Why is there such hostility toward the rich?

Question

Why do liberals always view rich people as being "evil", for sacrificing and working hard for their money? (if not the individual personally, then a family member) Why must the rich pay for the laziness of the poor? Many people give of themselves and don't want the government to FORCE them to do it...is that so wrong?

Don't liberals think hard work is a good thing? Why are there "class" wars? Why must everthing be "middle class" this and "upper class" that, or "lower class" whatever?

Why can't people be held responsible for their decisions in life?

Before I get a "you can't help if you're handicapped" statement, may I remind you that mentally and physically handicapped people can work, and many do.

Single mothers should, and do, get temporary assistance from the government, and have to repay it when finished with it.

So, why all the hostility toward the rich?

Answer 1

Because many on the left think the rich should be punished for being successful. Take from the rich and give to the poor is the mentality when everyone has the same opportunity to be successful.

Answer 2

Well, you're making a lot of assumptions here. I'm liberal. I've worked for over 30 years, have a college degree I paid for, was a single mother(abusive marriage) never received any government assistance, bet I didn't take 7 sick days in all those years-so I'm not lazy, don't & didn't rely on the government but yet that's what you say? That's pretty mean and hurtful if you ask me. My next question is why do you want a war?



That said, I managed without assistance but lived on the edge for years when my son was young. But I personally know how close people can come to losing what little they have. It seems those in the upper income brackets(and those that THINK they can get in the upper income brackets) show little kindness even for those struggling to be good citizens. Try to walk in their shoes. They can't imagine the life you lead, struggling to keep up with the Joneses, leasing the latest model of SUV, paying for the "right" schools-I know you must feel like a hamster on a wheel. But it's not the liberals fault-its the American way to always want more...

Answer 3

Well you can always see for yourself what happens when the middle class dissapears by making a visit to Jakarta Indonesia. The rich are rich and the poor are poor. There is not middle class.

The poor will , because of lack of opportnity and ability, allways remain poor.



It is through black an white glasses that republicans view the world. Things "should" be this way or that. The reality is there are going to be homeless, there are going to be poor, there are going to be those a lot less fortunate than the "rich".



If everyone was rich who would there be to do the manual labor to get them rich in the first place?



You cant ignore the poor and the homeless, but you can help give them the tools of opportunity.



The middle class is eroding away in this country and what we see in jakarta well see here but with better roads....

Answer 4

You do not understand how connected we are, you think we are all individuals. We are one unit. You will not understand this until you have had a broken heart. The rich are evil, as they hoard for themselves leaving the poor to die and starve.... Yes you could do the same thing,,,,,, go to the country club and hide there from all of the poor people and injustices in the world... but your heart knows better and the only way to be so incompassionate is to shut the heart down, to feel nothing except greed....... and love for a few around you......



Being one unit means that,,,, wealth being hoarded by "hard work" does not come out of thin air, it comes from the backs of others.... the blood, sweat and tears of people..... and you being smart and cold enough to manipulate it from others is evil....it is the darkness,,,,,,,,

Answer 5

Personal responsibility is very important, but then it should apply to everybody. The central driver of capitalism is the profit motive, which is inherently an exploitative act, since you are making a profit by:

* Selling an item for more than the sum of its components and labour;

* Purchasing labour at a rate less than its actual worth.



Now, in theory, that should work out ok, as long as everybody starts on a relatively equal footing. I exploit you one day, you exploit me the next, everybody is happy.



The problem is that we don't start out on equal footing. Rich countries stack the deck against poor countries with protectionist policies, rich people stack the deck with better education and networking opportunities, greater access to capital, greater access to the political process through campaign funding and lobbying. You get the idea.



That, my dear, is why we believe rich people need to take some personal responsibility.

Answer 6

For one thing, why do you think they work hard for their money? Is it really worth it for one man to get a severance package of 210 million for six years of no growth or stock increase in his company and another to get 2 weeks severence pay despite an exemplary record at the same company due to 'downsizing'? Isn't it better to take four hour lunches and company jets than to work a forty hour week and get a week at the shore in a rental?

