There is a real, palpable disdain for the "rich" in this country.  I think that disdain is to our own detriment.

So does economist Walter E. Williams.  As he points out in his latest column, the "rich", like Bill Gates, is not the person to fear or direct your ire at.  Politicians, even small-time local ones, have much more control over your life.

Bill Gates is the world's richest person, but what kind of power does he have over you? Can he force your kid to go to a school you do not want him to attend? Can he deny you the right to braid hair in your home for a living? It turns out that a local politician, who might deny us the right to earn a living and dictates which school our kid attends, has far greater power over our lives than any rich person. Rich people can gain power over us, but to do so, they must get permission from our elected representatives at the federal, state or local levels.

...

Politicians love pitting us against the rich. All by themselves, the rich have absolutely no power over us. To rip us off, they need the might of Congress to rig the economic game. It's a slick political sleight-of-hand where politicians and their allies amongst the intellectuals, talking heads and the news media get us caught up in the politics of envy as part of their agenda for greater control over our lives.

Can't say it better than that.  Read the rest of the piece here.

Dr. Williams is an equal-opportunity mis-truster of politicians: