[MHGinTN]

Um... professor... the PROSPECT of their own death doesn't deter them. Actual death, however, does finish their career. Get it? Posted by Anamensis Hear, hear! A death penalty always stops future acts by the penalized one.

[Anamensis]

My theory about these types is this: they're irrelevant and they know it. They're good for nothing but reading, writing, and talking. They couldn't build a doghouse if you gave them pre-cut wood and directions. And they feel guilty that they have comfortable lives when so many work so hard for so much less. They feel guilty about the poor and resentful of the rich ("how did they get so rich, I know they aren't as intelligent as I am!") To solve this triangle of guilt, resentment, and irrelevance, they resolve to take from the rich, give to the poor, and keep the "credit" for having made the world a place more to their liking.