"In case you didn’t know it, the ultra-rich are widely vilified—particularly within movements such as Occupy Wall Street and the political campaign of Bernie Sanders, which has captured the hearts of many a burgeoning millennial....So, let’s explore that claim, which points to some nuances of wealth, and try to determine whether it is true.
Is wealth predicated upon adverse exploitation?
For dictators, slave-owners, shysters, and others of their ilk, the answer is certainly “yes.”
It is important to note, however, that there are essentially two ways a person can make money.
Herein lies the nuance.
- You can either create a product or provide a service that people are voluntarily willing to exchange money for, creating trade-based value;
- or you can employ coercive, unjust means to make a profit—wherein money ceases to reflect the creation of value, but rather the plundering thereof."
Some rich people deserve our scorn, but most of them do not.
Placing all rich people in one category blinds us to the crucial distinction inherent in how money can be made.
The only people who deserve to be vilified for their money are the ones who acquired their money unjustly—whether through cronyism, fraud, rent-seeking, or predation.2
...Steve Conover, who created the above graphic, writes:
“Focusing on the right enemy would present a target-rich environment that includes anyone (of any income level) who is cheating to win,
- any business or union (of any size) with its snout in the public trough,
- any politician filling that trough and feeding those snouts for reciprocal gain,
- and any group using the political system (at any level) to maintain its monopoly, or its winning ‘edge’ against less-well-connected competitors.
“Among ‘the rich’ are many entertainment superstars, artists, CEOs, inventors, and entrepreneurs who got where they are because they produced things that entertain us, make us more productive, save us money, or save us time.
Can we really say with a straight face that all of them are villains because of their huge incomes?..."
