Don't be Hatin' the Rich, Dog

There are individuals who use the word “rich” as a slur, as if there were something unsavory about the acquisition of money, property and wealth.

There is a psychological component to the discussion of wealth for which I do not comprehend. A quick Google survey related to the search terms “rich” and “wealth” revealed a venomous flood of sour grapes, angst and anger. Why is that?

America, until recently, seemed to be the home of enterprise and hard work. And, if you were successful, you were rewarded with financial success: big car, big home and nice clothes. Could it be that that general population has suddenly grown jealous, or is there something else afoot?

Looking strictly at the facts the “rich” are doing MORE than their share. Based on numbers taken by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 40% of the federal income taxes. The top 5 percent paid 60 percent of federal income taxes. And, most interestingly, the bottom 33% of wage earners contributed 0% to the federal income taxes.

This is, incidentally, where Mr. Obama’s foisted a less-than-honest ad where he claimed that Mr. McCain would offer no tax breaks for over 90 million Americans: this would be the 90 million that don’t pay taxes. But I digress.

So, let’s look at the numbers:
95th to 100th percentile of wage earners = 60% of federal income taxes collected.
0 – 94th percentile of wage earners = 40% of federal income taxes collected.

Clearly those earning the most are already paying the most.

So why then are Americans so jealous? I suspect that it has to do with the perception of the rich being undeserving, as though the old rules for the accumulation of wealthy have been replace with more capricious, more randomized success: think Vice President Gore and the, "lottery of life" speech.

As a child, I admired the Gibson family in my little town of Greenville, Michigan. The grandfather of the family had founded a manufacturing company that made refrigerators and window air conditioners – the company was a success and the family had their big house, big car and nice clothes. I don’t recall ever hearing comments against the family.

Today the economic situation is different. The velocity of change in economic standing seems to be much faster. Take in point Facebook, the founder Mark Zukerburg is at 24 the world’s youngest billionaire. With a good idea (perhaps stolen from others) he was in the matter of four years able to turn $10,000 of venture capital into $1,000,000,000. Is there any wonder that some individuals are resentful?

Bottom line: The rich are already paying their share. If Mr. Obama’s programs of change are so important to America, they ought to be important enough that EVERYONE pays for them.