In defense of the 1 percent

John Tamny

Forbes.com

Everybody loves to demonize the 1 percent these days, said John Tamny. But “very few see all the work and sacrifice” it takes to reach the top. Many members of the 1 percent club weathered rejection, took risks, and sacrificed their personal lives to realize their dreams. Before John Malone became a cable television visionary, for instance, he “shared motel rooms” with his business partner to save money and keep his vision afloat. When he was on the way up, guitarist Keith Richards spent all his waking hours studying the blues masters.

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Face it: The 1 percenters “generally have the nerve, drive, and self-assurance that the rest of us could only dream of.” And that includes those Wall Street bankers and traders unfairly maligned for just “moving money around.” In fact they make lots of money because they do work that “very few know how to do.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald was right: The rich are different from you and me. They “generally work a lot harder and smarter” than the rest of us, and they “make all of our lives easier, cheaper, and more entertaining.” It’s time we stop criticizing them and start thanking them.