Mensa plays Bernanke Bucks

Dogmatix · Sep 6, 2012

From here:
http://www.ocregister.com/news/mensa-370211-bernanke-table.html

High IQ society Mensa uses hands-on game to show wealth disparities

BUENA PARK Ginny Flannery sat at the so-called VIP table in the middle of a cavernous hotel conference room, sipping a mimosa and nibbling on tea sandwiches with a friend. Their dining table was decorated with a bright bouquet of flowers, and she was waited on by a fawning server.

All around her, fellow members of the high-IQ society Mensa sat at plainly decorated tables, snacking on cheap pretzels and nuts. They had no server, and their table centerpiece consisted of a single flower placed inside an empty beer bottle. Al Schwartz, theme coordinator for the Mensa society's annual get together, talks about the group's social experiment and how the rules relate to real life. This year's theme examines the Occupy Wall Street movement's belief system.

The unusual lunchtime dining arrangement Saturday was a tongue-in-cheek social experiment intended to showcase U.S. wealth disparities and how socioeconomic classes are reinforced.

"I don't understand these 'Bernanke Bucks' at all," said Flannery, a 34-year Mensa member from North Tustin, grinning as she described the fake money she used to buy herself and a friend their VIP table seats. "All I know is that it got us this."

About 110 Mensa members from as far away as Arizona and Washington took part in the Bernanke Bucks social experiment during the Orange County Mensa chapter's annual Labor Day weekend summit, held this year at the Radisson Suites Hotel in Buena Park. It started Friday and runs through Monday.

The low-key game, named after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, was just one component of a four-day Mensa conference that also included debates, lectures, entertainment and stimulating conversation. The theme of this year's conference was Occupy Mensa, with many of the lectures focusing on analyzing the Occupy Wall Street movement's belief system.

As is the case in the real world of personal finance, many Mensa members like Flannery did not spend time trying to understand how the Bernanke Bucks were distributed, spent and earned, said the game's brainchild, Mensa member Al Schwartz of Irvine. As a result, only a privileged few were able to work the system to their advantage by the second day of the conference Saturday, he reported.

"I don't tell them what to do," said Schwartz, the game's moderator and a retired synthetic organic chemist. "They're in control. I'm a door, and they choose to do the walking through it."

Those who took the time to understand the intentionally confusing game figured out that they could form alliances and negotiate deals with fellow Mensa members to maximize their earnings and to keep others from earning the fake money.

For example, while every participant was given paperwork to automatically qualify for a free government handout, the process to correctly fill out the paperwork was so complex and bureaucratic just as it would be in the real world that many didn't bother with it.

Those who figured out how to get around the bureaucracy offered to help others for a hefty fee, of course.

"No one wanted to do the work required to cash" the welfare checks, said Bob Kegel, a retired college professor. "I figured out how to make it work. Even with silly stuff like this, it really gives you a rush."

Kegel, who said he wasn't planning to dine at the VIP table, started out Friday with $500 of the fake money. By Saturday afternoon, he'd amassed about $140,000, he said.

"It's enforced my opinion that the best way to interact in an economy is free of force," said Kegel, a 33-year Mensa member who taught business management at Cypress College, Chapman University and Long Beach State. "As soon as you throw a bureaucracy into it, it becomes less fun, less productive, and you have people who say, 'I don't want to do it.'"

The Bernanke Bucks were randomly handed out Friday in a way that mimics real-world wealth distribution. About 65 percent of participants were classified as poor and given $350 to $900, while just 1 percent was initially classified as wealthy and given $10,000. At the end of the four-day conference Monday, participants will be able to bid on door prizes using their fake money.

"If you start out lucky, you can control the world," said Kaye Gittleman, a 17-year Mensa member from Orange, who was initially placed in the middle class but managed to amass more wealth with help from Kegel. "But sadly, in my real life, I've never had the upper hand."

Mensa officials point out that while their organization represents individuals who score in the top 2 percent on intelligence tests, many Mensa members aren't rich and certainly aren't in the top 1 percent financially. Some are dyslexic or disabled, and many are retired and living on fixed incomes.

"We are not making fun of poor people," said Orange County Mensa's publicity chair, Kristine Calitri, of San Clemente. "Some of us are poor, too. The only difference is that if we're needy, we have our intelligence to figure out how to dig ourselves out of the hole."

Karon Roberts, a 25-year Mensa member from Anaheim, said she initially was conflicted about participating in the Bernanke Bucks game because of her egalitarian life philosophy. But by Saturday morning, Roberts, who was placed into an upper economic tier, decided to put her personal convictions aside and take a seat at the VIP dining table.

"I had lox and bagels and champagne for breakfast," said Roberts, laughing as she recalled the opulent, full-service meal. "It seemed like a bad idea at first my personal philosophy is things should be good for everyone. But I decided to get off my high horse."
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Sounds like a fun game, shame we didn't get a go.

Oh wait up...

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Mensa plays Bernanke Bucks

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