@Trillian: It’s no more fair to lump “rich-haters” into one category than it is to lump the rich into one category. My family is among the upper financial echelon and when I was applying for schools, I got a lot of hate directed at me because I was applying to schools I actually wanted to go to and not schools I could afford. I also wasn’t applying for scholarships because I didn’t need them and I didn’t think it was fair to take that money away from people who actually needed it. Still, I was lumped in with the greedy rich by a lot of my friends and peers because they were jealous that I had more opportunities. It is my understanding that these are the kinds of rich-haters, specifically, about whom this question is. Although, truthfully, I have no idea how you can spin a group of people who hates someone else based solely on the fact that they more money in a good light.
To answer the question, I think that a lot of these people who display jealousy and anger at rich people would spend the money “irresponsibly” and then defend themselves by saying they went without their whole lives so they “deserved” this money.
Here’s what I think about that. If it’s your money, you should spend it. I think there can be a point where spending can get ridiculous but that is a different level for different people. Also, the way in which someone can give money generously is not necessarily determined by what charities they support. For example, if I came into a large sum of money because the money is not mine, but my family’s I would start a slush fund at my local Planned Parenthood for patients who could not pay. I would start a scholarship program for children of single parents. I would invest in small businesses. I would leave obscenely large tips. However, I would also pay for airplane tickets for me and my boyfriend to go to GenCon, stay in a nice hotel with just the two of us and buy a large amount of original fantasy art and possibly top-quality steampunk regalia. Does that make me a selfish person? No. Does it make me human. Yes.