Did The Rich Get Rich From Hard Work or Connections ?

A new Pew Research poll shows that the cultural battle between rich and poor is as fierce as ever.

Fully 66% of Americans believe there are “strong” or “very strong” conflicts between rich and poor in the U.S.  That’s way up from 47% in 2009.

The rich-poor conflict now eclipses perceived conflicts over immigration.  The poll found that 62% of respondents believed there was a strong conflict between immigrants and native-born Americans – less than the 66% for rich-poor.

What’s more, Americans remain highly skeptical of the way the rich in America get rich. According to the poll, 46% of respondents believe the wealthy got wealthy “because they were born with money or they knew the right people.”

Only 43% of Americans believe that “hard work, ambition or education” are the reasons the rich got rich.

Of course, these questions could have been phrased more precisely.  Getting rich through an inheritance is very different from getting rich by making the right connections and relationships in life (clearly a part of any rich-person’s journey).  They should be separated as wealth causes…  Read More: http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2012/01/12/did-the-rich-get-rich-from-hard-work-or-connections/

How do you think the rich got rich? Hard work, education and ambition, or inheritance and connections?

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