You voted to tax the rich

[bugeye]

Slightly on topic: A billionaire has a THOUSAND millions of dollars of worth. One of the first billionaires in America was Jay Gould, a late-1800's "robber baron" tycoon of railroads and steel mills. He prospered by squeezing his workers to the point of mortal desperation. He was once asked if he had any fear of a rabble-led working class labor uprising against the wealthy. He answered approximately, "No. I can hire half of the working class to kill the other half!"

And so the robber barons set out to create the political ideology for that to happen, convincing working people of the fantasy that they too could become filthy rich, and that their allegiance was to the rich and not to their fellow workers.........................elsullo

You don't do Gould justice, when Vanderbuilt wanted to buy the Erie Railroad, Gould printed up shares of stock faster than the Commodore's men could buy them. To imply that Gould was only a monster to the working class just ain't so.

 

[Stomper]

You are implying that the only way to make money is being immoral, and being a thief. Granted you are citing (legitimate) examples of robber-barons (who should have had their skin filleted off starting with their toes and working up wards as they watched), because they STOLE, CHEATED, and I dare say MURDERED people to get what they wanted.

I submit that the vast majority of "self-made" millionaires (past, present, and future) have done so by honest, hard work and much personal sacrifice to get there. Oprah comes to mind (strangely for me)... she's worth an INSANE amount of money, and I don't recall her ever being accused of being a "robber-baron".

There will always be evil people we have to deal with on many levels of society, but that doesn't mean you have to "dumb down" everything (or everyone) to deal with them.