Would you rather be Paris Hilton, or Rosie the Waitress? Who works harder? Neither went to any college I ever heard of so its not the benefits of education. It used to be the ceo of a company made 400 times the salary of its lowest employee, now its 4000. Do you think a janitor has it easier than a ceo? 4000 times easier? Why do conservatives think its ok for wal mart to hire people to work 39 1/2 hours so they don't qualify for health benefits, so when these working people get ill, they go late or not at all because they don't have enough money for insurance. If you have a minimum wage job, you have two or three of them in a household, you think thats not working?

Its the chance thing, it used to be the american dream to have your kids be one rung up on the ladder over you, now a working family can't afford the cost of college, thats going to cause more class struggle than you can even dream of in years to come. It used to be, rich people took chances with their own money or had ideas, or did something worhwhile. Now it seems we only see the Enron mess, or the insider traders, or the white collar theives that pass themselves off as Corporations. They didn't earn it, they didn't risk it, they are just larger scaled theives than muggers. Why do they deserve it, why can't they be realistic in their pay as we are asked to give up one benefit after another, and yet they party with hundreds of guests in Greece?

Now you know why theres so much hostility toward the rich, its not the charity of the crumbs off their table, its that they stole the table, the cloth, and they stiffed the caterers.

Answer 7

Unless you are an inventor or some type of artist, you get rich by underpaying your workers, or charging more than it's worth for your product or service.



If it's a personal choice, why aren't the coal miners in West Va rich? They work really hard.



And it's always Republicans that accuse Dems of class warfare. We should have class warfare. Just about every single problem we have is caused by Rich businessmen, of which I am one. I am the mythical rich liberal.

Answer 8

Not everyone is really intelligent. Many of the poor are just plain dumb and not everyone is lazy. Overpopulation is not brought up by politicians who want to get reelected. We give deductions for children when they should limit deductions to only 2 children.



The rich still think that trickle down economics work - as in give us a tax break and we will hire an immigrant Gardner. Wow, how nice of the rich.

Answer 9

Because some rich people have all this money and they spend it like it is nothing like they got nothing else to spend it with so they blow it on useless stuff like for instance there is a lawyer in my town who is building a wall around his land and it looks like the wall of China or something when he could be donating that money to charity instead fancy things that he doesn't need. Get my Point. We don't hate the rich we just don't think they spend their money right and they treat us liberals like we are dumb and poor when we work just as hard as they do even though some of us have made mistakes in life and quit school ( I didn't) but we know that we made them and now we have to pay for them but we still work as hard as we can.

Answer 10

It is nothing new. You probably recall the biblical thing about passing through the eye of a needle. Envy is part of it; another part is a general lack of understanding that it takes a fair amount of work to get rich and remain so. Another part, which is perhaps the most reasonable of the lot, is the fact that there is a certain amount of luck involved.

Answer 11

Why are conservatives liars is a better question, you ask straw man questions premised on obvious lies and expect an honest answer.

Remember that even Henry Ford understood that capitalism only works when the workers have capital, the enlargement of the middle class is the foundation of capitalism. Try reading "The Wealth Of Nations" and you may understand that the worth of any system is based on hourly wages of the workers, not on the collective wealth of the entrepreneurial class.



Expecting the wealthy to pay their fair share of the taxes (because of illegal tax shelters the actual tax rate for the wealthy is around 12% while the middle class pays 35% to make up for the shortfall) is not hostile, it is patriotic.

Answer 12

It helps them focus on some kind of bad guy.

Hitler did the same thing to the Jews. They were rich because they knew how to take care of the money they earn.



Liberals love to teach the rich stole their money, but when you look at how they treat their money they are just as bad.

Babs will go to Canada to do her recordings to avoid paying union wages.



If you were to take all the money in the world give it to everyone equally. If few years the rich will be rich again and poor will be poor again. The reason being some people are better stewards of what they have been given.

Answer 13

If someone became rich by sacrificing and working hard that is an accomplishment and they deserve their rewards. On the other hand if you're money comes from war-profiteering, insider trading or shady business deals that's a different story. There are different means of becoming rich....it's the illegal and immoral ones people have a problem with.

Answer 14

Jealousy! No I am not rich, nor I desire to be. I am a very hard working mother, and very proud of my standard in life. I feel the rich as well made their decision to be where they are as well. I see nothing wrong with the rich. I see nothing wrong with the poor. There are good and there are bad in all, (both sides). Rich by no choice of inheritance, poor by inheritance. Either way it could go. I see it to where no matter the money, we sleep in a bed, and wear pants, put them on the same-way, we all eat. We breath the same air. There really is no difference. Just a little bigger money account, in my book that is ok!. So don't take it to personal it's jealousy to me. Like all of us at one point, They just want something they don't have.

