MinuteBracelet: I know this thread is about the 1%, but what about the rest of us? I'm going to assume that given that we're on a gaming forum that all or most people here are part of western culture, so excuse me. Think of the 1%. Think of how they seem to us. Now think of us, and how we seem to the rest of this so called "99%". Face it. We're rich ourselves, relative to the rest of the world! While we're hating on people who are "rich" to us, the rest of the human population would love to inject their opinion of us into this thread, only they can't even afford a computer! So why can't we just stop hating on JUST the "1%" and instead take into account our own fortunes? Even if you're in tough financial times right now, you probably have a better standard of living then say, the average worker in China. So instead of getting all mad at the 1%, maybe we could just be thankful for what we have compared to persons in less-developed countries, and maybe even converse about how we can redistribute ALL of our own wealth with the entirety of the world.
I resent SOME members of the top 1%, not because of their wealth, but because of the policies they try to drive with their wealth in order to increase it, not to mention some dubious practices that are done to save a buck (exportation of labor to cheaper places, unpaid overtime, lousy environmental practices, screwing states over for their non-renewable natural resources, etc).
We are closer to being a third world nations then many would like you to believe (peak oil, climate change, out of control debts because the wealthy don't want to pay their taxes, having no local demand or local industry because the bulk of our labor is exported, etc).
But yeah, if you can make a buck being a nice guy without screwing people over, then all the more power to you I say.