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The Zero-Sum Syndrome - Page 2

© Larry Winn

In 1993, Business Week blamed the end of the Cold War for the emergence of a new, cutthroat world economic order. The head of a major European steel producer hurting from foreign competition told a BW reporter, "To the extent that you raise the standard of living of developing countries, you must have a corresponding drop in the living standard in the West."

Says economist Herman Daly, "The equilibrium wage under free trade will be the Third World level".

Not everyone agrees. However, we can observe a lot of nasty behavior in ordinary citizens that could be termed "Zero-Sum Syndrome".

According to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, reports of violent traffic incidents, which the papers call "road rage", have increased nearly 7% since 1990. According to the report, they are "rarely the result of single incidents. Rather, they seem to be the result of personal attitudes and stress in the motorists' lives." Could these include career setbacks, job loss, and the struggle to make ends meet in multi-job, multi-kid, or low-income households?

We have the single-minded pursuit of group advantage, as typified by affirmative action.

Asian immigrants to the U.S. have faced face violent, sometimes lethal, attacks fueled, at least partly, by the fear that they are taking jobs away from Americans.

A fuel-testing laboratory falsifies records to the benefit of a client. A blending and packaging company is sued for substituting base oils in the lubricant it was manufacturing under contract. An exporter, negotiating a large contract for delivery of motor oil to Saudi Arabia, insists that each bottle should be underfilled by at least an ounce. Says one businessman to a reporter. "The most important business asset in the 21st century will be a lack of moral ethics."

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