How Did We Lose the Share-the-Spoils Mentality?

Note: This is part two of the homework assignment - but this only addresses the larger issue of why we lost the share-the-spoils mentality.This part goes off on a tangent that tries to answer how we have lost that mentality that was so prevalent before. Part one is the blog post underneath that addresses the prompt directly. Both parts share the same introduction.

In the article presented by Jonathan Haidt, “How to Get Rich to Share the Marbles”, the University of Virginia professor talks about a so called “share-the-spoils” mentality that exists among humans. According to studies conducted by researchers at the Max Planck institute in Germany, this mentality does not exist with our closest cousins, the chimpanzees. It developed for us thousands of years ago when humans started foraging and hunting together for food. Unfortunately, this mentality resides within us as a switch that is not permanently on. The positive feelings of community and together-ness generated by this mentality are expressed, i.e. the switch is turned on, when everyone collaborates and cooperates together for the greater good. As the author pointed out, throughout history we have been asked to come together, for a higher calling than just working for ourselves. This pertains to not only presidents like Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Kennedy but other leaders, like Martin Luther King and Churchill, as well. They presented compelling cases why, through cooperation and unity, we could overcome adversity and achieve grand projects and goals. Such things that could only be dreamed about became reality.

But at the same time, I see why this has all but disappeared. President Lincoln dealt with a devastating and fractious civil war; in the twentieth century, there were two world wars and the looming specter of communism and the bastion of nefariousness that was the USSR. But in the twenty-first century, there are no tangible, huge threats – in the form of war or a country, or otherwise. As the world’s sole superpower, the United States does not have real rivals (yet), economically or militarily. This will eventually change as other countries, notably China, are fast catching up. But in the meanwhile, there is no one or no challenge (yet) to the United States so as a people we do not perceive any threats. And it has been this way since the 1980s with the Reagan presidency, when it was clear that we had an edge in our cold war race/battle with the Soviet Union. Towards the end of the 80s, by vastly outspending the USSR and with Reagan being the first president to turn the United States from a creditor to a debtor nation since World War I, it was clear we would eventually win. After that, there has not been a single threat or grand project to bring the nation together, with the exception of 9/11. In the aftermath of 9/11, we quickly came together as a nation but over time, that display of unity has dissipated. So now we are left at square one again and we have no grand ambition, like the moon landing, or grand perceived evil, like the Soviet Union, to bring us together.

President Obama has been on the right track to tie everything back to a sense of community and shared prosperity. But that mentality that endured throughout both world wars and up until the 80s has lay dormant among us. And that is primarily because of the new mentality of “pull yourself by your own bootstraps” and “become successful with hard work and individual effort”. Incidentally, this mentality took over around the same time as the 80s, when capitalism and corporate America swiftly rose through deregulation, and when inequality started increasing. Now I have no problem with this mentality, in fact, I applaud it and I find it a testament to the American character. But at the same time, I do not see why this and the “shared prosperity” or “share-the-spoils” mentality cannot actively coexist at the same time. It’s completely fine to work hard by yourself and earn success by your individual efforts, but there is no problem with extending a hand out to your neighbor if you think he needs help (with no perceivable gain for you) or with asking for help from your neighbor. That’s what has been lost over the past few decades – this sense of “we’re part of the same community” and “let’s build this nation together”. These days, for politicians, if a law does not do anything for their district or state, it’s useless to them. But what about the people that live in other districts or states? Are they not Americans as well? Do you have no obligation to them just because you don’t represent them? I ask because in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, many Republicans denied hurricane relief to people and businesses on the east coast, namely, New York and New Jersey. Their reasoning was it increased the debt (I won’t even begin to get into how wrong that reasoning is). But beyond that, it was the first time this had happened in Congress – relief and aid bills the aftermath of natural disasters always rapidly passed Congress with an overwhelming majority of both parties.

All of this long-windedness brings me to one crucial point. We must find what it is that can tie and hold us together for the greater good – for a greater purpose than just ourselves or just our neighborhood. It won’t be as clear or as perceivable as a world war, the moon landing, or the Soviet Union. But we must find it fast, before we go into a period of relative decline like what happened with the United Kingdom in the 20th century and well, I won’t get into further doom and gloom stuff. Honestly, it will be incredibly hard but it is possible.