It IS perfectly acceptable, reasonable, and fair to make judgments about wealthy people and what they do with their wealth because the vast majority of people will never get the opportunity to understand or experience that lifestyle. I've never heard of a very wealthy person who didn't have some sort of free ride, except for game show and lottery winners. How many of your friends can say they got their jobs through education and hard work, with no insider recommendations? It's who you know and not what you know. And when you've got less than five living relatives and no friends working in your field you don't know anyone.

But then again, I'm an equal opportunity hater. I also believe that those taking from the system who never intended to earn a living should also rot in in their evil after-life of choice. Those who are on welfare, section 8 (a law in PA which pays the rent for lazy people), free government health insurance (Medicaid/CHIP for the bastard children of jobless @#$%s), and falsified disability should get some self-respect and a job. These are the same people who claim "there are no jobs" when everyone knows you can get a job at Burger King for $8/hr to pay the bills if absolutely necessary.

It's not that I reject the wealthy guy's choices, because sure as hell I'd be living it up if a pot of gold fell into my lap. My problem is with the system - and the wealthy guy is merely a reminder of that failed "American Dream" which is no longer attainable by the common man. 30 years ago it was possible for one half of a married couple to work, while the other half stayed home to raise children, finger paint, pick their nose, whatever. It was possible to have a decent house and a decent car on one income, because people didn't have outrageous student loan bills or health insurance costs.

The wealthy guy reminds me that the USA is rarely a place of opportunity. It is a place where people are either very poor, very rich, or being heavily taxed to fund the interests very poor and the very rich. Sure, I'm bad-mouthing the USA and I'll answer your inevitable question - Yes, I would like to leave, but I can't afford to. Am I bitching? Yeah. But does it need to be said? You asked. You wanted to know why the average Joe or Jane (in my case) feels he/she has the right to give the wealthy guy a dirty look when he walks by. It really has nothing to do with Enron.

So, from someone who had to pay my own way through college to get a decent job, someone who will be in debt for all eternity just for the opportunity to put by butt in that chair every weekday - I say everone needs to pay their dues. Call me bitter. Call me a communist. I'm not an angry person, really. All I want is for people (rich or poor) who are capable of working to either contribute their talents to society or jump off the nearest cliff so there's more room for the rest of us.

The common man can become wealthy with a little luck, hard work and a good head on his shoulders. I know of a man who came from an asian country with a medical degree, started working, and now as a doctor is a millionare. Are you saying he got a free ride? Where? He works hard, hes smart, and he's determined. He didn't get any breaks. He got lucky, I will admit, but he deserves it. And the wealthy are not bad people. He is a philanthropist, with a family foundation and a medical research foundation. Bill Gates is the worlds wealthiest man and he has donated more than 27 billion dollars to charitable causes. I know of another immigrant, who with some hard work became a local Billionare. I know of another asian who went into the technology industry and now has started cancer centers around the state. Actually, now that I think about it I know of another immigrant who did the same thing (the CEO of Coupuware started the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Michigan).

You make a fair point. Ever hear that Aesop fable about the fox who couldn't reach a bunch of grapes, so he said "they're probably sour, anyway" ? I think there's some of that "sour grapes" phenomenon going on here. The average American will probably never attain Bill Gates's fabulous wealth, so what do they do? Poke fun at him, of course. Just look at the Hilton sisters. "Yeah, maybe I'm not rich, but at least I'm smarter than they are!" Could be, but I doubt any reality show could get on the air that poked fun of "rednecks" could EVER get on TV without massive amounts of controversy. It's not fair to make fun of them because they're stupid. Why? Because they're poor. But the rich? Fair game! Maybe I'm not making myself clear, but I have a feeling that most of the time when the average Joe makes fun of a rich person, there's at least some jealousy behind it, whether the rich person earned their money through hard work and enterprise or through pure luck.