Chapter 6: Being Rich Summary and Analysis

Although the rich don't talk openly about their riches, they are obsessed to maintain and increase their wealth. Most poor and working class people do not know rich people. However, the media, especially television, has shown the non-rich just how much they don't have while at the same time promoting the myth that the U.S. is a classless society. TV portrays the rich as heroes whose main concern is to help the poor. This whitewash disguises the reality that the rich are mostly concerned with themselves and their riches.

Sit-coms never depict the reality of the poor; instead, greed for good ratings produces shows with upper-middle-class young people who are wealthy and privileged. Talk shows that portray rich people and celebrities as everyday people with the same problems as everyone else have enhanced the false notion...