Living Frugally In China....

This isn't the millionaire next door story, but a frightening commentary on how rich are viewed in China...

China's top billionaire lives frugally as the wealthy are oftened viewed with suspicion, writes Don Lee.

China's richest man has amassed a fortune of nearly US$2 billion (HK$15.6 billion), but lives like a frugal accountant.

And why does he live like this? Is he a Puritan or a Presbyterian? [where amassing wealth was a sign from God that he looked favorably upon you...but in no way are you allowed to enjoy it!!!] No....

In the West, Huang's rise - from high school dropout to the mainland's richest man - would be celebrated as a Horatio Alger story. But in China, where corruption is rampant, many believe the 300,000 people who became millionaires in the last two decades did it the old-fashioned way - stealing from the masses.

So its not jealousy or a thread holdover from the good ol' days of Maoism but a deep rooted feeling in the people that the rich have gained their wealth by stealing it or through connections or other means not available to your typical person.

Social progress has take a back seat to wealth creation by the elite few and it is particularly troubling in that how long will the people tolerate this kind of behavior. It could be a signal to upcoming class warfare that liberal newspapers like the asinine New York Times likes to rant about in their defense of raising taxes on people for the "good of the people." Democrats in the US never met a tax that they didn't like.

Maybe China won't be far behind, but China already has the 2nd highest tax rates in the world.