The Chicago Lesson

The Chicago Lesson: Why Human Nature Isn’t Inherently Selfish

            When researchers analyzed the effects that skipping breakfast has on children’s behavior in school, their results didn’t go exactly as planned.  Naturally, one can assume that if kids get wholesome breakfasts, they’ll exhibit more appropriate behavior than forgoing it.  However, as scientists across the spectrum observed, the kids didn’t eat all they were given.  Why?  It couldn’t be that they weren’t hungry enough, because breakfast is essential for all kids.  The children had others in mind.  What would it mean if they ate well while their siblings didn’t?  As a result, some of the food was hoarded to bring back to their families that were, until recently, in the same boat as them. 

            These kids aren’t fundamentally different than you or I.  Yes, they’re more deprived than the average American, but perhaps this is precisely why they acted as they did.  Think about it.  How often do the financial giants share their fortunes to give others an equal chance?  If they did so regularly, then there wouldn’t be this much inequality.  I believe this strikes at the heart of the “Too big to fail” argument for Wall Street banks.  How about, as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders suggested, if a financial institution claims to be “Too big to fail” than it is “Too big to exist.”  After all, failure is a natural and healthy part of existence.  But this is just one example of the many I could have immediately drawn up.  The point is that it is very dangerous for an individual or organization to believe they come first.  To believe that the ends justify the means; and whoever is stepped on in the process is swept away.  Society should let failures happen on their own rather than build up an unsustainable and unfair protective fortress around prized attributes.  As smart and successful as we are, there is still much to learn from the deprived.