Published CommPro.biz 2014.03.18

Wealthy Jerks

Put-upon billionaires have recently equated criticism of their wealth with actions of the Nazis leading up to World War Two. Reacting to suggestions that a tax loophole favoring the rich be closed, Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman of hedge fund Blackstone, is quoted, “It’s war. It’s like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.” Tom Perkins, another billionaire, went a step farther likening actions by the 99.9% to Kristallnacht, the 1938 Nazi riots targeting Jewish-owned businesses and synagogues. Both Schwarzman and Perkins later apologized, but there’s no question that some of the 0.1% feel attacked.

It’s part of the apparent fog that enters the minds of a few of those who do well; they begin to feel that they are rich because they deserve to be rich. After all, they worked hard, are smart, and that’s why they reached these lofty environs. It never occurs to them that where they were born may have helped, that being in the right place at the right time might have helped, that someone gave them a hand up, or that a host of other things –including luck– might have had a role in their success.

Paul Piff, a social psychologist at UC Berkeley, and his students look at us as a society and how various life circumstances change our views. They have discovered that some of us pick up very quickly on this viewpoint. In dozens of studies conducted around North America Piff and his associates have discovered that being rich turns some of us into jerks. In what we’ll call his street corner observations, Piff found that those driving luxury cars were more likely to run a red light or stop sign and paid little attention to those on the corner trying to cross. In another study they even found some of the rich would take candy from little children.

Most interesting were his rigged Monopoly games. Students rolled the dice before the game to see which one would be given huge advantages. No surprise, those with the advantage won. Big surprise, some thought they deserved to win, that it was their playing skill and not the advantage that made them winners.

Truth is there are lots of variables. Lots of hard workers with great ideas never make it and some clueless jerks do. Those who have to justify their wealth with some myth are to be pitied. Truth is those who win following the ethical business model –and it doesn’t insure success– are not jerks. They make up the majority of the rich, the know-how-they-got-there rich, the nice rich who look out for their customers, their team members, their vendors, their community, and the environment. And by the way –all things being equal– they make a lot more money than the jerks following the dog-eat-dog path. Jerks like Schwarzman and Perkins deserve to be unhappy and to feel threatened by those who point out the unfair advantages they enjoy. They deserve to live in the world they created.