PANDEMIC DIARY — Roaming with Roth

THE GOAL IS AVERAGE
August 3, 2022

If someone said to you, “You are average” would you be insulted? A Dutch person would not be. In fact, that would likely be taken as a compliment. At the very least, it would be an acknowledgement of a truism that we here in the United States know but are unwilling to admit to ourselves. The most basic statistical model is the “Bell Curve”, a graph depicting the normal distribution, which has a shape reminiscent of a bell. The empirical rule says that for any normal (bell-shaped) curve, approximately: 68% of the values (data) fall within 1 standard deviation of the mean in either direction. 95%of the values (data) fall within 2 standard deviations of the mean in either direction. This model has proven itself to be rather inflexible. That is to say that regardless of the subject of analysis, the model generally holds true.

Put simply, you are average. We are average. Americans are average as is the rest of the world. Despite this self-evident axiom, here in the United States, due to many factors not the least of which is the mythology of The American Dream, we adhere in practice to a belief that everybody can be financially successful…everybody can be rich. This is a fallacy. Worse, is the harmful and hurtful idea that because the opportunities exist for these goals to be attained, failure to do so is a personal failure, a defect in character, a lax effort, leaving you undeserving. In the average mind, being average is a deficiency. So, not only do those who have ‘made it’ stand out as glaring examples of what the average person has failed to accomplish, so does the average person stand out as exemplars of meager attempts at success or even incompetence.

This contrasts with the standard practiced in the Netherlands. In a July 29 New York Times article, “The Country That Wants To Be Average”, we learn of a dispute between Jeff Bezos, the Founder of Amazon and one of the richest men in the world and the ‘average’ citizens of Rotterdam. Traveling on his $500 million yacht, Bezos wished to sail his yacht through the Kings Harbor channel and out to sea. In order to do this, he had to pass the Koningshaven Bridge or ‘Hef’ as it is affectionately referred to. However, the bridge, at a height of 230 feet, could not accommodate passage. Bezos and Oceanco, builders of the ship, requested that local government approve the dismantling of the bridge which has not been in operation since the 1990’s when a tunnel was completed. The bridge is shaped like an “H” and its dismantling, by anyone’s estimation would not be complicated and the associative costs would be paid for by Bezos and Oceanco. “Fast, free, and disrupt nothing. So why the fuss?”

“There’s a principle at stake,” said Mr. Lewis, a tall, bearded 37-year-old who was leaning against his bike and toggling during an interview between wry humor and indignation. He then framed the principle with a series of questions. What can you buy if you have unlimited cash? Can you bend every rule? Can you take apart monuments?” This was a question of competing values - the Netherlands’ preference for modesty versus American extravagance. Even as the request seemed reasonable and the task taking a day or two, there was extreme opposition to this proposal and illustrated by Ellen Verkoelen, a City Council member and Rotterdam leader of the 50Plus Party.

“When I was about 11 years old, we had an American boy stay with us for a week, an exchange student,” she recalled. “And my mother told him, just make your own sandwich like you do in America. Instead of putting one sausage on his bread, he put on five. My mother was too polite to say anything to him, but to me she said in Dutch, ‘We will never eat like that in this house.’” Her children were stunned and a little jealous. At the time, it was said in the Netherlands that putting both butter and cheese on your bread was “the devil’s sandwich.” Choose one, went the thinking. You don’t need both.

For sure, there are billionaires in the Netherlands, however Dutch norms and attitudes towards wealth remain Calvanist at root, a respect for conscientiousness, frugality and discipline. The rich do not flaunt it and the powerful do not highlight or relish in their cachet. There still exists a premium on equality and an enduring ethos that no one is better than another or deserves more than the next. No wonder the Dutch are always near the very top on the list of the happiest people on Earth.

Back to Bezos, it is not surprising to learn that Dutch critics contend that employees at Amazon are underpaid. Worse, given his fortune, the disparity between his wealth and the wages of his employees is considered grotesquely unfair and immoral. Their accusation is not so much that he is a tax cheat as the fact that Bezos is not fighting inequality by sharing his success and wealth. This is a moral question that transcends the tax code.

It is sad that in the United States we accept a notion that success belongs to the successful. We reward the wrong goals. Instead of prizing wealth as a beginning and end all that belongs solely to the ‘winner’, we could offer accolades and special status to those whose contributions to society are commensurate with their wealth. That achievement is not a measure of dollars rather a barometer of those aided, assisted in their growth, educated and provided opportunities for themselves to achieve. And, it is not just for Bezos to realize this end. It is a cultural shift that places modesty, humility and community ahead of extravagance, luxury and indulgence.