The Rich side of the Tracks

Forgive me for what will be a rather insensitive post, but I'm tired of hearing people bitch about the rich.  It's become such a trend in itself to moan about "elitist rich folk" that I'm starting to wonder if this trend wasn't created by some rich guy in order to make himself more money.


I think the psychology of it makes sense: those without money are struggling, and see those with money, who are not struggling; that's enough to resent anything about them.  Sure, the basic formula could go a lot deeper considering the many downright stupid things rich people do with their money, and generally speaking there's not exactly an intelligence requisite for being rich, so the frustration of seeing, not just a total asshole but a successful asshole makes sense.

But putting these rather petty, though understandably human, feelings aside, could somebody try telling me when you cease being a normal person and suddenly find yourself on the rich side of the tracks?  When somebody's bank account reaches a certain number total, does that person wake up one day and suddenly have the urge to light a cigar with a 5 dollar bill for breakfast?  Is it really that bad to make or simply have money?

As a recent college grad without a steady job, I ask these questions with sincerity.  I thought that in many ways the whole point of working and savings was for that very reason: to make and have money, the more being the merrier.  Yes dear, there are more things to life than money and making money; life is beautiful and should be lived not worked.  But we're talking about money because it's what is on our minds.  We live in a working society.  And I think that's where we get frustrated most.  But do we honestly believe that rich people don't work for their money?  It's easy to say yes, but what do we really know?

To be a hard working rich person doesn't seem to fit the stereotype we love to rip into.  "Sure, hard working when they aint hittin no golf balls" right?  Not all rich people are Paris Hilton.  The rich didn't invent or conjure their money from thin air at some rich people's convention.  It came from somewhere, and odds are somebody, somewhere, at some point in history DID earn that money.  Fortunes are just as much built upon as they are made.  But EVEN if they somehow came into their fortune by chance, what crime is that?  Lottery winners are just as guilty of being rich as any Kennedy.

So is it right that rich families spread their fortune down the generations?  For some generations, eventually the only reason they have money is because they inherited most of it.  Does that mean you or I can decide they don't deserve it and take it away?  No.  Money is property, and your property is for you to do AS YOU PLEASE. If your property stays in the family, it's because you have that right to decide.  So whether it's a car, donations to charity, gambled bets, or investments--it's all their own choice.

Thinking about it clearly, if you made yourself a living that eventually provided, not just you, but your whole family with a hefty cushion of income, odds are you wouldn't be looking for a way to share the wealth with anybody you don't know.  If you wanted to that's great!  But if you don't, that's fine because it's your freedom.

People who attack the rich do so with a mentality that they could never become rich themselves.  Negating the possibility of being rich invites the idea that you can eliminate the class itself.  You can't and you won't.  There is always money to be made and people always find a way to make it.  And while I agree with programs designed to provide aid and help those who struggle, and I think more people should be involved in society in order to enrich these programs, it would be hypocritical to  force somebody to do anything against their own will or be discriminated because of being well-off.

My point is simply bitching about the rich is not a way of making your problems of poverty go away.  Blaming them is even worse.  Tax the rich?  Ok tax them, now the government can tax you less.  Does that give you a job that pays you enough now?  I think there are many parts to a big discussion, but the "rich problem" seems to be more a distraction than an area for debate.  I strongly believe in a system founded on the principle of autonomy, but I don't believe everyone else does.  It's easy to forget that stupid people are both rich and poor, and a price tag is the only thing their stupid decisions have to do with money.  We all want to be successful, but we also have to accept that not everyone eventually will be.  And if we only measure our success in terms of dollars we're just as bad as the rich we so often resent.