Avoid favouritism: Who the rich are

James says, why are you sucking up to the rich? Aren’t they the very people who are oppressing you, dragging you into court and blaspheming the noble name of the one you belong to?
Why do we expend so much effort trying to be like the successful in society around us, trying to gain their approval, when they have strayed so far from the truth of the Gospel?
While we may not be under the same oppression as the first readers of James, we are often under the same thrall to the lifestyle of the rich. Yet their constant pursual of their desires is leading them to death. Aren't the rich the parasites who feed off the lie that we are primarily consumers? Yet we know that we are reborn as a firstfruits sacrifice, why on earth would we want to be like them? Or even desire their approval?
They are the ones who fortify their wealth with violence, they are the ones destroying the earth, who will be brought to destruction. Why suck up to them?