Well, you can add to that list Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart. During the week she addressed so-called 'jealous people' who speak ill of the rich, advising them to stop drinking, smoking and socialising and work harder instead.
Rinehart was criticised for her comments, with Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan branding the comments an insult to Australian workers and families and Federal Health Minister Tanya Pilbersek suggesting that Rinehart should try surviving on the minimum wage (which Rinehart thinks should be lowered).
I think I speak for all honest working men and women when I say Gina, please spare us your 'wisdom'. Seriously, who are you to dictate how hard people should work when you didn't have to lift a finger to gain all of your riches. All you had to do was be Lang Hancock's daughter and heiress. Not all of us are lucky enough to have rich parents from whom we could inherit a fortune. Not all of us can make a million dollars or more sitting on our backsides twiddling our thumbs (which reminds me, Gina, and no offence, but you seriously need to address the size of yours).
And more importantly, while you do have a point that some people would be better off financially if they stopped spending so much money on booze, drugs, gambling, material goods they don't need and can't afford etc, there are people out there who work hard to provide for their families but are still struggling nonetheless. It's unfortunate but such people do exist - perhaps if you took a walk away from your mansion and out the gates of whatever snobby suburb you live the good life in you'd see and hopefully return home enlightened.
More importantly, Gina, has it ever occurred to you that when us 'jealous' working people speak ill of your kid we are not doing so out of envy, but rather, out of contempt and derision? Not to sound cruel, but whenever people of your wealth gripe about how hard life's been treating them, we can't help but shake our heads in disbelief, if not laugh out loud. Just as you claim that we're not working hard enough therefore have no right to complain about life, we argue that every complaint you and your kind make is an affront to people around the country and around the world that are doing it tough just to make ends meet. As far as we're concerned, you've got enough money to feed several small contries so you should have absolutely nothing to bellyache about.
Speaking of which, Gina, did you read that little corker about Employment Minister Bill Shorten moaning about how hard his life is despite the fact that he makes $330,000 a year? Wow, cue the melancholic violin music and someone lend the poor guy 50 dollars, he needs money for a sandwich! What a load of tripe!
So in closing, Gina, you can call working people a bunch of jealous whingers all you want but unless you experience how it feels to worry about paying the bills and supporting your family, I suggest you keep your mouth shut unless you want your name and reputation dragged further through the mud. Just because you're the richest woman in Australia it doesn't give you the right to tell people how to live their lives. Sure, there are people out there who need to stop slacking off but that doesn't apply to all people who are struggling. They're working very hard to put food on the table for their families, something that you're probably not so familiar with.
And please realise that no one is jealous of you. Far from it. Believe it or not, not everyone aspires to have as much money as you do. What would be the point? Sure, you can buy and own more things than the average person can but will all that money really bring you complete happiness and don't you ever become paranoid once in a while that someone might stab you in the back and take it all away?
Oh, and one more thing, and again no offence intended. We may be working hard for our money but at least most of us are on good terms with our families. All the money in the world and you can't even have that.
See? I, an average guy, can be judgemental and insensitive too!
Now, can you spare me a couple of bucks so I can get a train ticket to work in order to earn a wage to pay my next bill?
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