Does Money make you Mean? Paul Piff’s TED talk below will certainly get you thinking , with his facinating insights and data on how money can make you desensitised to the pain of others and entitled beyond rules……
This question – Does Money make you mean? has bothered me for a while now for the insensitivities , I dare say apathy at times towards those who dont have access to resources. It’s difficult to miss the disaparities in a fast-developing country, and yet there are ample instances of almost not noticing, not acknowledging, not wanting to know or engage with people from the bottom of the pyramid.
Interestingly in a series of sessions on Diversity&Inclusion, delivered for Post graduate Management students revealed high Affinity bias, as it was apparent most of them engaged closely with their own Socio-economic class, had limited understanding of the challenges or worldview of those who lacked resources and lived with constraints of poverty. This lead to important conversations around how this disconnect could impact relationship-building, their leadership in the future, understanding the ecosystem for talent and business/ costumers, besides the need to develop human curiosity to engage with those who are different.
The problem is how we perhaps engage with disparities from the lens of deservedness as a society. Those who have, deserve to because they/ their families did the work and others don’t, because they/ their families didn’t.
During the recent upheaval of the global pandemic one naturally imagined a more benevolent humane world emerging. The pandemic certainly brought the fragility of human life and safety at the centre of everything- Compassion first, Accountability/ Business/ Work comes only next…although many are still learning this sequence…
And yet we could ask how well the Haves, the people of means and resources have used these times to manifest Altruism and generosity? Also it’s important to note, that Altruism and Generosity of your organizations/ institutions cannot be mistaken as your own….
Do you agree with this? Does this question bother you too? Do you believe the crisis moved us inwards towards Self-protection/ preservation, instead of outwards to the world to protect those who need our compassion/ help the most? What do you think of Paul Piff’s Ted talk?
