from today's "Today's Paper's," from today's SLATE: >A big development in 80s and 90s journalism was the press's unabashed >idolatry of rich people. But now apparently, the media >doesn't just adore these folks--it feels sorry for them. Yesterday's LA >[TIMES] front had a lengthy takeout on the recently discovered tragedy >known as "sudden wealth syndrome." Billions can, it seems, bring the newly >rich "a sense of isolation, uncertainty and imbalance--as if they had been >teleported into an alien world that was very pleasant at times but still >completely strange." And today's [Washingon POST] runs a "Style" profile >of Red Hat cash-out Marc Ewing and his wife Lisa Yun Lee, which along the >way details the conscience pangs Lee is suffering: while she was finishing >up her thesis on neo-Marxism at Duke, she bought herself a new BMW, but >driving it to campus made her feel "disjointed." Solution--she parked it >three lots away from campus. I am willing to be in an experiment to test the "sudden wealth syndrome" theory. If everyone who reads this were to send me $10 (US), I could see if I suffer from "a sense of isolation, uncertainty and imbalance." Seriously, those who win big at the lottery are known to freak out as a result. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://liberalarts.lmu.edu/~jdevine
