A great take on why American kids are so spoiled

The New
Yorker has a story — Why Are American
Kids So Spoiled? — with a great take on
American kids… not all of them, I know.

The exception are the kids who have nothing. But for a
vast majority of Americans who have some disposable
income, the “stuff” our kids have rivals the aisles of
major toy retailers.

With the exception of the imperial offspring
of the Ming dynasty and the dauphins of pre-Revolutionary
France, contemporary American kids may represent the most
indulged young people in the history of the world. It’s
not just that they’ve been given unprecedented amounts of
stuff—clothes, toys, cameras, skis, computers,
televisions, cell phones, PlayStations, iPods. (The market
for Burberry Baby and other forms of kiddie “couture” has
reportedly been growing by ten per cent a year.) They’ve
also been granted unprecedented authority.”

Sally Koslow, former editor in chief of McCalls wrote “our
offspring have simply leveraged our braggadocio, good
intentions, and overinvestment.”

There’s a new term. Overinvestment.

Something to think about.