Social position may get intolerable as we move forward – 03/04/2023 – Michael França

How far the power of others in us goes is a big question mark. Even more so when we consider that a significant part of this influence began before we were born. Our ancestors shaped a world construction. In it, they put their beliefs and values. At birth, we inherited the influence of this unfinished work with its beauties and weaknesses. And, every day, we are given the opportunity to transform it into our brief visit here.

This continuous process of transformation has aspirations as one of its driving forces. Understanding how our wills are forged makes it possible to broaden understanding not only in relation to those around us but also to ourselves. In addition, it is relevant knowledge for us to move towards public policies that positively impact the lives of the most disadvantaged. Fortunately, researchers from various areas of knowledge have been focusing on this topic for some time now.

In the book “Understanding Poverty”, organized by Abhijit Banerjee, Nobel Prize in Economics in 2019, there is an interesting chapter dedicated to discussing the formation of aspirations and their role in human behavior. Written by Debraj Ray, professor at the University of New York, the economist is based on the work of anthropologist Arjun Appadurai to describe a set of factors that shape our desires. Among them, the lives, achievements and ideals of those with whom we have some contact stand out.

This makes a considerable part of our aspirations socially determined. Individual desires arise through experience and observation. We use our peers to make comparisons. In this scenario, it is natural to aspire for better living conditions. However, depending on the moment of our trajectories and social position, the wills change or are complementary.

The most disadvantaged tend to aspire for greater dignity.

Those who are comfortable with basic material needs, on the other hand, tend to seek to increase recognition, visibility and, in certain cases, political power. And, not infrequently, there are also those who wish to dominate others with religious or ethnic motivation.

In this context, what would guide forward-looking behavior? Debraj Ray argues that it is not the aspirations themselves, but the aspirations gap, that is, the difference between the standard of living that one aspires to and the one that the individual already has. This gap would be a kind of measure of how far we want to go.

However, a very large or low aspirations gap can negatively affect individual efforts. The explanation is simple.

When our standard of living is close to what we aspire to, we have little incentive to raise the standard. The behavior of a portion of the Brazilian elite, for example, helps to illustrate this case. However, when the standard is very far away, any individual investment will take us only part of the way.

This theoretical scenario has an important economic implication. Working on the aspirations of each segment of society can lead to a boost in individual development.

However, there is another potential negative effect. When we broaden the aspirations of the population too much, we also run the risk of generating widespread frustration.

If living standards do not keep pace with changes in aspirations, social tensions can escalate and have disruptive and eventually violent political consequences. The French Revolution is an example. According to the thinker Alexis de Tocqueville: “The French found their position even more intolerable as it got better”.

The text is a tribute to the song “My Children, My Treasure”, by Jorge Ben Jor.

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