Poor Little Rich Girl

Eva Rausing

I just read the partial obituary on Eva Rausing, the fabulously wealthy American wife of the Rausing fortune.

Note how the "fortune" is defined like a living thing. In America we worship wealth. In fact, we all pursue wealth as the single highest indicator of success. Once a few of us get it, many of us mess it up!

The United States, is the most materialistic nation on earth. This has been proven empirically by countless studies, surveys; etc.

We worship the rich and famous, no matter what their essential character. If a person acquires wealth, no matter how, they have automatic status. Even if they are scoundrels, we give them homage; Charlie Sheen, Donald Trump; etc.

And, in the American status game, the rich are praised for how hard they work, or worked to get what they have, even if they never have worked a day in their lives. We assume hard work created all wealth.

Polls show that President Obama's attacks on the top 1% of "wage earners" in the United States are problematic. Many middle class citizens resent such attacks on the rich, because "they worked hard to get it"; or "they are an example of what I aspire for"; "hard work gets you ahead".

In short, we worship the rich for their alleged work ethic.

Eva Rausing is a good example. She was born to huge wealth and married into one of the richest families on the planet.

It is interesting that the Rausing wealth came from the invention of a milk carton. The family got super rich because of a milk carton; one of real social advances of our age.

Eva's rich husband had nothing to do with that invention by the way, he was born into his family's wealth. Eva had nothing to do with her wealth either. They both were born rich.

Eva met her husband while trying to break her lifelong addiction to drugs. She "fought" her addiction for years, was busted four years ago while trying to smuggle drugs (for personal use), was not punished, and finally, predictably died of a drug overdose.

Her obit, written by her family, puts what you expect, a positive spin on her death. It remarks that "she worked tirelessly" on anti-addiction efforts.

She, and her husband, evidently gave millions to various philanthropic causes; including addiction programs. In fact, one of the C.E.O.s of such an addiction program, remarked how selflessly she worked to cure addiction.

In others perhaps! And "Tirelessly"? Really? What she probably did was sign checks, that went to addiction treatment. If she would have worked tirelessly, she would have got better. She didn't. But, note the myth, how hard she supposedly worked. She never worked! We just assume she did.

Addiction is a disease. It is very difficult to treat. Addiction is not a crime, it is a physical and psychological illness.

But, like any illness, it requires the patient to become actively involved in its cure. It is hard work!

Every study I have read on alcoholism states that the addict cannot recover, until they admit they have a problem, and even hit bottom, where death looks them in the face. And then, they must work at it every day to stay sober. And the work is hard, and it is unforgiving, and it is soul breaking.

Resisting the "need" for a drink, consumes many alcoholics until the day they die. You must work at it, and even then, some who work really hard, fail and relapse.

But for the super rich, it is even more of a challenge. Because the middle class in this country mindlessly worships wealth, rich addicts can do about anything they want. The rich are given countless chances, will never lose everything to addiction, so many don't get well.

Charlie Sheen leaps to mind. He even has done a commercial, in which he stands in front of a train, causing a massive train wreck, then walks directly toward the camera and says, "Life gives you limitless chances".

He should say, "life gives us rich guys" endless enabled chances.

For the rich. But for the poor addict, the wino on the street corner, endless chances are pretty small. In fact, zero would be the amount of chances they get.

The vast majority of poor addicts, after family enabling, run smack into the criminal justice system, that tries to reform them by punishing them. And, the resulting felony record, ends their "chances", leaving them homeless, and jobless, almost guaranteeing they will relapse.

And then there is Charlie and Eva, who relapse hundreds of times, buy their way out of any punishment, and we worship them for it.

Whitney Houstan is DEAD. Eva Rausing is DEAD. And Charlie Sheen, unless he gets well, will also be prematurely DEAD.

Death is the end of every addiction that is not treated. Premature death is the end for every addiction period. Recovered addicts, especially to tobacco, can never erase the damage done to their bodies. My mother was part of a large family, whose life expectancy was in the 90s, and died prematurely in her late 70s. She smoked for forty years. She died of emphysema.

The majority of the super rich have never worked a day in their lives. Eva certainly did not. Her and her husband, were born into wealth, got hooked on drugs as teenagers, and had absolutely, as Charlie Sheen remarkably states, "endless chances".

And those "endless chances", killed Eva.

And THAT is killing America. Everyday, our criminal approach to addiction, our one strike and you are done, creates more doomed addicts. And, our mindless worship of rich addicts, creates a culture of enabling that dooms ALL addicts.

Addiction is not easy to treat. True addicts relapse. But endless relapses, must be enabled. Wealth enables addicts. Families enable addicts.

We enable addicts!

Only tough love, and of God too, by the way, can begin to the heal the addict.

And Love, is the one thing all the money on earth cannot buy.