As Clinton used to say, most Americans believe that if you play by the rules, you should be able to make a decent living through your work and skill.
Too many of the 1%ers of today either inherited their wealth from some individual who made a fortune climbing the ladder while kicking honest, working people in the butt (think Rockefeller, Morgan, nearly all the 19th century moguls), breaking ethical rules and the law and corruption (the history of the corruption of the 19th century moguls is astounding) or made their money by kicking honest, working people in the butt (think Rockefeller, Morgan, nearly all the 19th century moguls), breaking ethical rules and the law and corruption (the history of the corruption of the 19th century moguls is astounding). This goes for all the takeover crowd who bought viable American businesses or factories, sold the guts of the factories to China or some other third world country and are now reveling in their wealth.
A few of the hedge fund managers and Wall Street brokers and some of our bankers come to mind. They buy their way out of criminal convictions with "campaign donations" to politicians. (That used to be called corruption, but today we call that corporate free speech.)
Take a guy who is in his late 50s, early 60s, has worked all his life in a respected trade and now finds himself out of a job. He never cheated. He never shirked. He is impoverished. And Congress won't even vote to continue his meager unemployment check. It's a bit late to invest in a new career, especially when jobs in almost any career other than those that require a youthful, strong back and legs are non-existent for the over-50s crowd.
The problem is not the envy. The problem is the greed on the part of those who so need to blame their victims. The victims of the greed of the wealthy have no control. They have no representation in government. Most of them don't even have a union.
This talk about envy is a useless attempt to justify extreme greed and hubris.
Things will change. They always do. Whether they change so as to preserve some of the privileges that the wealthy now enjoy is entirely up to those wealthy people who are now blaming their victims and who do not see their own faults.
Is it really so difficult to understand that a homeless mother of three has a right to be envious of a mother with three homes?
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