Economic considerations

The page-long column by P.J. O’Rourke in the May 21 issue (“The rich shouldn’t be having so much fun”) was an absolute disgrace. Hasn’t he anything better to do than pen drivel like this? His background, as outlined at the end of the article, looks impressive. But I failed to see any of it manifested in his article.

For him, you’re either rich or poor and that’s it - all else is mere commentary. Is he utterly oblivious to degrees of wealth, degrees of poverty, or that “poorness” is invariably traceable to poor or bad choices made fairly early in life? The decision to marry and have children is almost always made when young. How many stop to consider that marriage, home, hearth, family can be and is a frightfully expensive proposition? Moreover, nothing else in this world immobilizes you more.

I am 76 years old. I have never married and had a family simply because I never felt I had the financial resources to properly support/sustain such an enterprise. I consequently was able to save a little more of what I earned and am today living comfortably in the family home inherited from my parents (both deceased - had a younger sister, she’s gone too), not rich, but as I said, relatively worry-free. I only hope it lasts for a while. Life is built upon such a fragile structure that we can easily go from rich to poor or vice-versa. O’Rourke seems utterly oblivious to such basic considerations.

Dennis Roberts

Spokane