Sparkling world.

Editor,

Being rich is pretty good. You get to do a lot of silly things that cost a lot of money, some of which can be quite amusing.

The greatest danger for a kid growing up in an affluent bubble is to assume quite naturally later in life -- because kids assume that everybody else's family, neighborhood, and life works pretty much like their own -- that people who are not as well off as they are have failed somehow, have something wrong with them, or do not deserve a better life because they haven't earned it.

I have seen this a lot in my life: gloating over other people's failures, or an unforgiving attitude toward people who grew up with lousy schools, are caught up in the criminal justice system, or stuck in dead-end jobs.

I am not saying it is an either/or. It is more of a tragedy. Affluent families can spend lavishly on silliness for their kids. Why not? And their kids grow up in a silly, lavish world. Better laughing than crying, I say.

But somewhere along the line today's kids will have to confront the enormous injustices and inequities in this world, and they are indeed gigantic. I hate to see another generation of rich people who do not think too much about or feel any sense of responsibility for the poverty that holds their sparkling world above the dirty swamp of misery so many people live in so that money and power concentrate at the top.

Re: "After a Spa Day, Looking Years Younger (O.K., They’re Only 7) " (1/3/2015)