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Why Did Wealth Stop Building Beautiful Things?

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Why will they leave no glorious libraries, cathedrals, parks, or artworks behind? And why do they spring up and then disappear, creating no great family dynasties? In this article, we explore why wealth in modern times is so often fleeting, corrosive, and incapable of translating into lasting beauty — and what all families (wealthy or not) can do instead to create an enduring impact… Reminder: you can support us and get tons of extra content for a few dollars per month. You’ll get: New, full-length articles 2x per week The entire archive of content (150+ articles, essays, and podcasts) Membership to our bi-weekly book club (and community of readers) We are currently reading Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the Ring” in our book club. The next meeting is Wednesday, December 3, at noon ET — join us! In their 2023 work ‘The Missing Billionaires’, Victor Haghani and James White noted that today’s rich are not successful at preserving the one thing you would expect them to be: their wealth. The

Why Did Wealth Stop Building Beautiful Things? An era of impermanence The Culturist and Johann Kurtz Nov 19, 2025 2,224 121 445 Share New York’s Old Penn Station, demolished 1963 Why are the wealthiest men of today seemingly incapable of building beautiful things? Why will they leave no glorious libraries, cathedrals, parks, or artworks behind? And why do they spring up and then disappear, creating no great family dynasties? In this article, we explore why wealth in modern times is so often fleeting, corrosive, and incapable of translating into lasting beauty — and what all families (wealthy o

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