# Rich people are better than the rest of us? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416 "2003-09-09T00:31:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/21 "2003-09-09T23:13:57Z")
I’ve never known anybody like who I’m talking about here. Not closely, anyway. But I can see how a person who’s never had to scramble and claw, or screw other’s over, to succeed could be superior in human qualities to most others. It’s easy to say “That which doesn’t kill you makes you strong”, but in my experience that’s BS. People who haven’t had to struggle seem nicer, in general, than those who really have had to. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/22 "2003-09-10T03:31:50Z")
America doesn’t have blooded aristocracy, but does, I think, have a yearning for it. Humans have an intristic need to find something which sets an individual apart from the rest of mankind and makes them “better.” In the United States, bloodlines matter little unless you’re a racehorse. There are too many millionaires to make merely having money a sufficiently exclusive club, so the concept of “Old Money” was developed to create a smaller social class. ---
**Author:** ![karomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@karomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karomon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/23 "2003-09-10T05:42:54Z")
My family came from money. Old money, too - the European nobility kind. Castle and all. I wasn’t born early enough to see any of it, but my mother was. Most of the money was lost during the Soviet takeover of our country, and from that point on, my family was middle-class, if such a thing existed. When we immigrated to the US in the late 80’s, I was seven and we became poor. So now - it seems to me that, in my family, the earlier a person was born, the higher his/her sense of entitlement. There is a feeling that you _can_ have everything you want - why shouldn’t you? Even though we were often having financial problems, my mother considered it a given that we would go on European vacations, to Italy or Germany or wherever we wanted to go. And when our situation improved a bit, why not hop over to England for the weekend? This seems like it would be really bad and irresponsible, but it was actually a wonderful thing to do. I grew up truly believing that I could go anywhere I wanted and do anything I wished. This sense of entitlement, believe it or not, helps very much in gliding through life. I will make the claim that people who come from old money are _generally_ smarter than their poorer counterparts. I don’t mean to say that they work harder in school, or that they study better - just that when the parents are well-educated, as old money often is, and they have tons of free time to spend with their children, or, if they prefer, enough money for a tutor or governess, the children just tend to know more than the average kid entering school. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/24 "2003-09-10T12:51:25Z")
As Scott Fitzgerald once said(believe it was in “THE GREAT GATSBY”)…“the rich are like you and I…only, they have more money”! ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/25 "2003-09-10T18:05:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by verbenabeast \* > \*\*Give me the NEW rich… _THEY_ accomplish things for themselves… I tend to think “old money” families have a great ancestor… who probably wouldn’t care to much for his/her progeny. \*\* A few years ago Congress was considering getting rid of the estate tax. A number of Fortune 500 folks said they should keep it. ‘I worked hard to get this rich. I want my kids to have to work hard too. I don’t want a dynasty of people who do nothing but live off their inherited wealth’. The self made rich do have qualities most people don’t. Dave Thomas and Henry Ford are almost total opposites. But both had the vision, drive, and self control to found companies and turn them into massive successes. Or look at Herbert Powell and Mister Burns. Reduced to nothing, both were able to build new fortunes. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/26 "2003-09-10T18:36:36Z")
Have you seen _The Osbournes_? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/27 "2003-09-11T01:24:25Z")
F. Scott Fitzgerald said “the rich are different from you and me.” He did not say, “they have more money”, a common rejoinder. The book shows just how different. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” Seems to describe the snot nosed kids at Hollywood High, no? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/28 "2003-09-11T22:51:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr\_Paprika \* > \*\*F. Scott Fitzgerald said “the rich are different from > you and me.” He did not say, “they have more money”, a common rejoinder. The book shows just how different. > > “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” > > Seems to describe the snot nosed kids at Hollywood High, no? \*\* And other people _do_ clean it up, don’t they. But I don’t think many of the kids I’m talking about go to Hollywood High. