Robert Reich: Rich Deserve Their Wealth
on Friday, October 14, 2016Robert Reich Money Quote saying many folks believe that the wealthy deserve their riches because they work really hard, most rich people inherited their wealth. Robert Reich said:
“Commonly believed, especially among Republicans, that the rich deserve their wealth because they work harder than others. In reality, a large and growing portion of the super-rich have never broken a sweat. Their wealth has been handed to them” — Robert Reich
In this quote, Robert Reich is challenging the notion that wealthy people deserve their wealth simply because they work harder than others. He argues that in reality, many who are extremely rich have inherited their wealth rather than earning it through their own efforts.
Reich suggests that a significant and growing share of the “super-rich” have never had to work hard physically (“broken a sweat”) to accumulate their vast fortunes, since the money was essentially just “handed to them” through inheritance or other means besides their own merit and labor.
Overall, he aims to dispel the idea that all wealthy people got that way due to greater work ethic and that their status is always fairly earned, asserting that inheritance and other unearned advantages play a big role for many at the highest levels of wealth.