Woman Furious Her Billionaire Brother Hasn't Offered To Help With Her Disabled Daughter
Should she even have to ask?
Alan Moes | Pexels "With great power comes great responsibility," as Spider-Man famously told us, and in these times, money is the greatest power there is. Sadly, as we've all witnessed, those who have the most of it are frequently the ones with the least interest in using it for good.
A woman online is caught in this situation with her brother, who, despite extraordinary wealth most of us can't even fathom, hasn't offered to help her with a profoundly difficult situation. As a single mom with a disabled daughter and medical debt, this mom can't wrap her around around the fact that her brother sticks his head in the sand when it comes to the reality of her life.
The woman is hurt that her billionaire brother won't help her with her disabled daughter.
The woman wrote into the Washington Post's "Asking Eric" advice column for insight into how to handle her situation, because her brother's lack of interest, let alone assistance, has left her baffled. At 55, she makes a reasonable income, but it is eaten up by medical bills for her daughter, who is disabled.
"Things go well for a while and then a crisis occurs, and she is back in the hospital accruing large medical bills," she wrote in her letter to the "Asking Eric's" advice columnist, R. Eric Thomas. "I do everything I can to economize. I drive a 20-year-old car, buy my clothes at the 99 cent Goodwill sale and own a very modest home."
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But it's no match for the constant accrual of medical debt, which is a staggering burden for most parents of disabled children. One study found, for instance, that parents with a disabled child are 19 times more likely to have high medical bills and medical debt than others.
Despite all her struggles, her billionaire brother has failed to notice, or notice much of anything, where she's concerned, in fact. "We live in the same town, but we haven’t seen each other since my mom died," she wrote. "We never had a harsh word or anything. I think he just hangs around with a different class of people."
It's left her feeling stung by his silence as she tries to navigate the extraordinary burden of her life. "I just feel very sad that I have a brother who is so wealthy and never thinks about helping me," she wrote.
"He uses a private jet when he flies, takes fantastic trips, vacation homes all over the country," she said. "I just wish with all his money; he would offer to help me pay off some of my medical bills. He does know I am struggling."
People with extraordinary resources have a responsibility to help others.
Yes, there are nuances, yes, there are people who take advantage, and yes, there are people who have arrived in their terrible circumstances by their own hand. Every situation is a little bit different, and there are myriad scenarios in which "helping" someone just enables them.
But it is incredibly strange that we have a sort of cultural acceptance of the notion that someone with more wealth than a human being could ever spend in multiple lifetimes doesn't necessarily owe anyone anything, and even stranger that we applaud a billionaire when they do actually bother.
It's to a point where Taylor Swift is held up as "the world's first ethical billionaire" simply because she pays her employees generously. The bar is in the basement for what constitutes something applause-worthy when it comes to the wealthy. It is bizarre and, frankly, sick.
For Thomas' part, he cautioned the woman that just because her brother hasn't offered doesn't mean he's unwilling, which is certainly true. He also pointed out the simple truth that asking for help, of any kind, is one of the most vulnerable things we have to do, especially when the stakes are this high. It's often the fear of getting a "no" that keeps us from even asking.
Still, for a brother to know his widowed sister is drowning in the costs of his niece's medical care and not offer to share some of his exorbitant resources to help is unjustifiable behavior, enabled by our society's worship of not just money, but the people who have it as somehow more special, deserving and relevant than the rest of us. We should all stop acting like it's normal.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
