Poor people do little to make the rich richer. How can they, they have no money, (they are poor, remember). It's mainly the middle classes who do the spending (and the rich, of course), and they can afford to spend. The rich take from everyone EXCEPT the poor. BTW, most assets depreciate with time, not appreciate. It's mainly land that appreciates, almost everything else just wears out. But hey, that's another discussion all together. Just wanted to clarify.