HOW RICH IS TOO RICH?
“You can never be too rich or too thin.” That’s according to Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée who remarried and became the Duchess of Windsor. Buried too deeply in the past for many of us to remember or care, that marriage led her new husband, King Edward VIII, to abdicate the throne of England. The course of history changed by one man’s romantic attachment to “the woman I love.” Rather surprising that so enigmatic a figure as Wallis Simpson should have coined a phrase with such staying power.
Would most people agree with Ms. Simpson? I suppose they might with the “too thin” part, given the fanaticism that has swamped the conversation about obesity. Granted, occasionally some voice from the hinterland will raise a cry about a model or starlet in Hollywood who has fallen into the abyss of anorexia, but those cries are soon drowned out. Say what you will about the morbidly obese but apparently a lot of Americans find them compelling. Lured by the inveiglement of reality TV, millions flock to the latest episode of the “Biggest Loser.” They watch, in rapt fascination, as sadistic overlords torment the last group for whom there is no protection against persecution, even at recess on the playgrounds. My guess is that this shameful display will come to an end when some slick group of trial lawyers takes up the cause of folks injured or killed by following the “boot camp” strategies employed on the show. Of course, it’ll take a big, maybe even morbidly obese, settlement to drain the coffers filled by a show that rakes in something on the order of a$100 million a year. So much money!
Okay, so that brings me to the second issue—what about the “too rich” thing? That debate rages on as we still flounder around in eddies and whirlpools created by a Titanic-sized sinking of the U.S. economy. Did the excesses of “The 1%” take us to the brink of oblivion through the artifice of esoteric speculative investment derivatives like structured investment vehicles, collateralized debt obligations, and credit default swaps? Or was it the “irrational exuberance” of an overreaching, get-rich-quick-minded middle-class fueling a real estate bubble? Or did politicians push us over the edge by doling out mortgage guarantees to lower income homeowners ill-equipped to manage the true costs of owning such an asset? There’s plenty of blame to go around, but all the finger-pointing sure makes it hard to come up with a solution or a set of solutions that makes any sense.
As we continue treading water, we have yet to figure out how to prevent such massive economic disruptions. Case in point: a recent headline admonishes the soon-to-be ex fed chairman, Bernanke, for doing no more than Greenspan to manage the “bubble economy”, tsk-tsk. On his heels are mounting fears about a bubble or bubbles in currency markets around the world. Is there another crash and burn moment around the corner? Who knows, but it seems likely unless we can figure out how to set aside the trash talk and work together to rein in the forces that fuel bubbles, before they wreak havoc on us all. In the meantime the rest of the world will continue to ride the roller coaster with us, aggravating animosity already directed toward witlessly over-privileged Americans.
The heroine in my mystery novel series, Jessica Huntington, grapples with both issues in her efforts to right her world, which has gone haywire. She’s bedeviled by the fear of fat, even though she’s well within the bounds of what would have been regarded as normal weight a quarter century ago. Her husband’s thinner, younger mistress has put her on notice that she no longer measures up, somehow—is it that she’s not a size zero?
She has also begun to wonder about the limits of privilege, even as she throws herself, black AMEX card in hand, into “retail therapy” to cope with betrayal and disappointment in her 30-something body, her marriage and her career. She has all that privilege can buy: a late-model ‘bimmer’, designer goods, pampering, an elite education, and a multimillion dollar portfolio that survived the “Great Recession.” Yet, like the rest of us, she’s pressed to confront her vulnerability by things beyond her control, personal and political.
“Cry me a river,” you might say. “She’s rich, too rich.” Maybe she is. She fought about that very issue with her ex-husband, who was never satisfied with their riches. But there are folks all over the world saying the same thing about all of us Americans, seen as “rich” because we can take for granted clean water, flush toilets, heat, AC and refrigeration. And omg, our grocery stores are food palaces that would have been envied by kings in earlier centuries!
Our riches also extend to health care and welfare systems, as well as systems that provide for public safety, national defense, elections, and the rule of law. None are perfect by any stretch, nor are they equally accessible to all. But they do make it possible for us to go about, day-to-day, in a bubble of privileged civility.
