Are the rich really conspiring against the middle class?

I don't like it when the media exaggerates by throwing around big words like "meltdown" and "disaster". Today at the library I picked up a book called Rich Dad's conspiracy of the rich : the 8 new rules of money Robert T. Kiyosaki.

The first half of the book is about how the rich and elite have conspired to keep themselves rich. Now I recognize that people who tend to use the word "conspiracy" are a bit loony.

Do I really believe that the world's richest people gather in a room every few months and conspire to keep themselves rich? No, of course not.

But I do believe that rich people have built a complicated system of economics that is designed to preserve and increase their wealth. "Conspiracy" is just a catchy, entertaining word.

Here are the reasons we, in the middle class, are poor compared to the elite: (The explanations are mine - I'm not that far in the book to use the author's explanations yet.)

1) Taxes

We pay taxes to support our government, which often gives bailouts or handouts to the rich. Elites and corporations don't pay taxes cause they can hire fancy lawyers to help them find loopholes in the laws.

2) Debt

We've been told to buy things we can't afford.

3) Inflation

The rich and elite can print money through banks and monetary organizations and create complicated derivitives. If we print money, we go to jail for counterfeiting. When the banks print money, the value of the money we hold decreases.

4) Retirement

The rich and elite convinced us "Hey let us take care of your retirement. Give us your extra money and we'll make a return for you in the markets." Yeah right. We saw what happened with that in 2008.