"Old money" vs "New money"

[ingemann]

I think people set up the wrong dichotomy between new and old money. Yes there are differences, but it's not in charity or some sort of civil mindedness as people suggest. The difference is how they look at wealth. New money tend to see money as their personal wealth, while old money tend to see it as the family's money. This mean that new money will often use the money as they see fit, while old money will see a duty to leave something to their descendants.

Of course there are also practical difference, new money often have better access to their fortune than old money, who often have their money bound up in things, which it's hard to get them out off. So Old money will often show their wealth in more subtile ways than new ones, as they can't pull out the pure quantity of money out to display wealth as new one can. Of course also old money do not have tradition at just throwing the money around, as they wouldn't have become old money if they did that. Another aspect is that their ancestors have already build their "grand palaces" and monuments.

So why do old money have a better reputation? Simple because they often don't work, so they have a lot of time on their hand, what better way to use that time on social projects. It serve to give the family a good reputation, while also it make a bunch of rich, bored and fundamental unemployed people feel good about themselves.
New money, on the other hand, are still working and don't have the time to waste in charity work.