It is not my fault

Two men are arrested, but the police do not possess enough information for a conviction. Following the separation of the two men, the police offer both a similar deal- if one testifies against his partner, and the other remains silent, the betrayer goes free and the cooperator receives the full 20-year sentence. If both remain silent, both are sentenced to 5 years in jail for a minor charge. If each betrays the other, each receives a 10 year sentence. Each prisoner must choose either to betray or remain silent; the decision of each is kept quiet. What should they do?  What typically happens is betrayal no matter how close the bond of the relationship.  In game theory, this is called the Prisoner’s Dilemma.                                      

             

Variations of the game have been successfully used to force an OPEC member country to sell oil below their agreed upon price to the US.  Lobbyists have successfully used this game on many of our elected officials to force them to vote in a yea or nay manner.  Alliances have been formed between two companies that would have never existed were it not for this game. 

Divorce has occurred due to the options presented by this game.  In fact, even though 78% of Americans are Christians,there is current a 50% divorce rate in this country.  So, the influence of Christian values on the family has little to no effect at all in preventing divorce.  What game is causing the choice of divorce to be made?

Game Theory has become the very fabric of our society, especially when it comes to playing one side off against the other; for example, 71% of the tax returns filed in 2009 (assuming there was complete honesty) claimed an annual household income of $50,000 or less. Median income is $50,233. 

Yet, what is failed to be reported is the fact that only 17% of the American population has a college degree and another 10% have earned graduate degrees.  Since education is what brings in more income, there is nothing unusual here.  73% of the population has no college education and 71% of the population make under $50,000/household/year – that makes perfectly good sense to me.

· 20% of the population earn between $50,000 and $100,000

· 8% of the population earn between $101,000 and $500,000

It is not the 1% that is keeping the money from you, it is the 73% that need to get a college education – but, this is game theory…  The States with the lowest number of college graduates are:  West Virginia, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Louisiana.

Our political party system in America has been using game theory to influence elections from the “getgo,” but was calling it something else. 

I would venture to say that most of us believe that there are only 2 political parties in this country when in reality there are 6:

                

1.  Democrats (formed in 1792) with 39,337,282 members

2.  Republicans (formed in 1854) with 30,593,698 members

3.  Libertarians (formed in 1971) with 235,500 members

4.   Reform party (formed in 1992) with 42,376 members

5.  Constitution party (formed in 1992) with 366,937 members

6.  Green party (formed in 1996) with 289,177 members

While these numbers are from 2008 statistical data, one can see that the Democratic Party has the largest number of members and should win every election but it does not because America has further sub-divided into: Conservatives and Liberals which are found in all 6 parties. 

Conservatives typical share the following family values:                     

• Integrity
• Self-discipline
• Pro-activity
•  Empathy
•  Humility
• Ownership of firearms
• Opposed to same sex marriages
• Opposed to abortion

Game theory is oftentimes used in politics and during political campaigns to cause doubt and confusion in the minds of the uneducated, unaware, or apathetic voter by creating this dilemma.

When in reality, Presidents, Congressmen and women, and Senators will all be influenced by the use of game theory by lobbyists and those who make large campaign contributions.  And, those who were once liberal will become conservative and those who were conservative will become liberal.  The public can cast their votes but if they have been inappropriately influenced one way or the other, then they can always say, “it is not my fault.”

And, while we get manipulated at home by game theory, the rest of the world slowly encroaches upon our domain; a domain that placed America solidly at the top of the mountain – a mountain whose base has become eroded by those who mistakenly used game theory on the general public instead of keeping it as a business tool.