Income Gaps and Instability

As the gap between rich and poor grows, it may be true that resentment doesn’t (by Karlyn Bowman, Opinion, June 11). The important issue, however, is the relationship between power and concentration of wealth, not the emotion of resentment. There is a high correlation between wealth and power. As wealth concentrates, so does power. High concentration of power has always led, eventually, to sociopolitical instability. It is a danger to democracy.

JIM HOOD

Camarillo

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How could Bowman possibly know how the “poor” feel about the gap between the rich and the poor? When was the last time she spent any time in the poorer sections of Washington, East L.A., or East St. Louis for that matter?

Her example regarding a handbag that cost $5,100 and now [imitations] sell for $198 is hilarious. I don’t know of any poor people who would choose between a chic handbag and food if they had $198. The very fact that she thinks it is an issue indicates how divorced she is from reality. Marie Antoinette would have been proud of her.

But the goofiest argument she made is that millionaires are not resented by the poor because they now blend into their communities by wearing khakis and driving VW Bugs. What community does she think they are “blending into”? I’ve been in a lot of poor neighborhoods lately and I haven’t seen a single case of “blending” yet.

SANFORD THIER

Los Angeles