The Rich are
Very Different
from you and
I.
by William Elliott Hazelgrove
"The rich are very different
from you and I."
"Yes, they have more money."
So said a young
Ernest Hemingway to a friend. More money indeed. And you know
what, the rich never let the money go and they become upset if
the middleclass starts to get a whiff of all that money. Take
the market crash. Oh, it wasn't the dow that crashed, not the
blue chips--it was the 
tech
market where the struggling middle class was finally beginning
to get a taste of some of that blue blood money reserved for
the people above the hot struggles of the sweaty bourgeosie.
They were getting upset and so they sat down with their friend
Alan Greenspan and over brandies and a few cigars had a conversation
I happen to be privy to.
"Now listen, Allen, we are very upset here.
"Yeess."
"These...well...these people are getting into areas where
they shouldn''t be and taking what is rightfully ours.
"I see what you mean."'
"My God man...they are actually making money--the middle
class! And
look they are takaing it from our institutions--the dow, the
bluechips, our stocks!"
"I see what you mean."
"So listen, Old Sport, I mean if you could just do something
on our behalf and stop all this silly nonsense, then..well you
know, lets get these people back in their place. I mean my God,
this isn't the way things are supposed to go."
"I'll get right on it."
So Allen said the
market would have to slow down or he would slow it down for us.
He wasn't talking to the vested money, he wasn't talking to the
blue chippers, the inherited money, no, my friends he was talking
to us. The middle class. We were the ones he wanted to slow down.
The new economy. He wanted that to stop so the money would flow
back into the proper coffers. I mean after all if you dont keep
the middle class busy and strugglling then they might start to
look around and say, hey, we're getting a raw deal here. We do
all the living and dying and paying taxes
and having the children and raising the children but let us get
a little money, take a little money from the big boys and people
get upset.
Now, you may say well that's just not the case. The economy
was too overheated, the market. So now things are better. The
Nasdaq is in the tank and the dow is on course. All the poor
bastards playing the market with their last credit cards and
savings have been washed out and the real money is comfortable
secure again. I happen to overhear another conversation between
Allan and his friends over champagne and caviar.
"I say, Allen, good show! You certainly turned things around."
"Yes boss, thank you boss."
"My God, did those people actually think they could have--well,
some of our money! You certainly showed them where they belong."
"Yes sirs boss I surely did."
"You know Allen, the rich are special and we are, well different
from the other people..maybe it comes down to...well I suppose
in the simplest form the difference between the rich and the
middle class...."
"Yes boss man."
"Is that...we have they money and they don't."
"Oh thats right boss man."
"Have some more champagne Allen."
"Yes sir boss man."
