Born Rich

I finally saw it this past week. The documentary, that is. Pretty interesting, too. Whereas some of the kids profiled in this movie seemed pretty down to earth (Ivanka Trump, in addition to being quite a nice looking gal, seemed pretty grounded), others were downright contemptible. One kid named Luke Weil, heir to the Autotote gaming empire (never heard of it, truth be told), came off like such an arrogant asshole (and in his more sober moments probably realized it) that he tried to get his interview pulled from the documentary. Failing that, he sued producer/director Jamie Johnson (heir to the Johnson and Johnson empire). Many of the subjects interviewed were filled with a palpable self-loathing. One could only imagine that that self-loathing was the direct by-product of knowing that all the accolades, all the hype, all the educational opportunities, and all of the material possessions were attained through no self-generated effort. (I'm not a psychiatrist, mind. I'm merely surmising.) One kid that came off with some genuine humility was Josiah Hornblower, heir to the Vanderbilt/Whitney fortune. Having dabbled in drugs and booze (he subsequently failed out of university), Hornblower went down to Texas to work on oil rigs for two years. He later said that those were the best two years of his life. Having met people of different (no doubt lower) social positions, as well as different ethnicities, Hornblower came to the conclusion that the only thing that made him feel good about himself was hard work. That's something, eh?

Most (all?) of us strive to attain the American Dream, complete with material possessions, big houses/apartments, and copious liquidity. I'm no exception, and I certainly make no apology for it. Where the damage can be done is when one has tremendous amounts of money that one did nothing to earn. Having watched this documentary, I'd rather make a million on my own than inherit hundred million that I had nothing to do with earning. On second thought...maybe not.