Scarcity Brain: Fix Your Craving Mindset and Rewire Your Habits to Thrive with Enough

by Michael Easter

But consider the “potlatch,” a practice by American Indian tribes in the coastal Northwest. To understand it, imagine you get invited to a big dinner party. But beforehand, the host asks you for your income and title at work. Then, when you arrive at this party, your seat at the table, the food you’re served, and the silverware you use to eat it with are all based on your income and title. So you, an accountant, are sitting somewhere in the middle of the table, eating New York strip steak and a baked potato off Costco china with a stainless steel knife and fork. Meanwhile, your neighbor the tech investor is eating Kobe beef with lobster risotto and using gold-plated silverware. This is upsetting. But, hey, look on the bright side. At least you aren’t the public school teacher at the end of the table eating a hot dog and store-brand potato chips with your bare hands off a paper plate. This sounds awkward. Cruel, even. But this is exactly what the potlatch did. It was a spectacular display of social ranking celebrated with a massive feast where people were seated based on rank. Their social rank determined everything from the food a person ate to the dishes and silverware they used to eat it. The leader who threw the party would even make a big speech about his influence and then overwhelm his guests with gifts as a big flex of status. Sort of like how the first-class passengers get champagne, a hot meal, and a special welcome across the in-board PA system while the rest of ...