_______________CRYING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK BY MICHELLE GOLDBERG (10/29/97)
	Michelle Goldberg's article about the problems of trust-fund babies is downright disgusting. Yes, trust-fund babies should feel guilty about being the recipients of unearned fortunes. They should be working to help those who are less fortunate than them. Maybe instead of concocting lame descriptions of what they do for a living, they could substitute something like, "I run a charity," or "I am a philanthropist." And then actually do it. And all it would take is lifting up a small pen and writing out a large check or two. How difficult, how stressful that must be. The paucity of values that so many talk about these days is most evident here with the rich, a point never made by the likes of Bill Bennett and his cronies. Those who worship the almighty dollar impart that worship and no other to their progeny. The concept of noblesse oblige is lost on people like Bill Gates and most of his obscenely rich compatriots on the Forbes 400. There certainly was no avalanche of giving after Ted Turner's announcement of his U.N. gift. Their listing, their position, is seen as a badge of honor. A listing on the Forbes 400 should be a scarlet letter, not a plaudit. We should laud those who help others, not themselves. Making money is essential to capitalism, but keeping it in a personal horde is not. The hypocrisy is that the Republicans (which most of the rich are) believe that giving money to the poor demotivates them from being productive members of society, but when faced with the same situation with rich kids and inheritance, they exacerbate the situation by lowering estate taxes. Empathy for the rich? Feh! -- John Kirk
_______________CRYING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK BY MICHELLE GOLDBERG (10/29/97)
	I was shocked by Michelle Goldberg's article on the trials of wealth. I sat for 10 minutes after reading it just staring at nothing. I still cannot believe it. Got too much money? Call me. I'll give you a list of worthy charities. None of them will benefit me or mine. The problems of being rich are not sympathized with because they are easily solved: Give up enough money to no longer be rich. The rich know this. They are unwilling to part with their obscenely high standard of living. It is this which causes them guilt. To be righteously indignant about the assertion that the rich should feel this guilt, and to compound this by self-pity angers me. -- Steve Coffman SALON | Oct. 31, 1997

R E C E N T L Y+| AN OPEN LETTER TO CHINA'S JIANG ZEMIN

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