Doris Kelly wrote a concise letter (“The rich aren’t hoarding money,” Jan. 13) and Mike Gorman’s rebuttal (“Rich will keep savings in the family,” Jan. 17) should have acknowledged that she had covered all the bases. He ignored her caveat, that the money is sometimes invested, and then he regurgitated centuries-old complaints about the wealthy keeping it within the family.
Ms. Kelly’s letter was right on, in that we all benefit from the power of invested wealth. In this electronic era, when working-class folks routinely play the market or at least monitor their 401(k)s, it’s surprising that so many people hold to a zero-sum economic model. Perhaps some people find themselves sniffing indignantly, and thinking, “I’m smarter than that, but it’s not that simple.” What else accounts for the assumption that Bill Gates’ or Ted Turner’s wealth comes at the reader’s expense?
Could it be greed? The media and unions encourage the working class to think of greed as being characteristic only of the rich. Greed by itself won’t make you rich. While it does provide sufficient motivation, other ingredients are required – hard work, talent or luck. But greed infects all classes. To say otherwise is akin to the Berkeley-esque assertion a couple of year ago that minorities cannot be prejudiced because they lack the power to impose any prejudice on the majority. In the same way, people excuse the greed and covetousness of the middle- and lower-class, on the grounds that they’re (supposedly) not gaining by it.
By the way, I’m greedy too – more so than some and less than others. But because I’m a middle-class hourly worker, I can be as greedy and resentful as I want without being taken to task. How does that benefit anyone?
Marysville
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