华尔街超级富豪还没搞明白

    不要因为我有钱就恨我。

    摩根大通（JP Morgan）首席执行官杰米•戴蒙就是这么说的，此君也是美国六大银行中薪酬最高的高管。据彭博社（Bloomberg）报道，戴蒙在纽约的一次投资者会议上被听众问道如何看待银行家遭遇的敌意时，他显得困惑不解。

    “（他们的）行为就好像所有成功者都是坏人。因为你有钱，你就是坏。，对此我不能理解，”2010年薪酬总额达到2,300万美元的戴蒙说道。

    戴蒙根本没搞明白。事实上，美国人并不认为富人就是“坏蛋”。正如投资顾问兼博主乔舒亚•布朗所说，美国人长期以来一直有一种情结，崇拜难以企及的富有。从依附豪门的卡戴珊们到家庭主妇，这种情结是难以数计的“真人秀”节目存在的基础，；也是为何凯特•米德尔顿和威廉王子的皇家婚礼转播能吸引数百万人观看、以及为何名流们总能让狗仔队长盛不衰的原因。

    而且，看起来美国人也并不认为美国肮脏的富人太多了。盖洛普（Gallup）6月份的财富观点调查（早在“占领华尔街”运动爆发前几个月已经启动）显示，42%（最高值）的人认为美国富人数量“正好”，31%的人认为“太多”，27%的人认为“太少”。

    而且，美国最富有的1%不一定是99%低收入者嫉妒的对象。11月末进行的另外一项盖洛普调查中，美国人（家庭年收入中值约5万美元）表示，如果每年能挣15万美元，他们就自诩为富人。不用说，这样的收入对于美国亿万富翁而言简直就是九牛一毛。

    引发美国人怒火的并不是富人们的钱。正如占领华尔街人士集会口号所强调的那样，它关乎财富如何分配。而且可能更重要的是，财富获得的途径。

    摩根大通是与美国金融市场崩溃相关诉讼案有牵连的少数几家大银行之一。最新一起诉讼是马萨诸塞州检察官于本月初指控，摩根大通和其他四家银行存在非法取消抵押赎回权的行为，同时还欺骗了房屋所有人。对于早已因为没收军属房屋而被指不当的摩根大通而言，这些事情自然无助于改善其公众形象。摩根大通在4月份了结此案，同意就多收服役人员房屋贷款服务费的指控支付5,600万美元 。

    因此，戴蒙等人看来还是不得要领：美国人不是鄙夷所有的富人。他们没有在马克•扎克伯格的家门口游行示威，没有贬低斯蒂夫•乔布斯的个人财富，也没有因为德里克•基特（美国职棒大联盟超级明星——译注）的高薪酬而抵制纽约扬基队（New York Yankees）的比赛。成功者不是坏人，富人也不是坏人。关键在于你的财富是怎么来的。

    Don't hate me because I'm rich.

    So says JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, the highest paid executive among the six biggest U.S. banks. At an investors' conference in New York, Bloomberg reported that Dimon grew mystified when someone in the audience asked him about hostility toward bankers.

    "Acting like everyone who's been successful is bad and because you're rich you're bad, I don't understand it," said Dimon, whose 2010 compensation totaled $23 million.

    Dimon just doesn't get it. It's not that Americans think the rich are "bad." Actually, as investment advisor and blogger Joshua Brown points out, the nation has long been fascinated by the untouchably wealthy. It's the basis for countless reality shows, from the Kardashians to the housewives; it's why millions tuned in for the royal wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William this year; it's why celebrities keep the paparazzi in business.

    And it's not as if Americans think there's too many of the filthy rich running around. In a June Gallup Poll on wealth (taken several months before the start of the Occupy Wall Street movement), 42% (the highest number) said the number of rich people in the country was "just right," compared with 31% who said there were "too many" and 27% reporting "too few."

    And the nation's wealthiest 1% aren't necessarily the envy of the bottom 99%. In a separate Gallup Poll conducted in late November, Americans (which earn a median annual household income of roughly $50,000) say they would consider themselves rich if they made $150,000 a year. Needless to say, that's pennies to the nation's billionaires.

    What's irking Americans isn't that the rich are simply rich. To underscore the rallying cries of Occupy Wall Street-ers, it comes down to how wealth is distributed. And perhaps more importantly, how it's gained.

    JP Morgan (JPM) is one of a handful of major banks tangled in lawsuits tied to collapse of the U.S. financial market. The latest, filed earlier this month by Massachusetts, alleges that JP Morgan and four other banks conducted unlawful foreclosures and deceived homeowners. And it probably doesn't help JP Morgan's good graces with the public that it was among several lenders accused of improperly foreclosing on military family's homes. JP Morgan settled the case in April, agreeing to pay $56 million on claims it overcharged service members on their home loans.

    So the point that Dimon and others seem yet to have caught onto is this: Americans don't disdain all rich people. They aren't picketing outside Mark Zuckerberg's home or vilifying Steve Jobs for his personal wealth or boycotting New York Yankees games over Derek Jeter's salary. Being successful isn't bad, nor is being rich. What matters is how you created your own wealth.