THE SUFFERING OF OTHERS:

The Ex-Billionaire Next Door: When an online vendor or a hardworking software executive loses 97% of his net worth, we all suffer a little. (Joe Queenan, 09.30.02, Forbes)

Americans feed off the psychic energy generated by other people's good fortune. There's a simple reason for this: Most Americans honestly believe they will one day be, if not rich, at least prosperous. And if not them, then their kids. Though spoilsport journalists intoxicated by schadenfreude, and grandstanding politicians casting around for a few extra votes, love to see the mighty humbled and the omnipotent brought low, average Americans do not bear any ill will toward the wealthy. They do not view wealth as a zero-sum game; there's plenty for everybody. As the old story goes, when an American sees a fat cat getting into a snazzy car, he dreams of the day he can own the vehicle. A Frenchman dreams of the day he can tell the guy to get out and line up for the bus like everyone else.

And the radical Islamicist dreams of the day he packs the car with explosives and blows up the bus. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 23, 2002 12:29 PM