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/29 "2003-09-12T00:42:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by karomon \* > \*\*I will make the claim that people who come from old money are _generally_ smarter than their poorer counterparts. I don’t mean to say that they work harder in school, or that they study better - just that when the parents are well-educated, as old money often is, and they have tons of free time to spend with their children, or, if they prefer, enough money for a tutor or governess, the children just tend to know more than the average kid entering school. \*\* It sounds more as if these people are better _educated_, not necessarily _smarter_. IMHO, money has nothing to do with a person’s innate intelligence or IQ. IMHO, no qualities really have that much to do with a person’s wealth or lack thereof. After all, by what criteria are we judging “better”? Success? Okay, then you have to define success. Is success having the most toys when you die? Or is it having loved, lived and enjoyed one’s life to the fullest (and I’m not saying that the two are mutually exlusive). Toys? Again, you have to define toys, the person who’s not making much but who is relaxed and relatively stress free because he doesn’t have some long existant “family duty” imposed upon him from old money, isn’t his stress free time spent with family, kids and the simple pleasures “toys” in a manner of speaking? And so on and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/30 "2003-09-12T01:54:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CanvasShoes \* > \*\*It sounds more as if these people are better _educated_, not necessarily _smarter_. IMHO, money has nothing to do with a person’s innate intelligence or IQ. \*\* [This](http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/960160.asp?0sl=-44) study revealed that: > [@](#): > > Now a groundbreaking study of the interaction among genes, environment and IQ finds that the influence of genes on intelligence is dependent on class. Genes do explain the vast majority of IQ differences among children in wealthier families, the new work shows. But environmental factors — not genetic deficits — explain IQ differences among poor minorities. > > \ > > “This paper shows how relevant social class is” to children’s ability to reach their genetic potential, said Sandra Scarr, a professor emerita of psychology now living in Hawaii, who did seminal work in behavioral genetics at the University of Virginia. > > Specifically, the heritability of IQ at the low end of the wealth spectrum was just 0.10 on a scale of zero to one, while it was 0.72 for families of high socioeconomic status. Conversely, the importance of environmental influences on IQ was four times stronger in the poorest families than in the higher status families. Even an exceptionally bright child can lose interest in learning if he or she is not encouraged. ---
**Author:** ![karomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@karomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karomon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/31 "2003-09-12T01:55:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CanvasShoes \* > **It sounds more as if these people are better _educated_, not necessarily _smarter_. IMHO, money has nothing to do with a person’s innate intelligence or IQ.** But innate intelligence and IQ only go as far as, say, three years in determining how “smart” a person is. Outside stimulation plays a huge role in the development of a child’s mind, a much larger role than anything the kid is born with. So, yes, I agree with you that rich kids are not born any smarter than poor ones, but that’s not really the point. The point is that rich kids are usually _raised_ smarter. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/32 "2003-09-12T04:26:43Z")
Expectations, huh? I guess there is something to that. That, and the availability of assistance for the low-achieving child. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/33 "2003-09-12T04:32:58Z")
And to define “better”? That’s hard, but I think **Dr\_Paprika** maybe nailed it. It’s largely a matter of who makes the messes versus who cleans them up. Like pornography; “I can’t define it, etc”. ---
**Author:** ![Planet\_of\_the\_Shapes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Planet\_of\_the\_Shapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Planet_of_the_Shapes)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/34 "2003-09-12T15:45:32Z")
Surely if rich people are better than us we should just dismantle our democratic systems of government and hand them the reins of power? After all, would you rather have a normal person, or a better person ruling you? Better people will produce better decisions. In fact, taking this idea a little further, we could divide up the poor people and assign them to rich people. The rich people, being better, should make all the decisions for their assigned poor people. This would probably have to have some basis in law of course, maybe saying that the poor people are bound to their assigned rich person. I don’t know why we bothered to get rid of the feudal system in the first place, its now obvious to me its the best one. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/35 "2003-09-12T19:40:12Z")
Alas, **Planet** , if only it were that simple. Trouble is, there are all these middle class and sorta rich between the elite and the poor. And the elite are just better, not perfect. Good plan, though. The feudal system failed because the rich abused their poor people. That’s why we need democracy. And Liberals. Don’t the people 0f the UK revel in the idea that the Royal Family are their betters? ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416/36 "2003-09-12T21:25:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Antiquarian \*I live in an affluent part of New England where Old Money is considered about as old as the Rockefellers and Carnegies. Bah. Mere _arrivistes_, purely _noveau riche_ nobodies. They don’t have a single estated among them that they’ve even held continuously for a mere 400 years. How on earth can _that_ be called “old money”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-people-are-better-than-the-rest-of-us/200416.md?page=1)