Last night I was going through my purchases from my trip to the US and came across a DVD of the film “Born Rich.” It is a fine little film and worth your time. (Link )
It seems that Jamie Johnson IV is an heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune. He is also interested in film and interviews his rich friends. Each one is screwy to one point or another. But each has a heck of a burden. What do you do with your life if you have enough money to do anything you want?
How much money are we talking about? One kid is in line for twenty billion-with-a-B dollars. Yikes.
He shows us a little of their lives. He talks about how his grandfather was swindled out of millions by a gold-digger. He shows how his father, unable to work at J&J for family/political reasons, adopted an idle life of oil painting.
What do these young people want to do? Rise above their wealth. Be someone, be indispensable. WIll they do it it? Hard to say. Being someone requires a lot of work, and they cannot be forced to work if they don’t want to.
Do they deserve sympathy? Perhaps a bit. Is it an interesting story? You bet.