Can you expound on what you mean by "usually at the expense of people poorer than them"? I understand this sentiment when it comes to things like predatory lending, but would like to learn more about how it applies to non-exploitative areas.

A couple possible examples to help with the discussion: 1. A new millionaire buys a house from someone in SF and lives there. 2. A new millionaire buys a rental property from someone in SF, renovates it, and raises the rent to make back their capital outlay. 3. A new millionaire buys a broken down classic car, invests capital into repairing it, and sells it to a collector for a profit.

> spending their time trying to get richer or maintain their wealth

and poor people don't ?

No, poor people are spending their time making money to ensure that their basic needs are met.

The difference is the poor does so in a struggle to survive. We could solve a whole host of issues in this country (crime, healthcare, housing, etc) if rich people decided to put their efforts towards the public good instead of being greedy.

The poor being in a struggle to survive may have a wealth of source reasons. Mismanagement (not necessarily limited to the financial aspect of their lives) is the first thing that comes to mind.