The struggles of the rich

Kristallnacht in America?

As the billionaires gathered in Davos to share ideas on how to get an even a greater slice of the economic pie, it's worth noting that 85 individuals have as much money as 3.5 billion people on the planet.

I mean, how come the wealth of these hard-working 85 doesn't equal the cumulative wealth of 4 billion people?

Yes, I know, it's sad.

But, apparently, it gets worse.

The insults the wealthy must endure, from those not rich, are considered crimes against humanity.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, billionaire venture capitalist Tom Perkins compares the plight of the richest 1 percent to that of the Jews on the eve of World War II:

Regarding your editorial "Censors on Campus" (Jan. 18): Writing from the epicenter of progressive thought, San Francisco, I would call attention to the parallels of fascist Nazi Germany to its war on its "one percent," namely its Jews, to the progressive war on the American one percent, namely the "rich."

From the Occupy movement to the demonization of the rich embedded in virtually every word of our local newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, I perceive a rising tide of hatred of the successful one percent. There is outraged public reaction to the Google buses carrying technology workers from the city to the peninsula high-tech companies which employ them. We have outrage over the rising real-estate prices which these "techno geeks" can pay. We have, for example, libelous and cruel attacks in the Chronicle on our number-one celebrity, the author Danielle Steel, alleging that she is a "snob" despite the millions she has spent on our city's homeless and mentally ill over the past decades.

This is a very dangerous drift in our American thinking. Kristallnacht was unthinkable in 1930; is its descendent "progressive" radicalism unthinkable now?

Maybe Perkins, who loves his spendy boats, has one named KrystalYacht.

Thank god he had defenders in the comments section on the WSJ website.

Even though the stock market is at an all-time high and corporate profits have never been better, the commenters aren't satisfied. In fact, they're indignant.

Instead of being loved beyond all measure, the 1 percenters feel hurt that anyone would dare criticize them.

Such are the travails of the rich.

Sticks and stones may break their bones, but words really hurt them.

How can the one-tenth of 1 percent, or the richest 85 folks on the planet, possibly defend themselves against the ugly words of the billions out there who feel uninvited to their highly selective economic orgy.

Perhaps someone should form a union for the rich. They definitely could use one.