Savannah Mulvey-White

Persuasive

March 1st 2017

Global Issue: Wealth and its effect on morals

Rich in money, yet poor in society

Within society it is an incredibly common stereotype to assume that wealthy people have

worse compassion and morality, and for the most part this is true. The people more likely to

cheat, lie, and steal are known to be those with higher annual incomes, of course this isnt to say

that lower classes do not participate in wrong doing, but typically those who are in the lower

class cheat, lie, and steal to help others, whereas most rich people do these same things for the

benefit of themselves.

So many studies prove the idea that rich people feel entitled to something, in a way that

makes them feel as though they are above everyone else. They found that luxury car drivers

were more likely to cut off other motorists instead of waiting for their turn at the intersection.

This was true for both men and women upper-class drivers, regardless of the time of day or the

amount of traffic at the intersection. (Scientific) More studies similar to this done at Berkeley

show that upper class drivers are more likely to not stop at stop signs, and not halt for pedestrians

either. Wealthy people seem to be adapted to naturally believe they are above others within our

society, and that shows the lack of compassion developed throughout the lives of upper class

people.
Citations

Grewal, Daisy. "How Wealth Reduces Compassion." Scientific American. Scientific American,

09 Apr. 2012. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.