Would you rather be rich and stupid or poor and smart?


I was reading the Features section of The Courier-Journal today; Angie Fenton's "The Buzz: News & Nonsense" had an item about Paris Hilton. Ms. Hilton is being sued by Zeta Graff for libel; the illustrious Ms. Hilton allegedly planted a fake story in the New York Post to embarrass Ms. Graff.

Ah, such is the life of the rich and famous, who too often have little to do but behave like morons. Ms. Hilton's statements from the (leaked) court transcripts reveal her finite knowledge of the world: Paris says she didn't know that London is in the United Kingdom. Madame also believes everyone in Europe speaks French, and she cannot remember some of her friends' names.

How enlightening about the dear girl. I don't know whether one should laugh or cry.

I consider the woman an utter pathetic joke, but I didn't consider her stupid before I read this item about her.

I will not generalize and label all jetsetters like her as stupid, but I wonder if it's not so much stupidity as it is just being so full of themselves and selfish that they've tuned everything out that doesn't affect their decadent, privileged world. Surely somebody like Hilton was educated. I like to credit people with intelligence, but sometimes it's just impossible.

This is much worse than Jessica Simpson's famous "Is it chicken or tuna?" question. Unless one actually reads the Chicken of the Sea can label, it would be possible to confuse what manner of beast lies in the can. When I was a very young child, I wondered about that, too.

I doubt Hilton's and Simpson's intellectual dullness has anything to do with them both being blonde, either, as the article half-jokingly hints.

Obviously, not all rich people are stupid, and not all poor people are smart, but I'm now curious: If you were given the choice between being rich and stupid or poor and smart, which would you choose?

I would choose being poor and smart, because despite the poverty, being smart still leaves lots of potential for life and changing one's poverty.

Which one would you choose?