The Peasants Are Revolting

New York Times “Wealth Matters” columnist Paul Sullivan brought us the dire tale of how the wealthy are suffering during the economic downturn:

IT turns out the other half — or at least the tiny slice who live at the top of the wealth pyramid — are not sleeping any better than the rest of America.

At a closed-door meeting of advisers to family offices — which serve families who typically are worth more than $500 million — I learned that the super-rich are just as concerned about the future as everyone else.

[…]

“They are now looking at financial planning and things middle-class families live by,” Kathryn McCarthy, a leading adviser to wealthy families, including the Rockefellers, said at the gathering this week convened by Bessemer Trust.

As you might imagine, the reaction of most readers was not pity at the plight of the wealthy. Well, Paul Sullivan was mighty surprised:

Readers rejected the attempt to understand the concerns of the rich.

“That’s so stupid that you ought to be slapped for it,” one woman wrote. My favorite began: “Bowties and Reaganomics are for losers. You can cry for the rich all you want, the rest of us will be happy to see them get taxed.”

The vehemence in these e-mail messages made me wonder why so many people were furious at those who had more than they did. And why are the rich shouldering the blame for a collective run of bad decision-making? After all, many of the rich got there through hard work. And plenty of not-so-rich people bought homes, cars and electronics they could not afford and then defaulted on the debt, contributing to the crash last year.

Did you hear that folks? We just don’t understand how bad they have it and how hard they work. It’s hard work to bring down the economy. Just ask the CEOs of Citibank or AIG. Perhaps Paris Hilton can give us all tips on economizing.