walking through the rich neighborhoods of st. louis is a good reminder that this country has huge pockets of extremely wealthy people who basically leave no footprint on the nation’s culture

The mega-rich have no country. Their fortunes are not tied to any one place, and they could have a nearly identical lifestyle in just about any global city.

They leave the footprints on the necks of the poor

Nor do they wish to. Mixing with the common folk is so frightfully...common.

A bit niche to be fair, but when St Louis rich guy Rex Sinquefield isn't giving money to right-wing political causes he basically funds the entire American chess scene. The St Louis Chess Club is now the clear center of American chess, which wasn't the case before he put a bunch of money into it.

Jamelle, I once asked friends to name an artform that had developed in a prosperous democracy and the only one they could think of was jazz, and one would have difficulty arguing that Black people in the 30s were benefiting from wealth and enfranchisement.

God, Ann Arbor, Michigan is fascinating for this because there's a city that has cultural footprints and yet there's another half of it which is just invisible rich people with no connection to the other Ann Arbor.

like deliberately or just because they're vapid?

how dare you disregard the cultural impact of rich streets rebranding as "Candy Cane Lane" every December and setting up a donation booth to help them afford their xmas lights

Except to help keep the rest impoverished.

Once upon a time, they at least left a few cigarette butts at national monuments but with the advent of vaping, they don’t even do that.