Meaning, Money and the Wealth Gap

Ben Stein has an interesting article in The American Spectator about the growing wealth gap in the United States, something that's unendingly apparent in a city like New York. While on one hand I don't begrudge Wall Street workers their vast fortunes -- given that they drive much of the city's economy -- on the other it's frustrating to be unable, as a decently renumerated working member of society, to purchase a home given the spiraling costs. Costs that are decidedly influenced by living in a city where a certain class of people command annual bonuses large enough to pay cash for real estate. Though I make enough money that I could support a family in relative comfort elsewhere, as a single person in New York my salary is probably by many perceived as one on which I must "scrape by" (though I don't feel that way). Given how much Ben Stein is worth, I find his perspectives on wealth interesting and grounded, and I am always somewhat amazed when the wealthy don't forget upon having their first million in the bank the struggles of the masses and the inevitable problems (inherent to any economic structure) of capitalism. (Link via kottke.)