My students are certain that rich people are evil: My students will sit placidly through all sorts of controversial things I say in class; that is, until I say something to the effect that rich people are not monsters. They believe with religious zeal that elites live to see little guys suffer. They make me feel like some sort of traitor when I tell them that the attitudes of the wealthy toward (lower class) criminals are no more aggressive than those of the poor. According to the GSS, 75% of individuals making $110K or more favor the death penalty, but practically the same number of people making under $15K feel the same way (73%).
I wonder how the opinions of the rich and poor compare on issues more economic? Free trade agreements or something else that would effect the middle class less positively that the elites.
ReplyDeleteIf immigration counts as free trade, then the middle class isn't too far behind the lower classes.
ReplyDeleteIt's possible that in the next decade or so we'll see a divide between the wealthy and everyone else like we haven't seen since the 1930s.