Anonymous wrote:1. The middle class believe elections are determined by voters and ideas. The rich know they are determined by money, and that the more money you have, the more you can influence politics (so you can amass more).
2. The middle class believe you go to jail if you embezzle, cheat, or defraud people. The rich know that, if you're "too big to fail" you can do these things and be given more money.
3. The middle class think working hard is the key to success. The rich know nepotism and connections are the key to success.
This list has such a selection bias. My husband is a bankruptcy attorney, and for every famous gambler like Trump who's "lost millions and gained billions," there are hundreds of people who have internalized these "lessons" and who have taken on too much risk, have ruined their families, and who have to be bailed out by taxpayers. Most of the "lucky" people who take big risks and become wealthy have personal networks of wealthy and influential people who help them recover from downfalls and who provide opportunities middle class people will never receive.
Claiming wealthy people are wealthy because they are qualitatively better than the middle class is a pleasant fiction that the wealthy have every reason to propagate -- after all, if the middle class buy that story, the wealthy are "winners" who are to be admired, rather than people who have learned to game the system to enrich themselves at the expense of others.
You have a middle class mentality.