Can a wealthy family succeed if the community of which it is a part, the country of which it is a part, fails miserably? A wealthy family is often likened to a tree, perhaps a silver beech, which grows for 100 years or more. But what if the roots go deep into soil that has been leached of all nutrients? What if the roots go as deep into darkness as the leaves into light? No tree lives alone. No man is an island. No family is a fortress. When a wealthy family accumulates the many kinds of "Capitals," financial power, political power, intellectual power, and, say, the power of example, what good is any of that if the family has no sense of civic responsibility? Are such families not oligarchs to be quenched, and quelled, or like a big tree felled, lest they too become to big to fail, too connected to jail?
Ladies and Gentleman, to take perpetuation of family dynasty as your summum bonum, is no matter how often you quote Chaucer, and no matter how often you say journey, and no matter how many defrocked priests go with you on the trip, and no matter how preppy your family legacy, is morally, spiritually, and intellectually bankrupt. That we as Trusted Advisors so often dare not say so makes us no less culpable.
So said I, in Wealth Bondage last night, in our dinner theater, dressed in rags, surrounded by America's Wealthiest Dynasts, gathered for Moral Instruction. They took it as my boss intended, as Farce, and tossed me me dinner rolls, the first square meal I have had since the homeless shelter closed due to Austerity. So it is working.
It's true, a wealthy family really can't stand on their own.
Posted by: Spencer Hale | November 03, 2011 at 05:59 PM
Even a bankruptcy attorney needs an edge.
Posted by: Phil Cubeta | November 03, 2011 at 07:47 PM