Matt

It is a big issue and bigger issue than most take into consideration however there are methods that work and methods that discourage economic growth. I think the biggest problem in the U.S. is the difficulty of new business to compete with established larger businesses because of the huge amount taxation hammered onto starting businesses (especially in California). However creating a doll by overly taxing certain segments of the population is not teh answer either because what it does is destroys any person's incentive to get rich or to start a business because they have a safety blanket with no need to excel-like Sweden.

Taxation is a good thing for the most part however. We do need to tax the rich at a higher rate than everyone else so some wealth does get redistributed but I think that will not solve the issue and if taken too far can hampar the economy as well.
It seems to me that alot of people without money think that acquiring it is matter of luck. No it isnt. It takes hard work, lots of risk, and lots of knowledge. Yes luck can happen but people who make that top 10 list didnt just get lucky. Try flipping a coin for instance. Lets say that a rich man is 100 times richer than a poor man. Take a coin and flip it a 100 times to see if heads comes up each time. It probably never will. One's chances are so minute in achieving that, which is a demonstration that people with 100 times more wealth than a poor man didnt get lucky a 100 times over. They took a smart risk, worked hard and excelled.