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When I was in college, I knew one of the more remote heirs to the Seagram's fortune. I don't know if his father was a billionaire, but they were extremely rich.

When I was in college, I knew one of the more remote heirs to the Seagram's fortune. I don't know if his father was a billionaire, but they were extremely rich. This guy turned out OK professionally. He didn't have to work, but he found something he wanted to do, and it fulfilled him. I think the company he started did well financially, too. But his brother. This guy could not attach himself to anything. On one hand, he really hungered for something to absorb him. On the other hand, he seemed to think: what's the point? I'll never earn a zillionth of a percent of what I'm inheriting. He asked me about what I did, and I explained software development. He was immediately very interested, asked lots of questions, asked if he should retrace my steps (BASIC, punch cards, ... -- this conversation was many years ago). And then he never followed up. Years later I heard that he married a vegan (many years before that was a thing), and became quite zealous about veganism.

Balgair 8y ago
I've been going through some German history recently, specifically Prussia and the Junker class. One theme that really sticks out, relative to our modern times, is the relations between the nobility and the military. Time was, the scions were always in the chain of command. Throughout post-Roman European history, the 2nd and 3rd sons of landed nobility would commonly be in the officer classes. The 1st Crusade was mostly lead by these 2nd and 3rd sons trying to grab some land for themselves. The flag of South Carolina has a crescent in the corner, possibly due to all the 2nd and 3rd sons that came to the Americas (a crescent is common in the personal heraldry of such nobles and kinda became a 'thing'). The military was one outlet for these men that had the upbringing, the education, the nutrition, and the cache, but were unfortunate in the order they came out of some woman's womb. ROTC at the Ivies has been effectively excommunicated since 1970 or so [0]. Though we no longer have these primogeniture issues, we still have all these young men and women, these scions of industry and politics, that haven't a chance at making fortunes like their parents have. They can't be 'normalized' into their 'family offices' and fortunes. It's very similar to the issues the Europeans faced with their children and the issues about land and money. Maybe some of the issues that we have today could be ameliorated via a stronger use of the military as a place where these scions could be, well, dumped. Bring back ROTC at Princeton? Yes, I know, you can't have them anywhere near the actual command of people. But you could dump them into 1st Lieutenants and have them shit-n-stink with the regular people of our country. Get them roughed up, dirty, and friendly with the regular citizen. Get that gold leaf rubbed off them. Look at Donny's kids, for example. They've taken to hunting and big game very well. It's not too dissimilar to military life. [0] Actually, as usual, it's complicated : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_ROTC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_ROTC EDIT: Another good example are Princes Harry and William. Though they are actual nobility, they do provide a good example for the current era.
- hkmurakami 8y ago
  10 years ago Princeton had ROTC. Had a few friends going through it.
  - Balgair 8y ago
    Managed to find some data on ROTC programs in the Ivies: > There were 122 Navy ROTC midshipmen spread across six Ivy League campuses in 2016, compared to 53 at three Ivy League schools in 2011, according to Navy data. There were 42 Air Force ROTC cadets in the Ivy League in 2016, compared to 28 in 2011, according to Air Force data. The class of 2016 at Yale includes 10 Navy midshipmen and four Air Force cadets out of 1,300 graduates. [0] Lets assume that the growth in ROTC members will carry forward at this rate. That means that the Ivy class of 2023 will have about 300 ROTC members across 8 schools, or about 35 per school. At about 1300 students per school, that's ~1 in every 40 students, give or take. So, about 1 in every other classroom. In looking at other universities, that's about the same. It's hard to find numbers, but it's easy to find pictures. Most of the formation photos have about 30 or more people in them (per service branch). So, though the current batch of scions in power isn't the most ROTC and military active, it does seem that these Ivies are getting to parity with the rest of the country, in terms of service. [0]https://www.ivycoach.com/the-ivy-coach-blog/ivy-league/rotc-in-the-ivy-league/ https://www.ivycoach.com/the-ivy-coach-blog/ivy-league/rotc-...
- geophile 8y ago
  Another rich person story: I came across a copy of Worth magazine once. This is aimed at the top 0.1% of the 1%. Ads for jets, watches that cost 6 figures, etc. There was an article about the four kinds of rich kids, helpfully arranged from golden child to train-wreck. Just above train-wreck is the child with "other serious pursuits, like being a doctor or raising a family". Such a child will still need to engage with the family business, maybe on the board of directors.

