Why are the rich so hated in recent American culture & society? Why is there suc

1. 84

   gmwilliamsposted 7 years ago

   Why are the rich so hated in recent American culture & society? Why is there such STRONG
   
   prejudice against the rich when they are the ones who build, contribute to & empower culture & society?
   
   

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2. 81

   Wesman Todd Shawposted 7 years ago

   It's a growing problem. Hating people for having more money than you is cute in a teen or young adult. It's just ugly in older adults though. Very immature.
   
   The mass media seriously perpetuates it. They want to talk about income inequality all the time. Well, income inequality can be a social issue, but it only exists because some folks are just super successful at what they do, and a lot of other folks don't do much at all.
   
   But persons who are born rich often contribute next to nothing of worth to our world. Then, we make persons rich who contribute nothing of worth, like pop music or rap stars. Those people aren't even musicians. It's ugly out there, but I'm doubtful as to whether or not it is more ugly than it ever is.

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3. 0

   Cissy1946posted 7 years ago

   I think it's human nature to want to blame someone for the things that are wrong in your life and the rich are easy targets. Sometimes it takes a great deal of effort not to succumb to jealously and allow bitterness to fill us. For most of us, we see the world the rich live in as plentiful and easy with a total lack of hardship and problems. While this is a false image, it is one that is fed to us on a regular basis. Is a parent's pain over the death of a child less because they are rich? No. Is a child's pain over the onset of Alzheimer's in a beloved parent less because they are rich? I don't think so. Sadly, most people don't want to see the similarities, they want to exploit the differences. If I'm living on a small fixed income and lose $20 I could be severely restricted in my grocery purchases for the month. If a rich person loses $20, it probably wouldn't even be noticed. This is where people want to dwell and I believe this is encouraged by the media and politicians. I also don't believe this is a recent attitude or that it is restricted to Americans.

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4. 61

   roselinsojanposted 7 years ago

   It is a problem in every country.there is always hatred between people, rich&poor.

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5. 84

   Annsaloposted 7 years ago

   I think a lot of it has to do with the number of poor people in our country. While some of the poor people in this country are poor from their own faults, some are not. So when looking at the fact, for an example, that 39% of our homeless population has a mental illness. It is a bit hard to understand why more "rich" people aren't doing more to help.
   The rich population on average donates 1.3% of their income to "Charity" while the lower incomes donate 3.2% on average. While that actually equals more money to charity from the rich, the rich get to get a charitable tax deduction, while the lower income donors usually don't itemize.
   Another example, out of the top 50 "charitable" donations from the rich in 2012, not one actually went to a charity that principally serves the poor. Most rich donors actually donate to things like big name colleges and museums. In other words their donations are actually to help the elite, not to help with the poor issues in this country like homeless, college for the poor, mental health issues, and poverty stuck generations.
   It's hard not to place some of the blame on them. I love money. I love the idea of people growing their wealth for generations to come. However I also love the idea of helping those who are willing to help themselves or who are unable to help themselves (mental illness, no college money, etc). So it is hard to wrap my brain around the elite not doing more to fix the problems of our country so more people have the ability to grow into the elite group.

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6. 85

   tamarawilhiteposted 7 years ago

   It is easier to say take all their money or take everything they earned after a lifetime despite paying taxes on it via an inheritance tax if you demonize or dehumanize them first.

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7. 64

   wingedcentaurposted 7 years ago

   Hi Grace Marguerite Williams! How's it going?
   
   I guess you know my shtick by now, eh?
   
   Then without further ado: Are the rich "so hated in recent American culture & society"? Is there "such a strong prejudice against the rich"? And are they, and they alone, "the ones who build, contribute to & empower culture and society"?
   
   Do we know for a fact that that last assertion is a fact? Could it be that "American culture" "contributes to & empowers" people so that they can become rich? Is Bill Gates, for example, just as likely to have become a multi "gazillionaire" in, say, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Outer Mongolia, and other garden spots of the world?
   
   And isn't it really fair to say that "American culture & society" goes on "building up," "contributing to," and "empowering" the rich in their Rich-hood, through tax policy (specifically on minimal to no inheritance tax) and various areas of industrial and corporate policy, granting access to choice natural resources, patent law, torts, limited liability, international trade treaty provisions, and so forth?
   
   And even when we consider the industries, through which the rich allegedly "build, contribute to & empower culture & society," the question we should ask is: Where did those industries come from?
   
   The answer is, almost invariably: They got their start, their very conception, their development in the public sector, specifically the Pentagon through DARPA, the Department of Advanced Research Projects Administration.
   
   And not only that, let's say something like: "Corporations create new products." But is that actually true?
   
   It has long been my understanding that when a corporation comes out with a new product, its not so much that they have actually, internally invented the thing---they may claim credit for "developing" it, but one must always beware of the tricky use of language that these people engage in---but that they have bought a small company and integrated it into themselves, buying the rights to whatever the absorbed company produced.
   
   You see it all the time on the business news, when you hear this corporation "acquire" this or that company.
   
   But even with all that, does anybody actually "hate" the rich? In America we don't have the political class consciousness to "hate" the rich.

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