[ClearCase_guy]

I agree. I wrestle with that one now. Obama said that "Some people have too much money" which was a terrible thing to say. First, because he excludes himself and his friends (they all have huge amounts of money, because they're awesome). Secondly, because it's a matter of freedom: if I work hard, save money, make smart decisions, I might end up with a lot of money ... is someone like Obama just going to take it away from me? What gives him the right?

But, on the other hand, Our complacent, corrupt, fearful society has so much "stuff" that they will accept anything and everything the government does to them because if they "rock the boat", they may "lose everything". Maybe it's not good to have a lot of "stuff". Freedom's just another word for Nothing Left To Lose, and we are not free anymore because we have so much to lose.

[Ransomed]

Social unrest usually starts with the poorest people being dissatisfied, for just the reasons you state. But there has never been anything like our poor people as far as comfort, passive entertainment and lack of any sort of sustained physical effort. Our poor are the most likely to be obese, our rich are the most likely to be fit and thin. Hard to imagine any of the civil unrest of the past ever even occurring if they would have had our present social conditions.

Freegards