Australia's game of rigged Monopoly
Last year Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey declared that the Age of Entitlement was over. It's not a message you're likely to hear from either party during this election campaign. But as Hockey said then, with our population ageing and the cost of health care rising, we won't be able to afford the same level of benefits and services and cut taxes at the same time.
While Hockey resists the idea of higher taxes, just about every Australian economist and overseas observer tells us, like Ken Henry did, that we must generate substantially more tax revenue over the next decade.
But Hockey is also right to challenge the idea of entitlement. Too many of us feel that we personally are entitled to lower taxes and better services. And that means that we're asking someone else to pay more or receive less.
It doesn't take much to convince people they're entitled. American psychologist Paul Piff has invited hundreds of people to play a rigged game of Monopoly in his lab. One of the players starts with $2000, the other $1000. The rich player gets $200 for passing Go while the poor player gets only $100. And the rich player rolls two dice while the poor player rolls only one.
Before long the rich players are streets ahead and the game is over. 'When we asked them afterwards, how much do you feel like you deserved to win the game? The rich people felt entitled,' says Piff. 'They felt like they deserved to win the game.'
According to Piff, the rich players feel their success is due to their individual skills and talents. In other studies he and his colleagues have found that real life, upper-class people are often less considerate and compassionate than those who are less well off.
The researchers argue that having more money allows people to be less dependent on others. As a result they are more likely put their own self-interest over the interests of others and are more likely to see the pursuit of self-interest as a good thing.
In some ways life is like a rigged game of Monopoly. Being born in Australia is a huge advantage. And having the parents with money, a good education and connections always helps. Some of us have an advantage before we've even started school. But like the players in Piff's experiments, those of us who do well tend to think we've earned our