I won't get into all the dogmatic arguments that surround the massive income disparity in the US, we've discussed them in many other pieces.  (frankly I think wealth disparity - rewarding generations for nothing more than having the right genes - is a much larger problem the income disparity)  We must however understand "it is what it is" and Wall Street has entire thesis (plural?) built around it [Sep 7, 2009: Citigroup - America; A Modern Day Plutonomy]