Balgair 8y ago

I've been going through some German history recently, specifically Prussia and the Junker class. One theme that really sticks out, relative to our modern times, is the relations between the nobility and the military. Time was, the scions were always in the chain of command. Throughout post-Roman European history, the 2nd and 3rd sons of landed nobility would commonly be in the officer classes. The 1st Crusade was mostly lead by these 2nd and 3rd sons trying to grab some land for themselves. The flag of South Carolina has a crescent in the corner, possibly due to all the 2nd and 3rd sons that came to the Americas (a crescent is common in the personal heraldry of such nobles and kinda became a 'thing'). The military was one outlet for these men that had the upbringing, the education, the nutrition, and the cache, but were unfortunate in the order they came out of some woman's womb. ROTC at the Ivies has been effectively excommunicated since 1970 or so [0]. Though we no longer have these primogeniture issues, we still have all these young men and women, these scions of industry and politics, that haven't a chance at making fortunes like their parents have. They can't be 'normalized' into their 'family offices' and fortunes. It's very similar to the issues the Europeans faced with their children and the issues about land and money. Maybe some of the issues that we have today could be ameliorated via a stronger use of the military as a place where these scions could be, well, dumped. Bring back ROTC at Princeton? Yes, I know, you can't have them anywhere near the actual command of people. But you could dump them into 1st Lieutenants and have them shit-n-stink with the regular people of our country. Get them roughed up, dirty, and friendly with the regular citizen. Get that gold leaf rubbed off them. Look at Donny's kids, for example. They've taken to hunting and big game very well. It's not too dissimilar to military life. [0] Actually, as usual, it's complicated : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_ROTC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_ROTC EDIT: Another good example are Princes Harry and William. Though they are actual nobility, they do provide a good example for the current era.

hkmurakami 8y ago
10 years ago Princeton had ROTC. Had a few friends going through it.
- Balgair 8y ago
  Managed to find some data on ROTC programs in the Ivies: > There were 122 Navy ROTC midshipmen spread across six Ivy League campuses in 2016, compared to 53 at three Ivy League schools in 2011, according to Navy data. There were 42 Air Force ROTC cadets in the Ivy League in 2016, compared to 28 in 2011, according to Air Force data. The class of 2016 at Yale includes 10 Navy midshipmen and four Air Force cadets out of 1,300 graduates. [0] Lets assume that the growth in ROTC members will carry forward at this rate. That means that the Ivy class of 2023 will have about 300 ROTC members across 8 schools, or about 35 per school. At about 1300 students per school, that's ~1 in every 40 students, give or take. So, about 1 in every other classroom. In looking at other universities, that's about the same. It's hard to find numbers, but it's easy to find pictures. Most of the formation photos have about 30 or more people in them (per service branch). So, though the current batch of scions in power isn't the most ROTC and military active, it does seem that these Ivies are getting to parity with the rest of the country, in terms of service. [0]https://www.ivycoach.com/the-ivy-coach-blog/ivy-league/rotc-in-the-ivy-league/ https://www.ivycoach.com/the-ivy-coach-blog/ivy-league/rotc-...
geophile 8y ago
Another rich person story: I came across a copy of Worth magazine once. This is aimed at the top 0.1% of the 1%. Ads for jets, watches that cost 6 figures, etc. There was an article about the four kinds of rich kids, helpfully arranged from golden child to train-wreck. Just above train-wreck is the child with "other serious pursuits, like being a doctor or raising a family". Such a child will still need to engage with the family business, maybe on the board of directors.