Answer 15

why is there such hostilitiy toward the poor?



every poor person I know works hard... so why aren't they rich?



get a clue buddy, it takes MUCH more than hard work to be rich... in fact, that has almost nothing to do with it...



and the people that think they are just jealous? and you wonder why pepole dislike Republicans? you remind me of those girls on that "sweet 16" show... spoiled, no clue about real life, but think you deserve the world at your feet... and then think everyone else is just "jealous"...



i don't want the government to force anyone to do anything, but I do want a level playing field... why are Republicans SO OPPOSED to that at EVERY TURN?

Answer 16

Hostility towards the rich is simply resentment and jealousy. I do blame the homeless for being homeless in America. Everyone has an opportunity, and they simply didn't take advantage of it. Fine example: I worked at this old restaurant serving and working in the kitchen. One night I only made about $10 in tips (it was a terrible night) and when I was leaving and getting in my car, a bum came up and asked for some cash. I smelt the booze on his breath and I really got pissed off. I'd been working all night and would have much rathered simply sit around and drink, but instead I earned my money while this jerk sat around drinking. Now he expects me to fork over some of my own money, even though I barely have any myself? I told him to get a job, and don't regret it one bit.



If anyone thinks that's cruel, you're saying that drunk deserved my hard earned money when he'd done nothing productive himself

Answer 17

Your question is based on the assumption that all liberals always view rich people as being "evil". This is impossible to prove, hence, you're wrong. The remainder of your statement, and that's what it is, lacks the same basis of provable fact and therefore is also wrong. Nice try though.

Answer 18

Greed is Hated,Wealth simply envied,by some, but arrogance brings out a primal emotion that can only be satisfied with violence

Answer 19

I do not think its Hostility toward the rich, more like people do not know what the outlook is for the future...

Answer 20

Because typically....

The rich are rich because the minimum wage worker is doing all of the "hard" labor.



The rich don't do the work.

They profit off the hard work of the people they pay a pittance to.

I'm all for free enterprise.....but do the company owners or their CEO's have to rake in 7 or 8 figure salaries at the expense of their fellow citizens?



Why do I have to pay high natural gas prices to heat my house ....so the guy who owns the company can quote quarterly profit reports in the billions?



Seems a little unbalanced.

Answer 21

I despise not the wealthy, but wealth itself. Love of money is the root of all evil, and by calling out the rich on their iniquity, I hope they realize the fallacy in their material existence.

Answer 22

they are the cause of all wars and all conflict throughout history and now people are educated and aware of that more than ever

Answer 23

Class Hierarchy was created because not every body is able to make good financial decisions. Like not working.



I figure you decide to live on welfare ( feeding of the working people of society) and if you don't in any way attempt to crawl out of your hole of poverty then you deserve it.



I am grateful though that I will have a good start in life because of the good financial decisions of my parents. That would be to minimize debt. Which they have.



My job is to make sure that their hard work pays off.

Answer 24

They don't feel that the money was really earned. In some cases it was inherited but a lot of the times it is hard earned.

Answer 25

The libs don't hate the liberal rich who hide their money in offshore accounts, like George Soros does. They also want to legislate you out of your money but it's a proven fact that Republicans and Conservatives are almost 5 times more generous with charities than democrats and loony libs.

Answer 26

because the majority of the rich get there by the hard work of poor people!!

Answer 27

What really doesn't make sense is the Republicans love for corporate welfare. They won't help the people of Katrina. They won't help the working class or the poor, but if your a oil company you get a big fat tax break. If your a constipated ignorant conservative your going to hell.

Answer 28

Must be human nature because it's been that way throughout history.

Answer 29

They have a problemm because your not giving them your money. Libs believe in some taxes and they want to drain everybody dry, especially the rich! The libs don't work hard for their money, they just take yours!!!

Answer 30

Gotta agree with Jim W there. I goof on limosine liberals constantly. (Hell, I'm from Massachusetts and am surrounded by them.)

Answer 31

The capitalist system ensures the rich get richer without contributing any labor. This is not justice.