Rich-Kid Syndrome

Back when I was doing the Generation Debt column for the Village Voice, one of the toughest columns to report was the one on rich kids. Nobody really wants to talk about their money--there are still people who aren't speaking to me over it.
New York magazine, which can fairly be accused of fetishizing wealth, did an interesting take on the story last week, which is currently the top most emailed story.
The angle is pretty similar to my story, and that of the 2003 documentary Born Rich: how can young adults with stupid amounts of inherited wealth--or even the children of the merely affluent--acquire values and a sense of purpose?

Now, to many, a better question might be, who cares? These are rich-kid problems.

However, these existential dilemmas afflict a broader range of young people in our extremely affluent society--children of professionals, not just the super-wealthy, and I've heard the same complaints from children of immigrant success stories, ie, my father came from Fujian and worked 100 hours a week, how can I ever hope to match that?

Work is never just about the money, it's about carving out your place in society no matter where you come from.