An email sampler:

Warren Buffett testifying in defense of the estate tax is supposed to make us all defer to his position? This is too complicated for most reporters to understand, I realize, which is why it never seems to be included in any stories, but a good chunk of Buffett’s fortune rests on the insurance industry, which rests on — tah dah — estate planning. What a surprise that he supports the estate tax.

And:

The left always thinks that because we want to accumulate capital that we are covetous or greedy. I don’t “covet” when I want what my neighbor has, I covet if I want my neighbors stuff. I can admire a nice shiny new stainless steel barbecue with an accompanying outdoor wet-bar, and dream of one day having my own (ohh, yessss) without wanting to take my neighbor’s barbecue and wet bar for my own. Greed is not good, but greed is not what we believe in.
Envy can go a long way before it because destructive, and before it gets there, envy can be ok. If it leads to self-improvement, there is nothing wrong with envying someone’s enviable traits (or stuff).
I hate the left.

And:

Hi Jonah, I was particularly amused by the following line from one of your critics: “The basis of capitalism IS covetousness – i.e. the accumulation of capital, making others’ capital ones own. “ He apparently thinks “making others’ capital ones own” is inherently evil, so I assume your self righteous critic exchanges his labor for…nothing. And eschews saving money. Or owning a car or house. These are all forms of accumulated capital transferred from one person to another on the most favorable terms the recipient can arrange. On top of that, your critic seems to think that wealth is an extracted resource, like gold, instead of a created resource, so Capitalism must be a zero sum game. That is, I think, the most ignorant assumption in popular lefty economic thinking, and your critic has mastered it.

And:

I’ve noted that for people to be able to think like this, they have to take concepts like “earn” and sweep them completely off the table. Their philosophy seems to assume that wealth just drops from the sky, and that some people just were granted bigger buckets by the Powers That Be.

Oh and for those who missed it, here’s my column on envy from last summer. It remains one of my favorites in a while.