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To: Poet who wrote (11441)	5/1/2002 9:10:15 AM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 21057

Doubtless, it is possible to abuse power, and happens from time to time. I was merely arguing with the general proposition of "domination and control", which are very strong terms, after all. There are plenty of mediocre rich people, although it is rarely the person who amassed the wealth in the first place. Successful people tend to be genetically favored, but there is something called "regression towards the mean" that means that their off- spring are often enough not so favored. And there are a reasonable number of smart poor people, though not so many, unless disfavored by mental illness, physical defect, or substance abuse, since anyone with skills can get a decent job. I am suggesting, however, that in the middle, at various levels of income, depending on their talents and disposition, are those who pull the cultural levers (professors, authors, film- makers, curators, etc.), man the government (judges, bureaucrats, legislators, etc.), manage the corporations, and so forth, and that the more successful among these are among the more intelligent persons in the population. Furthermore, using education as a proxy for intelligence, the roughly 22% who graduate with a bachelors degree or better are pretty much the one's who run things, with minor exceptions, the most famous dropout being Bill Gates, who left Harvard to seek his fortune. I do not know current figures for individual, wealthy donors, although my wife is in the field, and donations have been robust generally. It is largely the responsibility of fund- raisers to identify and cultivate prospects, and generally, if they do their job, the wealthy are not unapproachable. But the use of the rich is not solely philanthropy. In general, the ability to accumulate and dispose of wealth without too much interference is a positive incentive for economic development, and the motor driving the "creative destruction" and uncertainty of capitalism.......