I don't resent Bezos. I'm rooting for billionaires like him. | Opinion

Being a mom is hard, and I have a lot of people to thank for making it easier – including Jeff Bezos.

In the past two weeks alone, I’ve bought my daughter a dress for an event, a water filter for my refrigerator, vitamins and household essentials – all in less than five minutes on Amazon. That likely saved me at least an hour of in-person shopping.

From shoes and T-shirts to school supplies and everyday necessities, I order a lot for my kids and me on Amazon. I’m hardly alone. More than 80% of U.S. households shop on Amazon, and nearly 200 million Americans hold Prime memberships, spending an average of $1,400 a year on the platform.

It’s easy to see why: For the cost of a product and a modest shipping or Prime fee, Amazon gives people something increasingly valuable – time. For busy parents like me, time is precious.

That’s why I’ve never been particularly troubled by Bezos' immense wealth. In recent years, a growing “eat the rich” mentality has become increasingly fashionable, fueled by progressive political rhetoric and proposals like California’s “billionaire tax.” I understand why extreme wealth can make people uneasy, but I can’t join the envy or outrage.

Many of America’s billionaires have built products and services millions of us willingly use because they make life easier, faster or better. Amazon didn’t force its way into American households; consumers invited it in because it solved problems and delivered value.

AOC and California target billionaire wealth

Democrats, in particular, have grown increasingly vocal in their opposition to extreme wealth.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, was the latest politician to slam billionaires.

“There’s a certain level of wealth and accumulation that is unearned,” Ocasio-Cortez said recently on the podcast "It's Open." “You can’t earn a billion dollars. You just can’t earn that. You can get market power, you can break rules ... you can abuse labor laws, you can pay people less than what they’re worth, but you can’t earn that.”

That sentiment isn’t entirely new. Former President Barack Obama voiced similar concerns during a 2012 campaign rally in Virginia.

California lawmakers have also embraced increasingly aggressive efforts to target extreme wealth, including proposals aimed at imposing new taxes on the state’s billionaires.

Hostility toward billionaires extends well beyond elected officials. A headline for the Washington Monthly’s podcast in January says, "Author Chuck Collins argues that billionaires are a uniquely destructive force to the economy, democracy, and the planet." A YouTube video from August explaining "why every single billionaire is evil" has attracted nearly 800,000 views.

Billionaires don't steal wealth. They create it.

Ocasio-Cortez’s argument is that billionaires build wealth by cheating, exploiting tax loopholes and gaming America’s capitalist system. Tax codes that allow billionaires to keep more of their money might help them buy another Maserati, but they also allow them to reinvest more into businesses and the broader economy.

California Democrats’ primary argument for a billionaire tax seems simpler: They have the money, so why shouldn’t they pay more? But these competing arguments raise an important question: Are billionaires primarily cheating the system, or are they simply not paying enough under it?

Either way, both arguments are often rooted in something deeper: the belief that extraordinary wealth is inherently more suspect than admirable. The super rich already pay enormous sums in taxes. Forcing them to pay substantially more may satisfy calls for greater equality, but it can also reduce their capacity to invest, expand businesses and create additional economic growth.

Behind many billion dollar fortunes are millions of paychecks supporting working families. Bezos employs roughly 1.5 million people. Walmart, founded by Sam Walton, employs about 2.1 million. Large-scale wealth creation often coincides with large-scale job creation.

Strangely, many critics argue that the rich are neither taxed enough nor philanthropic enough. Yet members of the Forbes 400 list have given $319 billion to charitable causes over their lifetimes ‒ just 4.6% of their combined net worth, which some critics deem stingy.

Still, that percentage exceeds the 2-3% of income the average American donor gives. Perhaps if they were taxed less, they would give more.

It's a study in dichotomous thinking: The left wants to resent billionaires while taxing them more heavily.

Resentment of billionaires is misplaced: Every iPhone, rocket and online store might end with someone getting rich, but it usually started with humble roots and hard work. In the end, the rest of us often benefit.

Billionaires aren’t the villains people often imagine. They’re one reason a busy mom like me can order household essentials or school supplies in minutes and spend more time with my kids instead of another hour standing in a checkout line. Amazon’s success reflects a simple truth: Wealth often follows value, and few things are more valuable to busy Americans than saving time.

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.