the essence of the superrich is absence

Poem: "Slum Lords" by John Updike, from Americana: and Other Poems. © Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.

Slum Lords

The superrich make lousy neighbors—
they buy a house and tear it down
and build another, twice as big, and leave.
They're never there; they own so many
other houses, each demands a visit.
Entire neighborhoods called fashionable,
bustling with servants and masters, such as
Louisburg Square in Boston or Bel Air in L.A.,
are districts now like Wall Street after dark
or Tombstone once the silver boom went bust.
The essence of superrich is absence.
They like to demonstrate they can afford
to be elsewhere. Don't let them in.
Their riches form a kind of poverty.


The superrich make lousy neighbors...
Thay are never there; they own so many other houses, each demands a visit...
The essence of the superrich is absence.
They like to demonstrate they can afford to be elsewhere.
Don't let them in.

Ok, now it has already been said:
Wealth is freedom to be absent.
If I can afford to be elsewhere, I am wealthy.

Down on Bradford Street, I am very wealthy,
very free to be absent. But by my willingness to absent myself from 31st Street,
I am wealthy there too.

Brandon says that he does not know anyone else who is not financially burdoned: his parents, his parents in law, he and his wife are all living week to week or in debt. His parents in law used to have money, but they baught a huge house then Aaron's dad lost his job.

I like being rich. Like my freedom to be absent. And I want to tell others that it is possible to live within your means. The secret is to know when you are spending on more than you need and be willing to go back to basics: be glad for a roof over your head and drinkable water, some food to eat and clothes on your back. If your clothes are dirty, you are ok if you have a way to hand wash them.