"Look around and see if the same isn't true in your town."


                  In my town it works like this: there are a number of people who have inherited wealth, and took what they had and worked with it and did well. There are a number of people who inherited wealth, or married it, and engage in sideline events like improving a piece of property, from time to time, and they seem to do all right if they don't get reckless.
                  There are a whole lot of people who work their collective asses off every day of the week, and don't have anything and probably never will because they never had anything to start with.
                  And there are a few lottery winners like the folks you describe above.


                  I think you can divide modern American history into two parts: before Ronald Reagan and after Ronald Reagan. Before Ronald Reagan you had a lot better chance of making something of yourself through hard work and ingenuity. After Ronald Reagan, the only thing that mattered was money.