"Asshole effect"

My husband and I are members of a country club. He swims there regularly after work and there is a handful of middle aged guys and retirees who swim there daily. It happened that the swimming pool's filter system needs a major overhaul and the club takes the opportunity to refurbish the pool which meant a 2 month closure. Meanwhile the club has arranged for members to make use of a public swimming pool in the neighbourhood free of charge ie. no entrance fees need payable.

Yesterday my husband related a conversation overheard at the steam room in the gent's toilet. The regular group was complaining about having to swim at a public pool AND having to pay parking fees at the public car park. When I heard this I couldn't help but laugh aloud at how ludicrous these people are. Quite a few drive Mercedes and BMW and they complain about parking fees at the public car park! The government should just introduce a wealth tax to shake them up.

Paul Piff, a US psychologist calls it the "asshole effect" after researching on the effect of wealth on attitudes. His findings indicate that wealthy people tend to be mean, entitled and narcissistic.

I have already noticed this 'entitlement mentality' among students in our elite schools and scholarship holders, partly because they are made to feel special. I think the elite in our society feel their success stems from their own intelligence and hardwork and thus should be awarded more privileges than those who are lacking. Our economic achievement as a nation and a society which lauds competitive meritocracy has heightened a sense of entitlement especially for those who have so called 'arrived'. Our wages are market driven and does not reflect social value. "The market price argument explains inequality through the argument that pay is equal to productivity." Money and status thus breed an entitlement mentality.

Just yesterday my husband complained about a pay cut in salary and bonus announced by the company amid the covid 19 crisis. To put him in proper perspective, I retorted that many people's job are at stake or are asked to take no pay leave, not to mention taxi and grab drivers whose livelihood is threatened.

Well, Paul Piff in his research also found that when shown images of children in poverty, the wealthy could behave more empathetically.

There is Hope yet, I guess.