Michael Kinsley on the notion that Americans resent Mitt Romney's wealth or anyone's.
Obviously, it is possible (and understandable) to be jealous of folks richer than you are or will ever be. But I don't think most people are and when you're talking about resenting the bank account of someone running for President of the United States, there is this thought: If you couldn't run your life well enough to attain some kind of wealth, are you the guy to put in charge of as much of our economy as the President controls?
I do think though there's a greater resentment of folks whose money came from stock manipulation as opposed to building something. If you got rich starting a successful product…okay, we get that. You made something. What's more, you made something that provided employment opportunities for others, your success contributed to the greater good.
On the other hand, if you'd amassed the same moola by buying and rolling over stock in that company, or perhaps by stripping it of its assets and moving production to Taiwan…well, that's different. You didn't make anything except deals. Not every rich person is a Job Creator. And with a lot of them, you can't really explain what they did to become zillionaires except move money around on a chessboard at the right time, possibly due to insider information.
Romney inherited megabucks from his father who made it in the automotive industry. I don't think anyone resented George Romney's wealth. You could explain what he did: He took over a failing car company and reversed its fortunes. But there is an understandable resentment of folks who inherit riches, as well as a belief that someone like Mitt had a leg up and a tremendous advantage when he set out to make money on his own. He did most of it through investments and management consulting. Those are both honorable and dishonorable endeavors depending on how you do them…but harder to explain and therefore easier to resent.