2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Do you know a really rich person? [View all]EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)Some have worked hard for what they've got, some inherited it. Most of them are decent people who do not see themselves as better than anyone else.
Some of the most decent people I know are very wealthy. Some of the most arrogant, judgmental and disconnected people I know don't have a pot to piss in.
In other words, in my experience, people's morals and decency have little to do with how much money they have but with the values they were instilled with. And integrity and honor are not the exclusive province of the poor and middle class.
I don't think that the only people who are qualified to be President are those who have personal experience with financial struggle, any more than I pick a President based on whether I want to have a beer with them. Using your standard, we should never have elected FDR, Theodore Roosevelt, JFK, or Jimmy Carter but Richard Nixon was one of us and Ted Kennedy had no honor and integrity. Even Bernie Sanders' morals would be questionable, given his rather hefty $174,000 per year salary, far out of the realm of most Americans.