THE RICH: Are They Different?

A rather idle little discussion which is only a footnote to Lundberg's overloaded The Rich and the Super-Rich (said to be booming); where Mr. Lundberg is belligerent and cantankerous, Mr. Kirstein, the former editor of The Nation is benign; where Mr. Lundberg is often suspect, Mr. Kirstein seems no more reliable drawing, as he does, often from his own observations or experiences (""While I am digressing, I hope the reader will forgive me for using another account of a personal experience to rebutt Veblen's theories,"" etc.). His subtitle is substantiated in the first chapter: the rich are different in that they can always enjoy an untroubled state of mind, free of economic worries. And except for a minimal legacy of guilt and fear, they are equally happy and stable. Hereditary wealth does not promote idleness and ""unfruitful leisure""; the self-enriched (more by borrowing than saving) are hard strivers; as a class, they have no political power (Mr. Lundberg will bellow); and as for rich women, they're content to fulfill their natural destiny producing little rich ones. . . . Mr. Kirstein makes these small points at rather great length; one he's overlooked--it takes more than money to make money when writing about it in such a lustreless fashion.