I have nothing against it, and I have no problem with people who have any.

Money may not be able to solve all your problems, but money can provide security, and it can provide you comfort. It is also a source of pleasure; and by pleasure, I just don't mean sybaritic, sensual pleasure, but intellectual or emotional satisfaction. I would rather own a fine telescope than spend a weekend in Las Vegas. It's not that I have anything against Vegas, I just don't value its charms as much as I do a night under the stars.

Where money becomes pathological and destructive is when it becomes an end in itself: when it becomes a means of keeping score, of flaunting your social status, of establishing your power over others.

Lavish consumerism has always been with us. The rich who cannot spend their money wisely never seem to have any trouble spending it conspicuously. What makes our age unique is how much effort (and money) has gone into making conspicuous spending a social virtue. Our entire economy is based on it, and now that it is becoming environmentally and financially unsustainable we have nothing to
substitute in its place. I think I first realized this when I was just a youth, and I have lived my own life with that idea in mind. I do believe it was the single most important and valuable realization I have ever had.

I'm perfectly aware that having money doesn't necessarily mean you stole it from someone else. But very often those who use it as a means of self-actualization do exactly that. When money becomes an end in itself, or the act of demonstrating to others that you have more of it than they do becomes a psychological necessity; then the need to get it by any means required, whether criminal or predatory, is inevitable.

I do not begrudge the wealthy man, in fact, compared to the average human being on this planet, I AM a wealthy man. I have everything I need and much of what I want, and I have a nice reserve for emergencies. It can be truly said "I live like Pharaoh". We are all entitled to earn what we can, spend what we must, save what we are able, and squander what we want, although not all of us are able to do so.

The rich man can spend his money. He's even entitled to spend his money to get or stay rich. However, he has no right to spend my money so he can become richer.