It's one of the inherent challenges of a democracy. When everybody has a chance at participating and making riches through hard work, people hyper-value achiev

It's one of the inherent challenges of a democracy. When everybody has a chance at participating and making riches through hard work, people hyper-value achievenent and wealth. Contrast this with a feudal society, where the landed gentry and the serfs are less focused on wealth - because things are settled and people are more or less content. Top performers in democracies can be resented because their achievement creates envy and shame within those that had that same opportunity, but have either squandered it through laziness or have been unlucky. Also, because members of a democracy share a common value of equality, signs of exceptionalism can often be perceived by the majority as discordant - especially if the individual shows no humility and deferrence to the majority. These are not my ideas - but what the French philosopher de Tocqueville found when he travelled to the US in the early 1830's to study democracy - which he wrote about in 'Democracy in America'