Rob, I think a majority of Americans understand that wealth isn't a zero-sum game in which the rich become rich at the expense of the poor. Yet there are those who are wedded to the labor theory of value Marx put forth in Das Kapital. When our own president, on the campaign trail, was confronted by a citizen who asked him why he wanted to raise capital gains tax rates when experience has taught us again and again that raising rates results in less tax revenue, he responded: "It's a matter of fairness."
If you believe Marx was right, as our president obviously does, then you believe that no one can become wealthy unless he steals part of the value produced by the labor of others. But the majority of American people understand that labor isn't the only thing that produces value. That's why people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, etc., keep inventing and creating -- creating wealth. Small business, not General Motors, always has been our nation's salvation.
