Americans don't hate the rich.

Americans hate cheaters.

It is a well established fact that Americans, perhaps uniquely among all the world's people, believe that they are one idea, one lucky break, and a couple of years of hard work away from being among the richest of the rich. It also just happens to be, perhaps uniquely among the world's nations, this is simply more true than elsewhere. It's not just not likely, but who care about the odds? It happens, we make it happen, and it can happen to any of us. So, why rant and rave about the rich when that group might include you, your close friends, or your family in a matter of a couple of years?

No, Americans don't hate the rich. We envy those who become rich through luck. We are jealous of those become rich through skill and hard work. We seek to emulate them, sometimes we even succeed. Yet, we still have the Occupy Wall Street folks. There are still people who claim class warfare is just as alive here as it is in Europe. Only, here they don't focus on the rich in general, they focus on the rich who abuse their power. They focus on the rich who seek to escape their obligations, be they taxes or those who seek to lean upon our legal system. We strongly resist the notion that things should be anything but a level playing field.

It's not just the rich either. Have you ever read the restrictions on welfare money? It can't be spent on things from alcohol to strippers to luxury cars. Normally, Americans don't care much about how other folks use their money, but this is a case of cheating. People hate the notion that other folks put all their effort into using tax money and hard work of others to live well (sort of) without having to earn it, it violates our sense of fair play and the notions we have of what people should do.

It's not just that either, but that's part of the thing behind illegal immigration. It's not just that folks are coming here. It's that they are doing so by "cutting" in line ahead of other folks and breaking our laws. For some people it is the immigration bit that is the problem, but there is a reason why they specify illegal every time. Most Americans don't have a problem with immigration, they do have a problem with those they view as cheaters. That may or may not be a fair characterization, but there won't be a simple resolution to this issue until the notion of illegal immigrants as cheaters is dealt with.

Or, at least, that's the sense that I've come to understand.