Click here to access article by Tom Perkins from The Wall Street Journal.
This is another contribution to my practice on Saturdays to run articles about our fellow citizens of the One Percent (actually .01 of the 1%, or one out of every 10,000 of us) hoping that by doing this that we don't lose touch with their world and their concerns--you know, to promote understanding. It is important that we become better acquainted so that we can serve them better and make it easier for them to carry out the daily burden of making important decisions, decisions which affect whether we go off to war in foreign lands to kill their enemies, if we have jobs, if we live in a home or under a bridge, if we can afford their health care services, education, etc.
Unfortunately, for some reason they tend to hide their lives from the rest of us behind walls of secrecy, literal walls of guarded gated communities, private clubs, esoteric publications, by traveling with private jets, etc. We should not let that deter us.
In this letter to The Wall Street Journal by billionaire Tom Perkins we learn that the rich are feeling persecuted. Some people would instantly dismiss such criticisms, but they are real to the rich. Think how you would feel if you were occasionally berated in the media for your extravagant homes, vacations, your lifestyle, the low tax rates you enjoy, even presents you give to your children.
I'm sure they work hard to get all the wealth they have and they feel they should not be despised for being successful. They are firm believers in capitalism and the "trickle-down" theory of economics. I'm sure that they feel that they have played by the rules (even though they made them) and are successful. So, put your envy away and realize that the fabulously rich need love, too!
