Many Of The Rich Are Meaner Than Other Americans

Most polls don't really question the really rich, or if they do, they don't contain enough of them to get a valid result. The Russell Sage Foundation decided to fix that. They did a poll of what they called the "elites" -- those very near or in the top 1% of Americans, who made a minimum of $1,000,000 a year. The Foundation then compared those results to the results of other polls showing what most Americans think.

And it turns out that most of the rich think very differently than the majority of other Americans. For instance, only 40% of the rich want the minimum wage to be raised, while 78% of other Americans want that. And 33% of them wants cuts in Social Security, while only 10% of other Americans want to see that. About 17% think taxes on the rich should be slightly higher, while 52% of others want that to make income and wealth distribution more fair. About 58% of the rich want to see substantial cuts in Medicare, education, and transportation, while only 27% of other Americans want that.

And it goes on and on. The rich think differently, and many of them have a more mean-spirited attitude toward their fellow Americans. Just look at the chart for some of the other opinions, with rather shocking differences from most Americans.

It's easy to see why the rich, and especially the ultra-rich, are donating so much money to right-wing candidates -- candidates that agree with policies the rich want to see. The rich know they can't outvote other Americans, so they try to buy the politicians they want (and hopefully for them, the election). And sadly, the Citizens United Supreme Court decision is letting them do that.