尤研究中心（Pew Research）一项新的调查显示，贫富之间的文化之争一如既往地激烈。

足有66%的美国人认为美国存在“激烈”或者“非常激烈”的贫富矛盾，这一比例与2009年的47%相比增长明显。

现在贫富矛盾显得比公认的移民问题更加突出。调查发现，62%的受访者认为移民与本土美国人之间存在激烈矛盾，低于贫富矛盾调查项的66%。

此外，美国人对富人的致富手段也心存疑虑。根据该项调查，46%的受访者认为富人致富的原因是“他们出身富裕家庭或他们结交了正确的人”。

只有43%的美国人将“奋斗、理想或教育”视为富人致富的原因。

当然，调查问卷的问题在措辞上还可以更准确一点，继承性的富贵与通过在生活中建立人脉关系（这显然是富人人生旅程的一部分）而致富是有所区别的，应该各自单独列为致富的原因。

这两个数据与2009年大致相同，也就是说，虽然阶层之间的矛盾达到了历史高点，但美国人对富人的看法没怎么改变。

然而，这种看法仍然有些不好，因为更多的美国人认为富人的财富得益于他们的父母或只有少数人组成的社会圈子，而不是靠奋斗、理想或教育而致富。这种疑虑主要产生在18至34岁的年轻人身上。

共和党人比民主党人更相信富人是靠“奋斗”致富的（两派的观点几乎截然相反）。男人普遍比女人更相信奋斗让人致富。

调查结果明确显示出美国人对于富人有多么地抵触。大多数研究表明，如今的百万富翁中，三分之二以上是靠自己而非继承获取财富的。显然，教育和技能在知识经济中对创造财富发挥的作用巨大。

然而，该项调查还表明，在很多美国人看来，富人为独善其身而组成的“俱乐部”对其他人基本上都不开放──不管是出于家庭背景还是专属人际网络的原因。这一观点正是米特•罗姆尼（Mitt Romney）在即将到来的选举中必须应对的。

Did The Rich Get Rich From Hard Work or "Connections"

A new Pew Research poll shows that the cultural battle between rich and poor is as fierce as ever.

Fully 66% of Americans believe there are 'strong' or 'very strong' conflicts between rich and poor in the U.S. That's way up from 47% in 2009.

The rich-poor conflict now eclipses perceived conflicts over immigration. The poll found that 62% of respondents believed there was a strong conflict between immigrants and native-born Americans less than the 66% for rich-poor.

What's more, Americans remain highly skeptical of the way the rich in America get rich. According to the poll, 46% of respondents believe the wealthy got wealthy 'because they were born with money or they knew the right people.'

Only 43% of Americans believe that 'hard work, ambition or education' are the reasons the rich got rich.

Of course, these questions could have been phrased more precisely. Getting rich through an inheritance is very different from getting rich by making the right connections and relationships in life (clearly a part of any rich-person's journey). They should be separated as wealth causes.

And the numbers are about the same as they were in 2009, meaning that while class-warfare may be at an all-time high, Americans' actual perceptions of the rich haven't changed much.

Yet their opinions are still fairly negative, since more Americans believe the rich owe their fortunes to their parents or clubby social circles rather than hard work, ambition or education. This skeptical view is most pronounced among the young, or those between the ages of 18 and 34.

Republicans believe in the 'hard work' path more than Democrats (their responses are almost mirror opposites). And men generally fall into the 'hard work' camp more than women.

The results highlight just how conflicted Americans are about the rich. Most studies show that more than two-thirds of today's millionaires made it themselves, rather than from inheritance. And clearly education and skills matter in making a fortune in the knowledge economy.

Yet the polls suggests that for many Americans, the rich form a self-preserving 'club' that's largely closed to the rest of us 伟 whether it's because of family background or exclusive networks. That view is exactly what Mitt Romney will have to battle in the coming elections.

How do you think the rich got rich? Hard work, education and ambition, or inheritance and connections?

Robert Frank