This is another contribution to my practice on Saturdays to run articles about our fellow citizens of the One Percent (actually .01 of the 1%, or one out of every 10,000 of us) hoping that by doing this that we don't lose touch with their world and their concerns--you know, to promote understanding. It is important that we become better acquainted so that we can serve them better and make it easier for them to carry out the daily burden of making important decisions, decisions which affect whether we go off to war in foreign lands to kill their enemies, if we have jobs, if we live in a home or under a bridge, if we can afford their health care services, education, etc.
Unfortunately, for some reason they tend to hide their lives from the rest of us behind walls of secrecy, literal walls of guarded gated communities, private clubs, esoteric publications, by traveling with private jets, etc. We should not let that deter us.
You may have been reading recently about the ravings of some of our rich people and have wondered if they are suffering from some mental disease. Fortunately we have a scientist that can help us understand them. His research has found that being rich often tends to isolate people and can cause several kinds of personality disorders.
Studies by Keltner and others have shown that rich people are less likely to share money with a partner or feel empathy for starving children. They are more likely to take candy from a baby.So, the next time you run into such a person--of course, this is unlikely because of their isolation--I think you should go out of your way to be friendly to them. Invite them to your home or out to a local bar for drinks. I'm sure this would make them much nicer people.
[parody]
