Service

Say what you will about the British royal family, they are willing to serve their nation in ways that most American elites, at least of recent vintage, would never even consider. Seriously, do you think any of the Bush (or Clinton, Hilton, etc. for that matter) progeny would volunteer to go on desert patrols? Yeah, I didn’t think so either.

Now compare that to the House of Windsor, where military service is something of the family business. With the notable exceptions of the Bill Gates, Al Gore, and Warren Buffett, who seem intent on saving the world, America’s wealthiest and most powerful families seem most interested in acquiring more wealth and power. It was not always thus. The Carnegys, Rockafellers, Vanderbilts and Dukes of a generation or two ago tried to do some good with their money. They built universities and hospitals, gave artistic and research grants, and the like. To be sure, a lot, maybe even most, of this noblesse oblige was as ego-driven as any rapper’s desire for the biggest Hummer limo in L.A or Ralph Nader’s presidential aspirations. But so what; you gotta name the school something, it was their money besides, and their efforts often yielded some tangible benefit to the commonweal. They decided to do something other than consume lavishly. I have no empirical data to support any of this speculation but anecdotally, it seems that, among our elites, the impulse to “do good” is not nearly as prevalent as it once was.