We learned a couple of weeks ago that Ben Stein thinks the typical gay man is a sex criminal. Today we learn from his column in The New York Times that he thinks anyone who's upset about the shrinking middle-class paycheck is a filthy commie who doesn't want anyone to make more money than anyone else:

THERE is extreme income inequality in this country. It is hard to say whether it's the fault of President Bush, since there was also extreme income inequality under former President Bill Clinton, and in fact there has always been extreme income inequality....

There are a number of ways to respond to this situation. You can become indignant and say that it's a violation of American democratic principles. This is a good way to put yourself into a sanctimonious mood, and it offers some psychic satisfaction.

I'm not sure that there is any historical basis, though, for believing that the founders of the nation wanted everyone to have equal wages....

Got it? "Equal wages." If you want the gap between the rich and everyone else to narrow somewhat, you want communism and 100% income flattening. There's no middle ground. And in case you missed the message, Stein repeats it:

...if you feel better making pottery or teaching school or policing the streets ... you can have a fabulous life, too. In fact, from what I have seen, you can have a better life if you just stop thinking that everyone is supposed to make the same wage and just feel happy with who you are.

I'm not even quoting the rest of the column -- Stein's advice is, in effect, go work on Wall Street with an eye to becoming a zillionaire or cede your right ever to complain about how the economy is organized. What a jerk.