I think you're mostly right but not quite all the way there. These people are basically being told that they've hit their limit. Society has hit it's limit.

I think you're mostly right but not quite all the way there. These people are basically being told that they've hit their limit. Society has hit it's limit. They have been reaching for the American dream, and by everyone else's standards they've achieved it. But they think, as society's golden children, that they shouldn't have to make any sacrifices on their journey (while asking everyone else to sacrifice to bail them out). That's really what it is. They're being told they can't have everything, and they are apoplectic about it, and are taking it out on the bearer of that message. It's kind of a sad temper tantrum. Unfortunately it may drag America back into the mire from which Culture Warriors like Sarah Palin and Bill O'Reilly plan their verbal asymmetric warfare. The really galling part about all of this nonsense (at least when it comes to bankers) is the notion that they weren't complicit in creating the situation that we're in, that requires everyone to cut back. This isn't something that's being done to them. This is a direct result of the consequences that our society chose to do, two wars, massive tax cuts to the wealthy, all deficit spending. This has a good explanation: http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/09/in-which-mr-deling-responds-to-someone-who-might-be-professor-todd-henderson.html http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/09/in-which-mr-deling-res...