Mary Shaw

Two clean-cut preppy-type young men emerged from the late-model Jaguar that shared a parking lot with my 10-year-old Corolla. There was a homeless person standing nearby, rattling a can and begging for donations.

"Get a job," yelled preppy #1 at the homeless man.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna give you money for being lazy," said preppy #2.

This reminded me of George W. Bush, who allegedly told one of his Harvard Business School professors that "poor people are poor because they're lazy."

And why, I wonder, are rich people rich, George?

In some cases, it's because they have ingenious ideas at the right time and are clever enough -- and work hard enough -- to sell those ideas successfully. (See Bill Gates.)

But then there are the lazy rich people.

George W. Bush didn't earn his wealth. He was born into money, and born into the connections that would continue to subsidize his whims.

In college, he was described as an average student. No real effort there.

During the Vietnam War, his father got him a cushy gig in the National Guard, so young George wouldn't have to do his duty and actually fight. And even then he went AWOL.

Then they gave him an oil company to run, called Arbusto Energy. But it failed, so he apparently wasn't too motivated there, either.

So he went into politics, was appointed to the U.S. Presidency by the Supreme Court, and spent eight years letting Dick Cheney and his other handlers drive this country into the ground just like that oil business.

From all appearances, it seems as though Bush was too lazy to put much of his own effort or ingenuity (if he had any) into any of these jobs. He just coasted along for the glory, and took more vacation days than any other president in U.S. history.

And that kid with the Jaguar was far too young to have likely earned it for himself.

You see, George, a lot of rich people are rich because they're lucky.

And a lot of poor people are poor simply because they're unlucky.

Like the sweatshop workers in Mexico and China who endure very hard 12- or 16-hour shifts for pennies per day.

And like the divorced mother of three whom you met at a town hall meeting in Omaha in 2005, who has to work three jobs to support her family. You beamed, and you called her situation "uniquely American" and "fantastic!"

These people are not lazy, George. They're not lazy, preppy boys. They work much harder than you ever will.

And, therefore, in my opinion, they deserve a lot more respect than you do.

Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist. She is a former Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human rights group Amnesty International, and her views on politics, human rights, and social justice issues have appeared in numerous online forums and in newspapers and magazines worldwide. Note that the ideas expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Amnesty International or any other organization with which she may be associated. E-mail: mary@maryshawonline.com