Pity the poor rich man, who is so overburdened by his hard work and envied by those beneath him. He performs the labors of Hercules only to be shackled by the lazy masses in their mistaken belief that they also work hard and are deserving of the basic necessities of life for themselves and their families. Rich people work hard, and poor people don't. An elegantly simple argument to assuage the anger of the poor.
We have a saying in Mississippi that I think applies here: The guilty dog always barks. I must say that it speaks volumes that the guilty dogs' latest excuses are "We're rich because we work harder than everyone else" and "Saying mean things about us is just as evil as Kristallnacht." Really, that's the best you can come up with?
To accept such arguments, we must change our concept of social class. At the top we have the "Poor Rich," struggling with the weight of the world on their shoulders in grand, Randian fashion, while at the bottom we have the "Rich Poor," who are given so much by the government that they no longer want or need to work. What I don't understand is why the Poor Rich take on such heavy burdens when they could just stop working and live the carefree life of the Rich Poor? Because water is wet, fire is hot, and a lie is still a lie no matter what channel it's on, how loudly it's broadcast, or how many times it's repeated.
Here's my simple proposal to the one percent: If the poor could so easily become rich by working harder, then give everything you have away. Start completely over. Grab hold of that bottom rung on the ladder, you brave Übermensch, and climb. If you speak the truth, then you have nothing to worry about, you'll be wealthy again soon enough. And if wealth eludes you this time, then you will be well cared for by the government. Either way, you can't lose.
In the words of of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis:
"We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."
("A Simple Proposal" inspired, of course, by Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal")