If you want to know what God thinks of money," said Dorothy Parker, "just look at the people he gave it to." Well, God's still on the job. The wealthy of our period are a great disappointment. Narcissism, greed, pride, self-indulgence, vulgarity, hypocrisy, and arrogance are not the problem; those come with the bank account. The problem is that today's rich are doing too little with their narcissism, greed, pride, self-indulgence, vulgarity, hypocrisy, and arrogance. A great fortune provides its holder with that rarest of luxuries, a chance to bring outlandish dreams to life. To astonish.

(Personally, I'm happy to see a little philanthropy instead, but the point is taken.)