[philwelch]

" Do they just hate rich people?"

Yes. More precisely, they're angry about recent economic stagnation and unemployment and are scapegoating the rich.

Economic difficulties leading to mass populist movements with a defined, minority scapegoat (especially the rich, or the bankers) is a dangerous pattern. Even in this thread you see people calling for violence. The last element--a charismatic leader--is historically all that is needed for something like this to turn very ugly, very fast.