If I build a railroad and become rich we all benefit. But why when I build this railroad and make a mistake or decide to shut it down should I be responsible for the indirect problems this may cause to others? It would be the equivalent of attacking the unemployed for not working because by not working and adding output to the economy they make me worse off.

Perhaps you would prefer to live in a dictatorship where the government forces the able to work and share their wealth. Welfare would be maximized and any mistakes the rich make would lead to large punishments other than financial losses.

Or we could continue to live in a free country where any two people can do business and are responsible only to themselves and the law. If I want to build a railroad that is my right and if after building one of the best railroads in the world I want to shut it down for no reason that is my right as well. The abilities of the rich and talented are not some sort of collective right we are all entitled to. We should be thankful for their achievements and the wealth they have created in this country.

yes we should be thankful for the one's that have achievements, but why bail out the losers? that's what this article is about them becoming as dependent on government bailouts/handouts as the poor have, market forces should determine their fates, reward the good decisions, punish the bad decisions, without that it teaches them the lesson that they can be as reckless as need be, and then what achievements will they have?

The biggest recipients of welfare in this country are corporations. A person makes decisions that lead them to poverty, too bad for them. Bear Sterns makes bad decisions, government orchestrates to bail them out and if it goes to hell the tax payers make up the difference. The American people's productivity rate has only ever skyrocketed, whilst their wages stagnate. CEOs who fail get severance packages worth millions. We compensate, protect and use tax dollars to aid the rich and pwerful and we blame and stereotype the poor and working class. Screw all the economist definitions of a recession. The price of gas/ healthcare/ food has gone up dramatically and people with MBAs and 35 years experience are getting downsized. The only people who can fool themselves into thinking that America is doing just fine are the ones profiting from the subjugation of the working class and those who want to figure out how to use subjugation to become part of the upper class.

That *no* railroad would be built without the work of the populace. That the builder would not maintain possession without the agreement (and tax dollars) of the populace. The builder is *dependent* on everyone else, no matter how clever he might be. This is all one big social contract. Most people are fine with rewarding ingenuity, business acumen, and (intelligent) risk taking. It's when the very people that make their wealth possible get shafted that people get up in arms. You'd think the wealthy would not be so short-sighted.