly ordinary people + power -> the appearance of being corrupted by power. When in reality, it's all a matter of perspective. If you're poor, you are likely dependant on a great number of people, hell, even strangers. Your entire life is fragile, you'd be wise to keep up the appearance of being an all around great person...you have a lot to lose if you aren't. Similar with charity.

That's likely the primary reason.

Next would be that after you compete and succeed, often over a grind of decades of hard work and stress, you simply don't suffer fools the way you did when you were young and more laid back. If it's legal, it's game. And even then, flawed men and women make laws, they aren't magical, if they have enough clout there, bending/break those might be within their every day life too. You learn how to overcome things, and you get good at it.

People saying it's "entitlement", are missing the point. They typically really have more power, and really have more of a handle on how they are spending their energy in terms of getting what they want, or not. That's really the opposite of entitlement...
 
I don't agree with the OP. If one is talking about Federal income tax, then I think the rich tend to bend the rules. Most other things? Not so much. Money solves a lot of problems, and one of them is allowing people to be personally responsible for their wrong-doing without breaking the bank. I think they're much less likely to try to return something they've purchased when it doesn't concur with store policy...less likely to leave the scene of an accident...lie about how it happened...take something that doesn't belong to them...misrepresent their income...not take responsibility for damage their kids may do...that kind of thing.

Hmmmm, like Bernie Madoff?

Money is power. A lot of money is absolute power. Power has been known to corrupt. Not saying that everybody is corrupt...but given our present day problems we see with Government and our banking and market institutions...appears to me that more than a few are "bending the rules". And when you see legislators create rules (laws) to protect themselves or others in order to conduct business in ways that would more than likely be unethical for everybody else...then you have cronyism and legalized corruption.

One other thing to consider. Would you want to be rich or less than rich in a litigation situation?

Money does solve problems. But it can also create them.
 
Ultimately its about risk analysis. Being rich presents less risk for bad behavior and often an inflated sense of self importance based on research on how power affects the brain.
 
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