

Because you can’t buy old money. You can only be born into it.
It’s about pedigree of birth. It’s the American version of being nobility.
Plenty of European nobles are broke, but they are still nobles. and therefore better than you.
It’s about being superior to other people.
I went to Harvard. I have known and interact regularly with a lot of old money people. I’m middle-class, but I talk fancy due to my education, so I can pass sometimes, esp in casual settings.
But once they figure out that I’m not old money like them, they are utterly disgusted with my existence.
And a lot of old money people, look middle-class. They drive Priuses, they have jobs, they dress pretty plainly. , The difference is though they vacation in places you’ve never heard of and they own homes there, and unlike you, their salary is fun money, they don’t need it. They tend to take a lot of jobs in arts, non-profit, education, etc that most middle class people think are too low paid to have a good life on.




whatever job they want.