The Just World Bias

There's an excellent column in The Guardian by Oliver Burkeman. You probably know a lot of positive thinkers. Share this column with them.

There is a belief out there that people get what they deserve. That rape victims asked for it. That poor people deserve to be homeless and hungry. As Herman Cain says to cheering Republican crowds, "If you don't have a job, blame yourself!" The people with money and power like the "just world bias" because it justifies their good luck. It turns them from lucky people into nobility.

In today's StarTribune a column by former Strib business reporter Mike Meyers describes how the Republican Party shapes our tax system to help the rich and punish the poor.

If you go to one of those new, very large, very successful "Christian" churches, I suggest you raise your hand and ask about this. I'm sure your pastor has a ready answer. Maybe Jesus was wrong about the less fortunate. Or maybe He really preferred rich people.