March 2016
“Unnecessary fear of a bad decision
is a major stumbling block to good decisions”
Jim Camp
The temptation to be greedy is strong. Most people act in their individual self-interest knowing that if others act in the same way we all will lose.
Our tax system, to some extent, prevents us from making poor individual choices. This explains how we handle health care, child care, senior care, parks, roads and other core infrastructure. The taxes we pay for these services are a “forced sharing” that is unlikely to occur if each individual has greater control over these choices. Taxes are the cost of sharing in mutual benefits.
A lecturer in the psychology department at the University of Maryland, Dylan Selterman, tests the power of greed. Each semester he poses the following challenge to his students;
Mr. Selterman has given this test since 2008. Only once class has succeeded in getting extra points.
“You can earn some extra credit on your term paper. You get to choose whether you want two points added to your grade, or six points. If more than 10% of the class selects six points, however, no one gets any points.”
Our failure as a society to address climate change, traffic congestion and population growth is comparable to the poor choices made by these students.
This may explain why some condo corporations fail to make good decisions to improve their individual communities. These decisions range from electing the best individuals as condo board members to embracing seeming logical and irrefutable financial decisions such as raising condo fees to maintain an adequate reserve fund or sub-metering to eliminate waste and save money.
There is a general failure to cooperate even when doing so is in the best interest of all. Many prefer the selfish option. Because so many choose the selfish option, condo corporations must create rules of conduct, follow enacted bylaws and comply with the Condo Act. All help to protect the interests of the community from harmful individual decisions.
The reality is that too many people do not trust others to make these decisions. Rather than consider the best decision for the community and themselves, too many support decisions that are in their individual short-term interest while detrimental to their long-term interest.
