I like that the "them" in both cases is "lazy". The "us" group, on the other hand, nicely changes from "wealthy" to, essentially, "deservedly wealthy". I'm fair

I like that the "them" in both cases is "lazy". The "us" group, on the other hand, nicely changes from "wealthy" to, essentially, "deservedly wealthy". I'm fairly certain they believe the latter, but is it so surprising that from the outside people see the former? Your point stands, though. I seriously doubt anyone's being deliberately mean or hateful. They just genuinely believe that they succeeded on their own merits. I also think that most definitions of "us" and "them" are usually after-the-fact justifications for including/excluding people from a group. The groups form, then the criteria arise, not vice versa. But I have nothing to back that up. It's just something worth considering when seeing the categorisations people discriminate based on.