Osama Bin Laden....was also a "Rich Boy"

          http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/osama_bin_laden/index.html?scp=8&sq=Rich%20Boy%20&st=cse

         My search for information on the release and public perception of the novel, *Rich Boy*, coincided with the overwhelming onslaught of media frenzy over Osama Bin Laden's death.  Typing "rich boy" into the search engine actually yielded results about Bin Laden's upbringing.  Although his wealth is not surprising I learned that he was born into one of Saudi Arabia's most affluent families, wealth that he later used as an adult to finance major terrorist attacks carried out by Al Qaeda.  In reading our most recent novel and in hearing about the past of one of the most evil figures of my own time,  I began to contemplate the concept of conspicuous leisure that many of our protagonists strive for or attain.
         In the novel Robert frustrated me;  his attempts to forge an entirely new identity in an upper class setting suggested his distaste for where he came from.  As he rises socially he begins to believe that being well endowed financially will somehow be fulfilling.  His dissatisfaction with his life as a child and young adult leads to his struggle to be someone and something more, which to him means becoming rich.  This gives him a sense of purpose, although it does not appear to give him very much satisfaction in life as he decays morally.  Osama Bin Laden is a severely emphasized case of the dangers of the idle rich.  Born with money, he too may have sought more purpose in life and his moral degeneration was advanced by a privileged life-style.  Throughout the course our novels have exemplified the dangers of wealth, and the evils that can take hold of affluent people.  Bin Laden is an excellent reminder that this sort of evil exists in real life.  Not everyone donates their millions to starving children in Africa like Oprah or Angelina Jolie.  Some dedicate their wealth to the mass murder of innocent people.  Many even make their millions from child labor, drug trafficking and human trafficking.
          This sort of corruption begs the question, what is it that we are striving for when we seek wealth?  There are people like Robert who are in the early stages of corruption and seeking empty goals, but eventually that can and does develop into people like Bin Laden who seek goals formed by an entirely warped perception of morality.  What do we hope to gain by becoming rich?  At first it might be the large house, the nice cars and the designer labels on our clothes.  However, for many this is not enough.  These material items become commonplace and unsatisfactory and what's next then?  What will be a person's new goal in life?  Feed the starving children?  Build the underprivileged a school?  Or finance massive terrorist attacks that shock and devastate human-kind?