The Nappy Cat Chronicles

Culture: Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems

On the Thursday edition of NPR’s Most E-Mailed Stories Podcast, I heard the sad story of Charles Morris, the banker and economic historian who noticed the recent economic travesties and wrote a book about it. However, regardless of his place on the best-sellers list, evolutionary psychology teaches up that, essentially, many people could have read his book but would have not heeded his warning.

Error management theory posits that, when faced with a decision of which we are not sure of the consequences, we are more apt to “play it safe” and deny the option that is likely to produce the most adverse consequences. Ponder:

The allure of “getting rich” and the notion of economic scarcity are so strong that, in my opinion, people will gamble away their savings. However, this assumes a level playing field: If you play your cards well enough, you will procure a gain. Even a modest gain would be acceptable. Unfortunately, everyone else plays the game to make money and the few who have the resources to make the system work to their advantage will do so. They will purposefully create a scenario in which you will give them your savings and you will never see a return. And there will always be a plethora of people willing to take that risk. Hence obtaining more money and engaging in more wars will always be the goal of our wonderfully jingoed rulers.