According to a study out of 4,351 people from all over the world, tolerance to super rich varies according to the social, economic and cultural context where everyone lives.
The recent wedding of the owner of the Amazon group Jeff Bezos have unleashed many controversies regarding the possibility of armoring a city for their wedding by paying a quantity (for us ordinary mortals) exorbitant of money.
A 2017 Oxfam study found that the eight richest people on the planet (among which Bezos also appeared) have a heritage equal to that of half of the inhabitants of the earth: but how are these super-riches perceived? Is it considered moral to have such a vast heritage? A study published on Pnas Nexus He investigated the question: here’s what he discovered.
The most (and less) countries tolerant towards super rich. The authors involved 4,351 people from 20 different countries, asking each one if he thought that “having too many money” was morally incorrect. The concept of “excessive wealth” has not been voluntarily defined in a precise way, to leave room for cultural and individual differences.
The results showed that the inhabitants of Russia, Switzerland and Ireland were those who raised greater moral objections to excessive wealth, while Peruvians, Argentine and Mexican were those who disapproved less the super rich. From the data it emerges that Who lives in richer countries (with a higher GDP) And it is part of more egalitarian societies tends to consider an excessive level of wealth immoral: The reason, the researchers explain, could be that in the richest countries the negative effects of extreme wealth – such as corruption, tax evasion or abuse of power – are more visible, and that in the most equal societies citizens are more accustomed to a fair distribution of resources and for this reason they are more sensitive to excesses.
And individual citizens as they think? On a personal level, those who give value to the authority, merit and reward for the efforts made tend to justify extreme wealth more easily, as well as those who have right -wing political visions. Furthermore The young people proved to be more critical of the exaggerated accumulation of money than the olderI wait in line with the tendency of the new generations to show more concern and interest in social justice and the equitable distribution of resources. In general, from the study it emerges that there is no univocal answer to the question “to be super rich is immoral?”, But that the perceptions vary according to the social, economic and cultural context.
