It must be nice to be Leon Cooperman.\u00a0 He\u2019s rich, well-educated, well-respected,\u00a0 married and the father of two children.\u00a0 He lives in a leafy suburb in New Jersey and serves on numerous high-profile boards.\u00a0 The hedge fund that he started, Omega Advisors, has netted him a fortune estimated at $1.8 billion (yes, that\u2019s \u201cbillion\u201d with a \u201cb.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Even though he is a Republican and a major donor to many GOP candidates, he has some progressive instincts.\u00a0 He supports higher taxes for the wealthy. He has signed \u201cThe Giving Pledge,\u201d vowing to give away at least half of his wealth. He says he voted for Al Gore in 2000.\u00a0 He says he has some sympathy for the Occupy Wall Street protestors.<\/p>\n

Despite all of his advantages and all of his generosity, I am concerned about Mr. Cooperman.\u00a0 I fear that he is blind.<\/p>\n

In an article in the Dec. 6 Business Section of the New York Times<\/em>, reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin writes about a letter that Mr. Cooperman wrote to President Obama.\u00a0 The letter criticizes the President for what Mr. Cooperman calls the \u201cdivisive, polarizing tone of (his) rhetoric, (which is) cleaving a widening gulf…. between the downtrodden and those best positioned to help them.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there is this paragraph:<\/p>\n

\u00a0I came from nothing,\u201d he (Cooperman) said, explaining how he grew up in the Bronx and went to P.S. 75.\u00a0 \u201cI have lived the American Dream.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to be constantly attacked.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Give me a break.<\/p>\n

Mr. Cooperman did not \u201ccome from nothing.\u201d\u00a0 Let\u2019s look at the privileges he apparently cannot see or chooses to ignore:<\/p>\n

First, he was born a white male.\u00a0 These two race and gender cards have given him a head start in the game of life, whether he knows it or not.<\/p>\n

Second, Mr. Cooperman is Jewish.\u00a0 Jewish families, even those of modest means, traditionally emphasize education and hard work so the children can rise above the status of the parents.<\/p>\n

Third, Mr. Cooperman has the advantages of a quality education.\u00a0 He graduated from Hunter College and has an MBA from Columbia University Business School.\u00a0 If he were burdened by student loans, he has managed to pay them off years ago.<\/p>\n

Fourth, Mr. Cooperman was born in 1943 and grew up in the \u201cboom years,\u201d when our country and our economy were both energized and opportunities seemed endless for those who worked hard.<\/p>\n

Fifth, Mr. Cooperman parlayed his intelligence and education into a first job at Goldman-Sachs, where he stayed for 25 years.\u00a0 The benefits of the professional network he established there have accrued throughout his lifetime.<\/p>\n

The advantages of being a white, straight, healthy, intelligent male in America during the past 50 years cannot be over-estimated.\u00a0 They have been powerful, direct forces in Mr. Cooperman\u2019s life, whether he sees them or not.\u00a0 He may enjoy claiming a rags-to-riches story, but the intangible riches were there to nourish him from day one.\u00a0 And they were gifts; he did nothing to earn them.<\/p>\n

I once heard Cory Booker, the major of Newark, N.J., say:\u00a0 \u201cI have drunk deeply from wells that I did not dig.\u201d It\u2019s something Mr. Cooperman should think about.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll stop worrying about Mr. Cooperman\u2019s vision when he opens his eyes to realize the privileges he has that his money did not buy.\u00a0 It\u2019s certainly his right to complain about what he perceives as the \u201ctone\u201d of President Obama\u2019s rhetoric.\u00a0 Let\u2019s just hope that most people can see through his \u201cpoor me\u201d posture.\u00a0 After all, how many \u201cpoor me\u201d individuals do you know who can write a letter of complaint to the President and end up with a photo and 34 inches of copy on the front page of the Business section of the New York Times?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It must be nice to be Leon Cooperman.\u00a0 He\u2019s rich, well-educated, well-respected,\u00a0 married and the father of two children.\u00a0 He lives in a leafy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":13490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,195,715],"tags":[359],"yoast_head":"\n