Recently, I received an email concerning what I’ll call “the management of friendship.” The sender’s inquiry went something like this: I have a couple of longtime friends whose company I enjoy. However, they aren’t as attentive to their finances as I am. When we go out for dinner or drinks, they order and spend without … More The Best of Friends
We often read about how rewarding and important it is–personally and professionally–to go against the grain, blaze our own individual trail, and stand out from the crowd. Conformity is seen as surrender, the absence of courage, the acceptance of the status quo. Some people think that it signals a lack of independent thought or originality. … More Reconsidering Conformity
I’m delighted to let all of you know that the second video I did with Tom Miler of M Publishing in Poland is now online. (Some of you have already seen the video and congratulated me. Thank you again.) Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/RGjVyxxFHVM Among other things, Tom and I discuss the concept of having a … More Old Money Video #2
A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles. The novel has subsequently been adapted for the screen, premiering March 29, I believe, on Paramount+/Showtime, and Canal Plus for those of us living in France. I will finish the book before watching Mr. Ewan McGregor in the lead role. The story follows the life of a Russian … More What I’m Reading Now
I’m always inspired by articulate, informed, and enlightening writing, especially when we’re talking Old Money and its values. Lady Colin Campbell, aka Georgia Arianna, is an author, television personality, and socialite, is probably as qualified as anyone to comment on the subject, and the excerpt below testifies to that. Serena, one of our loyal and … More Lady Colin Campbell Talks Old Money
It is not uncommon to read about the fading influence or outright disappearance of the White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) in public life. The acronym is now archaic (WASP values, habits, and lifestyle are less often referred to in terms of ethnicity and religious denomination and more often referred to now in terms of ‘preppy’ … More The Death of the WASP
I am busy watching a Netflix documentary on Liliane Bettencourt, the heiress to the L’Oréal fortune and someone who is described as the richest woman in the world. Early on in the first episode they state that Madame Bettencourt is worth thirty billion Euros. Quite obviously, a very considerable sum. They also mention, and simulate … More From David, Our Foreign Correspondent
As the new year begins, we inevitably consider changes we can make in order to improve our lives in the 12 months that follow. One strategy I’d like to introduce is one of ‘participation’. If we choose, we can consciously elect to participate in something…or not participate in something. The subjects of such contemplation can … More Participation
It’s a grammatically butchered term, and I’m sure sociologist and psychologists have a more technical or clinical label for it. However, regardless of what we call it, it’s a behavior pattern that is easy to recognize: acting out in public like a teenager. Like someone who’s in high school. Like someone who is probably old … More The High-Schoolization of Society
In the introduction of The Old Money Book, I talk about the scenario of two people who receive a financial windfall. One person handles the inheritance poorly. The other person handles the inheritance well. It may surprise you to know that many people, not just the wealthy, are going to receive an inheritance or some … More Anatomy of a Windfall