wonderful, WIY, i love how you made the leap from “wealthy” to “broke” to “crooks” all in teh span of a few sentences. first of all i am calling for people to live within their means, so you are simply making my point for me. secondly it is perfectly understandable why someone who is used to wealth would try and maintain the illusion, it’s not out of some sense of elitism, it’s for their own benefit. regardless of whether people should or should not, people will talk about them and tell all kinds of potentially harmful lashon hara. that sound crazy? not really, i’ll quote your words: “Its a big Yetzer Hara to have “status” because we made being rich into such a big “zach” in our communities that people will do anything to maintain that status even if it means stealing from your best friends, brothers, uncles, Rabbis….you name it.”
such motzi shem rah, i’m disappointed! an ehrliche middle class gentleman such as yourself should know better…