So in the context of white people enslaving black people, it makes perfect sense to not act white. They don’t get paid for their work and have no reason to work harder than is needed to avoid punishment. Presumably, people always expect to be graded on a curve, regardless of whether they actually are.įor slaves, solidarity make even more sense.
However, also when the grading is not on a curve, you see similar behavior. In schools, having the less capable demand solidarity makes perfect sense if people are graded on a curve: the overachievers worsen the situation for the less capable. So a balance has to be struck between solidarity with the less able and the bargaining power of the group & individual. If men are too unkind, women will refuse to marry or will refuse to be kind themselves. However, this also shouldn’t be taken too far, because if the cobblers are really slow, people will start looking for alternatives for shoes or make shoes themselves. Overachieving is then disloyalty to this peer agreement. You see similar behavior with unions, who also often try to prevent undercutting by peers. So a spontaneous solidarity then makes sense between peers: don’t undercut the other by overachieving (too much). The eagerness of this man shifts the equilibrium between men and women in that friend group to the benefit of women and at the expense of other men. All her female friends hear of this and start demanding daily back rubs as well. So he now has to up his game or accept a loss in income (either by lower pay or because his customers leave him).Īnother example: one man is very eager to please his wife and gives her daily back rubs. The customers of the slow cobbler who never complained before, now start demanding he lower his prices. Now a new cobbler comes to town and only takes 1 day to make a pair & asks 1 normal day wage. He can justify asking two normal day wages from his customers. It takes him 2 days to make a pair of shoes. Imagine a single cobbler in a medieval town. The consequences of overachieving can be negative for others.
So I think that we have to look at consequences.įurthermore, I think we should assume that human behavior has a reason. That doesn’t mean that others have to accept it. February some people, murder may be natural behavior.
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