The rest of this letter is going to be generalizations, but don’t worry, Mr. Hasenmiller, I know not all rich people are like this, but there is a point to be seen.

Now, I could be wrong, Mr. Hasenmiller, but it appears you are arguing on behalf of men like the CEO of Lehman Brothers who worked there for a few months and left with multiple millions.

I am sorry, but most wealthy are not as benevolent as you make them appear. Many of the rich CEOs you so heartily defend have knowingly closed factories and moved them overseas to places that aren’t required to pay their workers a decent wage, leaving good hardworking people here without jobs.

Why don’t you climb off your pedestal and look around you.

Have you ever had to beg for food? Have you ever had your teeth almost knocked out and not been able to go to the dentist because you couldn’t afford it? Or what about the man who has worked in a factory all his life and now it has been moved to Mexico and he cannot get hired because of his age?

What about whole towns that face collapse because of a factory being moved? Who is helping those people?

You make it sound like people are weak and pathetic for looking to the government for help. Some people have nowhere else to turn. How dare you judge them, or are you one of those people who think the poor are just lazy and don’t want to work? Why don’t you go volunteer at a food pantry or a soup kitchen, you will see many of those “lazy homeless” people are veterans — some disabled and unable to work — who fought and risked their lives for this country. They have a right to expect that country to take care of them. Are Obama’s ideas perfect? Maybe not, but at least he has some new ones. There are people who need help now.

The rich do not need to get richer to live, but many of our fellow Americans do need some financial help just to live. Can you look them in the eye, Mr. Hasenmiller, as you essentially call them thieves? I know I couldn’t, but then again, I would not have called them thieves in the first place.

Krysten Reid

Senior

Electrical engineering