Trouble brews when we steal from the poor and give to the rich.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
In bad times, the rich usually get richer.
True generosity is too frequently eaten up by prosperity and riches.
Give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same things as rich people.
To suppose as we all suppose, that we could be rich and not behave as the rich behave, is like supposing that we could drink all day and stay sober.
That is one of the bitter curses of poverty; it leaves no right to be generous.
Individually the poor are not too tempting to thieves, for obvious reasons. Mug a banker and you might score a wallet containing a month's rent. Mug a janitor and you will be lucky to get away with bus fare to flee the crime scene.
I never met a poor person who wanted to soak the rich; they want to get rich.
It turns out that the rich are much better placed to feed at the public trough. The poor get crumbs.
Behavioral economists have shown that a sizable percentage of people are willing to pay real money to punish people who are taking from a common pot but not contributing to it. Just to insure that shirkers get what they deserve, we are prepared to make ourselves poorer.
We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.