Kasz216 said:
The thing is... find somewhere where most people DON'T think the rich don't pay enough taxes. Most people will think the rich don't pay enough taxes, because the rich have more then them... and it's in most human's nature to be mad when somebody else gets more... often to their own detriment. See many game theory expeirments where a subject is told they have the ability to accept a deal and they and the person splitting it will both get money... or reject it... and they will both get nothing. When told the person has decided to give them 30% of the wealth. Most people in spite will veto the deal insuring both people get nothing. Intentionally harming themself, just to intentionally harm someone else. The French just voted for someone who wants to raise the taxes on the rich to 75%. I'm not sure there i a tax level high enough that people would be satisfied with permanently. (Well outside a salary Cap like Khan wants.) Karl Marx's greatest insight was when he said a town would be peaceful, whether everybody was rich, or everybody was poor and that struggles only really come up when some neighbors end up outpacing others. That is how most people think... although they shouldn't. Overall benefit to yourself and society should be judged higher then worrying about being outpaced by your neighbors. |
What is interesting, in that survey, is that a decent percentage believe the poor don't pay enough taxes. The group, which currently has the most people, thinks the middle class either pay enough or too much. And an overwhelming percentage don't believe the rich pay too much. It is human nature to want the game of life to be "fair". The want to believe that you are getting your fair share, even if the pie is smaller.
By the way, here is something to do. Take that all of nothing split offer, take or leave it and pit every number against every other number, splitting different ways. What I did was I saw around 30%, is where the person did best in these all or nothing offers are done. Like the individual who ends up wanting 90% shuts everyone out. The person who gets at 10% take doesn't get a lot. It is around 30% actually, when dealing with everyone, who does the best. 50-50 split guys do worse, because the ones who want more than 50% will not deal with them. I just did a simple run on this. I would leave it to others to try and see if they get different results. What I can see, in a society full of greedy folks, the one who would take less, would end up getting more deals done, while the greedy folk who won't split fairer, go hungry.
I think part of the whole not wanting to do deals if someone gets a bigger share, also comes out of a sense of justice one feels. It is like, if you feel the person gets a lot more, they could be scamming, and they must be stopped. People who feel someone is being cheap and ripping people off, will act that way. Sometimes, it just isn't worth it also, for a small amount.
By the way, there is this game, which looks into deal making and how people split, that is interesting:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/115/im-the-boss
