“God’s will. Good genes. Blue blood. That sort of thing. It’s ludicrous, of course, but it happens with unnerving frequency. And always ends the same way. Each generation more entitled than the last. Lazier than the last. More interested in ski vacations in Gstaad than in bettering the family’s fortunes. Entitlement breeds laziness, which in turn breeds decline. But of course with enough money, it is possible not to notice for decades that your family name is gathering dust. One day you awake to discover that the last member of the family to accomplish anything of note died before Kennedy.
