Myths & Morals go to Washington

As children, we were taught that Robin Hood was a hero, as he stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Indeed, in 1938 this was a dominant enough truth to receive the star treatment in a feature film directed at adults.

The underlying assumption on the Robin Hood myth - the assumption that makes this thief a hero of morality and truth - is that the rich have gotten their wealth at the expense of the poor. In a culture with a very small upper crust, this is a popular and powerful truth. However, as the wealth of a nation/culture grows, this diminishes in popularity - the rich become rich by virtue (hard work, industriousness, etc) rather than at the expense of others.

Of course the question remains - at whose expense have we become wealthy? I don't think that it is a question that any of us is comfortable with.

And, larger questions about our current policies arise. When did the myth become reversed, so that we steal from others (as a nation) in order to give to the rich? When did the Robin Hood principle become called social welfare (with negative connotations), rather than virtue?