It's important to learn about wealth gap

In rebuttal to John Behof's letter on Oct. 26 titled, "Prejudice against the wealthy costs us," it was appalling to read the charge that our schools are teaching children "from the time that they can walk" about the evils of capitalism and the wealthy. Really?

People are not becoming "brainwashed" against wealthy people. What is happening is that the population is being made aware of the discrepancies in workers' wages and benefits in proportion to the extreme benefits that corporate executives have been receiving.

Most people don't aspire to be very wealthy but do want a fair shake at a decent income to pay the bills and have some left over. For many people, this is no longer possible.

People are realizing that some affluent citizens are using their wealth, power and influence to corrupt government, not enhance it for the greater good. What really matters is not how much wealth a candidate has but the character of the person who will be in that office and how much he/she will be influenced by people with wealth and power.

Let us not base our votes on a candidate's income but the ability to empathize and a desire to help others, especially those who are less fortunate.

Unfortunately, it's getting to the place in our society where only the wealthy will be able to run for office because of our system for funding elections. That should be a real concern for our populace since elections can be more easily bought. The middle class is being squeezed. The poor are getting poorer and the rich richer.

Is that the kind of society we want today?

Elaine McGahan

Grayslake