Economics for Dummies: Capitalism, explained succinctly

“Penalized”, by the way, means “with a slap on the wrist, a fine so small that it barely makes a dent in the profits, and can therefore still be read as a reward”–hence the Freudian slip.

And “people”, in this case, doesn’t mean the people; it means only the top 1% or so, i.e. those who didn’t do the actual work, didn’t take the actual risk, and didn’t frequently lose their actual lives in pursuit of a hypothetical reward for hard work and ambition that never actually came. These “people” were/are actually in the least-risky position of all, namely the top of the pyramid. The other 99%, those who do the actual work, take the actual risks, and frequently lose their actual lives in pursuit of a hypothetical reward for hard work and ambition, aren’t people–they’re peasants.