Although I don't presume to have an answer, I understand the anger underlying Sirota's article. All of my life, when I had very little and when I had (and have) what I consider to be enough) I have found it simply obscene that a very few people control far more wealth than any human being could possibly spend well (a debatable notion, of course) while the vast majority of people barely get by (and that too is relative --- we don't REALLY need flat-screen TV's, camera cell-phones, or Twitter accounts) or in fact suffer short lives in real misery.

I've always admired Andrew Carnegie, who knew abject poverty and enormous wealth who said that it is no sin to get rich but it is a sin to die rich.

Question: how "hard-earned" is the interest on a T-Bill? How much sweat or brainpower was expended in selling a stock? I've never heaved garbage bags, but I recognize hard work when I see it. (Unpleasant, sometimes dangerous, and absolutely necessary for the well-being of everyone, these guys should be the highest paid of all).

I've had to deal with some very rich people in the course of my career. They come in all shapes and sizes and attitudes, so I won't generalize. But I suspect that what drives them is not money per se, and once I had a chance to test my suspicion by asking a rather aggressive venture capitalist the direct question "This whole thing is a game for you, and money is just a way of keeping score, isn't it?" He said, with real enthusiasm "Absolutely, the greatest game in the world!" Anecdotal of course, but stil it seems right to me. And his fun can come at the expense of a lot of people for whom it is no game at all. After all, if you have $100M, what's an extra 2 or 3? (This, for all of you who missed Econ 101.00001 is called "marginal utility" --- the simple idea that if a man with 1000 is given another 100, he feels better off than a man who has 10000, givedn the same 100.)

I also suspect that some of our trolls are not 1%-rs themselves, but have been sold the myth that some day they might be. Good luck! You'll need it. Hard work alone never made anybody rich. (The best way, of course, is to pick your ancestors well.)

that seems to have slipped entirely is that Gates was returning from a trip to China. This involves many hours of sitting in a plane, little if any sleep, waiting in line at customs etc. But most of all, there is a complete reversal of day and night in about 18 hours and the jet-lag effect is horrendous (I speak from personal experience). It can take days, if not weeks, to readjust. Being confronted with a stressful situation (beginning with a refractory front door) in such a condition could play a very large part in Gates' reaction. The Ivy League effect was probably an element, but the state of Prof. Gates nervous system might have been more important.

As such things go, the CPD is probably more sensitive to matters of race than most: the upscale parts of Cambridge are home to highly educated and often affluent people from all over the world (Harvard Square is like a mini-Heathrow...you can hear a dozen languages spoken by just walking down Brattle Street), and there are large groups of Dominicans, Haitians, and Vietnamese. But Cambridge is not just Harvard and MIT, and if a Cambridge cop is a local he is likely to be from North Cambridge, which is very Irish and very working-class (Tip O'Neill's district). I suspect that, given the history of the Irish in Boston and the long-standing resentments that have not yet been outgrown (especially in "Southie", the setting for "The Departed", which caught the tone very well), some class elements on the part of Sgt. Crowley or other policemen might also have been an element in the mix.

AS a supporter of Pres. Obama, I understand his response to a basically stupid question, but I regret it. For once, his coolness slipped; even though he acknowledged not knowing all the facts (which now may never be known, thanks to the enormous pile of crap depositied on the story by our free and utterly irresponsible press) I hope he finds a way to retreat gracefully from his gaffe.

Jerry Rosen, resident of Cambridge-Somerville for 30 years, now of Jersey City