The American dream as seen by billionaires: Don't blow up our spot

I read the transcript from the debate and wouldn't you believe it that Donald Trump espoused what I'm supposing is a common belief among the wealthy.

Republican Billionaire Donald Trump this week:

Your brother -- and your brother's administration gave us Barack Obama, because it was such a disaster, those last three months, that Abraham Lincoln couldn't have been elected.

Democrat billionaire Jeff Greene two years ago:

“There are all these people in this country who are just not participating in the American Dream at all,” he says. This makes him uncomfortable, not least because they might try to take a piece of his. “Right now, for some bizarre reason, a lot of these people are supporting Republicans who want to cut taxes on the wealthy,” he says. “At some point, if we keep doing this, their numbers are going to keep swelling, it won’t be an Obama or a Romney. It will be a ­Hollande. A Chávez.”

Hat tip to Jon Schwarz for that one.

Each one in isolation looks like standard partisan bickering. But that's not really what's going on. Underneath, there's a very clear distrust that both share towards the population. They're not so much afraid of the opposing party's policies, but that such policies will go so far that people will have a reason to resist.

Pacify the population! Don't tread on me!