I’ve never been persuaded that there is such a thing as a sin of greed. What cannot be denied is the sin of envy. I think leftism is the politics of envy. More than likely, those among the enviable rich who embrace lefty politics do so for fear of that evil green eye .

So I enjoyed this paragraph from an article by the admirable Walter Williams, writing about something he calls ‘wackonomics’ – the idea that there is a fixed amount of wealth and that it ought to be doled out (by an all powerful government) in strictly equal shares:

Speaking of CEOs, there’s the "unconscionable," "obscene" salaries they receive, in some cases over $10 million a year. Wackonomics has an easy answer for these high salaries: it’s greed. However, CEOs don’t have the corner on greed. There are other greedy people we don’t scorn but hold in high esteem. According to Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list, Oprah Winfrey receives $275 million, Steven Spielberg gets $130 million, Tiger Woods $115 million, Jay Leno $32 million and Dr. Phil $40 million. I need to talk to these people and learn their strategy. I’ve been making every effort to get that kind of money. I go to bed greedy, dream greedy dreams, awaken greedy and proceed through the day greedy. Despite my heroic efforts, it’s all been for naught; I earn a pittance by comparison.