Economics

What Will You Do When You Get Rich?

And other questions my wealthy friend asks

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My rich friend, Berlin, grows tired of my writing about income inequality. She worries that I have internalized poverty into my sense of self.

“What are you going to do when you get rich?” she asks, and she’s not kidding.

“Nothing. I’m always going to be poor,” I answer.

“No, you won’t. You need to think about how your life is going to change once you start making money.”

She still believes America is a meritocracy.

She was raised to believe that people amassed wealth because they (or their forebears) earned it through hard work. The flip side was that anyone without money didn’t have it because they didn’t bother to work for it.

She has always had plenty of money without ever having to work for it, and it’s difficult for her to understand why others can’t spend money in ways she takes for granted.

I do give her credit for trying, and having me as a friend has opened her eyes about how other people live.

We met several years ago through a former colleague of mine, and she’s truly my biggest fan.