Why Rich People Are Boring

As de Tocqueville noted in his book Democracy in America, the only form of recognized virtue in the USA is wealth. The more you have, the more virtuous you are presumed to be. This is why the USA is the only nation on Earth in which books with titles like Why God Wants You To Be Rich are catalogued in the non-fiction section instead of firmly alongside works of parody.

The problem is that being rich tends to make a person very, very boring.

Here’s why:

Most of us have to struggle with real life, which is often unfair and unkind. We have to solve practical problems in order to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. We have car payments and medical bills to meet, we have relationship issues, and we’re always constrained in the choices we can make. We have to use our brains constantly in order to try to keep everything going.

Rich people can simply pay for their problems to disappear. There’s always a lawyer or a fixer or a concierge on call who, for enough cash, can solve whatever crisis or mere inconvenience the rich person may be facing. Thus their brains atrophy. They also have no meaningful personal relationships because pretty much everyone in their lives including their spouse is in it for the money.

Rich people become very tedious. Lacking anything substantial with which to occupy…