Rich Kid Syndrome

[jeffrey]

Freud famously decided money was a metaphorical stand-in for feces (repellent, hoarded, tightly controlled). And inherited wealth was a topic even Freud couldn’t handle without conflict, apparently—according to the late economist Peter Drucker, the doctor was ashamed of his family’s bourgeois roots and instead promoted the myth that he grew up in penury. Recently, I phoned Andrew Solomon, heir to a substantial pharmaceutical fortune and author of the beautiful depression memoir The Noonday Demon, and asked if he’d discuss the psychological effects of inherited wealth. In the most gracious way, he declined. I pointed out that in his book, he was willing to talk about a depression so profound he attempted to contract HIV in order to have a reason to kill himself; yet he was too shy, on the phone, to talk about his inheritance. Why was that?


How Can America's Rich Teach Their Children the Value of a Dollar? -- New York Magazine