While I would dearly love to respond to Miles Barber’s editorial (“Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” January 29), issue-by-issue, I don’t think there are enough column inches in this publication to do so.
First, are you sure that the affluent in Silicon Valley became rich “by the sweat of their brow,” Mr. Barber? Many people inherit their wealth, or simply come by it dishonestly (i.e. Goldman Sachs). Even Perkins made his money by investing in the ideas of others.
Next, wealth does not create jobs. Wealth creates more wealth. What corporation hasn’t cut thousands of jobs if the company is not profitable? Frequently, jobs created by the leaders of industry are minimum wage positions only.
Lastly, if these “successful people” have carried 85 percent if the tax burden, it’s because they possess 85 percent of the wealth in this country.
The One Percent is not persecuted, they are fearful. They are afraid that someone’s going to level the playing field; that someone will engineer a redistribution of wealth that favors the middle class. This is not “biting the hand that feeds you,” it is simply removing the silk-lined glove from that selfsame hand.