Yet think how fragile a bubble is. As Jessica’s fight for her life turns into a knockdown, drag-out, physical battle she sees how thin the layer of civility is that enshrouds her privileged life. How thin is too thin, in that sense, too? Thin or not our protective bubble is there—for now. Jessica turns out to be a tough cookie, outwitting and fending off her assailants. When our privilege is put to the test, I only hope we’re all as tough and resourceful as Jessica Huntington.
Would most people agree with Ms. Simpson? I suppose they might with the “too thin” part, given the fanaticism that has swamped the conversation about obesity. Granted, occasionally some voice from the hinterland will raise a cry about a model or starlet in Hollywood who has fallen into the abyss of anorexia, but those cries are soon drowned out. Say what you will about the morbidly obese but apparently a lot of Americans find them compelling. Lured by the inveiglement of reality TV, millions flock to the latest episode of the “Biggest Loser.” They watch, in rapt fascination, as sadistic overlords torment the last group for whom there is no protection against persecution, even at recess on the playgrounds. My guess is that this shameful display will come to an end when some slick group of trial lawyers takes up the cause of folks injured or killed by following the “boot camp” strategies employed on the show. Of course, it’ll take a big, maybe even morbidly obese, settlement to drain the coffers filled by a show that rakes in something on the order of a$100 million a year. So much money!
Okay, so that brings me to the second issue—what about the “too rich” thing? That debate rages on as we still flounder around in eddies and whirlpools created by a Titanic-sized sinking of the U.S. economy. Did the excesses of “The 1%” take us to the brink of oblivion through the artifice of esoteric speculative investment derivatives like structured investment vehicles, collateralized debt obligations, and credit default swaps? Or was it the “irrational exuberance” of an overreaching, get-rich-quick-minded middle-class fueling a real estate bubble? Or did politicians push us over the edge by doling out mortgage guarantees to lower income homeowners ill-equipped to manage the true costs of owning such an asset? There’s plenty of blame to go around, but all the finger-pointing sure makes it hard to come up with a solution or a set of solutions that makes any sense.
As we continue treading water, we have yet to figure out how to prevent such massive economic disruptions. Case in point: a recent headline admonishes the soon-to-be ex fed chairman, Bernanke, for doing no more than Greenspan to manage the “bubble economy”, tsk-tsk. On his heels are mounting fears about a bubble or bubbles in currency markets around the world. Is there another crash and burn moment around the corner? Who knows, but it seems likely unless we can figure out how to set aside the trash talk and work together to rein in the forces that fuel bubbles, before they wreak havoc on us all. In the meantime the rest of the world will continue to ride the roller coaster with us, aggravating animosity already directed toward witlessly over-privileged Americans.
The heroine in my mystery novel series, Jessica Huntington, grapples with both issues in her efforts to right her world, which has gone haywire. She’s bedeviled by the fear of fat, even though she’s well within the bounds of what would have been regarded as normal weight a quarter century ago. Her husband’s thinner, younger mistress has put her on notice that she no longer measures up, somehow—is it that she’s not a size zero?
She has also begun to wonder about the limits of privilege, even as she throws herself, black AMEX card in hand, into “retail therapy” to cope with betrayal and disappointment in her 30-something body, her marriage and her career. She has all that privilege can buy: a late-model ‘bimmer’, designer goods, pampering, an elite education, and a multimillion dollar portfolio that survived the “Great Recession.” Yet, like the rest of us, she’s pressed to confront her vulnerability by things beyond her control, personal and political.
“Cry me a river,” you might say. “She’s rich, too rich.” Maybe she is. She fought about that very issue with her ex-husband, who was never satisfied with their riches. But there are folks all over the world saying the same thing about all of us Americans, seen as “rich” because we can take for granted clean water, flush toilets, heat, AC and refrigeration. And omg, our grocery stores are food palaces that would have been envied by kings in earlier centuries!
Our riches also extend to health care and welfare systems, as well as systems that provide for public safety, national defense, elections, and the rule of law. None are perfect by any stretch, nor are they equally accessible to all. But they do make it possible for us to go about, day-to-day, in a bubble of privileged civility.
Yet think how fragile a bubble is. As Jessica’s fight for her life turns into a knockdown, drag-out, physical battle she sees how thin the layer of civility is that enshrouds her privileged life. How thin is too thin, in that sense, too? Thin or not our protective bubble is there—for now. Jessica turns out to be a tough cookie, outwitting and fending off her assailants. When our privilege is put to the test, I only hope we’re all as tough and resourceful as Jessica Huntington.
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