Do poor people hate rich people?

It’s an idea we hear all the time, but what happens when you actually test it?

This video looks at what decades of research into fairness, inequality, wealth and social class can tell us about where resentment really comes from, why rich and poor people can see the same world so differently, and what happens when some voices are much easier to hear than others.

The evidence points somewhere rather more complicated than “envy”.

I’m Barry, a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.

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Video Written and Performed By Barry Ferns

Edited By Barry Ferns and Becky Goodman @beckygoodtimes

This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.

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If you’re new to this, check out @garyseconomics first – his channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.

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Want to see the stand-up side of all this?

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Sources & Further Reading

Christina Starmans, Mark Sheskin & Paul Bloom (2017)

Why People Prefer Unequal Societies

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-017-0082

Werner Güth, Rolf Schmittberger & Bernd Schwarze (1982)

An Experimental Analysis of Ultimatum Bargaining

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0167268182900117

Shai Davidai & Thomas Gilovich (2016)

The Headwinds/Tailwinds Asymmetry: An Availability Bias in Assessments of Barriers and Blessings

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27869473/

Michael W. Kraus, Paul K. Piff & Dacher Keltner (2009)

Social Class, Solipsism, and Contextualism: How the Rich Are Different From the Poor https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22775498/

Suzanne Mettler (2011)

The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine American Democracy

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo12244559.html

Martin Gilens & Benjamin I. Page (2014)

Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/

Hillsborough Independent Panel (2012)

The Hillsborough Independent Panel Report

https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20170408004225/http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk/report/

Grenfell Action Group (2016)

KCTMO – Playing with Fire

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/kctmo-playing-with-fire/

Chapters

00:00 - 01:54 Introduction

01:54 - 04:50 More Money, More Hate?

04:50 - 08:04 Why people prefer unequal societies

08:04 - 09:12 Envy vs. Fairness

09:12 - 12:12 Headwinds & Tailwinds

12:12 - 13:21 Data From Your Seat in The Theatre

13:21 - 14:49 Invisible vs Visible Help

14:49 - 15:52 How it all stacks up

15:52 - 16:34 How this channel keeps going

16:34 - 21:50 Being heard is not the same as making a sound

21:50 - 24:39 What is the outrage aimed at?

#Inequality #Psychology #BarryEconomics