For the vast majority of people, entering the world of the uber-rich comes as a shock. Sure, we see movies, tv shows and read books about the uber-rich, but actually finding yourself inside their world is terribly discombobulating. It’s such an incredibly seductive place, if there’s any chance that you can stay, very few people will walk away. Like most people, Thomas does whatever it takes to stay. Clarence Thomas does not need wealth to stay inside that world. He has something that money cannot buy. There are only nine seats on the supreme court and Thomas has one of them.
Anita Hill warned the nation; Clarence Thomas does not have the character necessary to resist the temptations power would put before him. Anita Hill was right. She told us the truth. But we did not listen and now we must pay the price. My mother made us watch the Clarence Thomas hearings and I remember her saying, “we will rue the day we did not listen to that woman” (Anita Hill). I remember thinking my mother knew what she talking about. Like Anita Hill, my mother worked for rich and powerful men. I didn’t know it at the time, but Mama’s stories about the men she worked for, prepared me to walk into the world of the uber rich, then turn around and walk out without a second thought. When I was young, I remember the pull of temptation. I also remembered my mother’s stories. For all the pretty things the uber rich own, and all the things they can do for you, their culture is really ugly. It really is best to leave.
My best friend’s mother was extremely wealthy (complete with mansions, vacation homes, servants, plane, yacht you get the picture). Susie tried, G-d how she tried, but she could not break her mother’s grip. Forty-eight years after we met, my best friend died of liver disease. Susie had been an alcoholic since we were fourteen. Susie drank to get away from her mother, to punish her mother, then punish herself. Such is the mind of a poor little rich girl, raised in a Catholic boarding school where the uber wealthy send their children.
It behooves us to remember that Clarence Thomas is trapped – a man in golden chains. He let himself get in too deep. He cannot just walk away. Deeply infected with arrogance and a sense of superiority, Thomas believes he is untouchable, beyond reach. He may be right. Americans worship the uber-wealthy.
