Responsible Privilege: A Rambling Rant?

I've been spending a lot of time thinking, lately, about what it is about our culture that makes us do what we do.  There has been a lot of analysis lately in the blogosphere about this Ivy League/Prep/WASPy culture.  Most of the time, they are looking at the outward characteristics of this/these groups.  But very little time is spent analyzing the dominate character traits. That's why I like Aldrich's article so much.  He uses the superficial outward appearance to describe what is going on inside of us.

From my experience, the most admirable (some would say foolish) quality about our culture is a very high level of optimism.  We take it for granted that we are going to be around for a long, long time.  Even if we, as individuals, pass away, we take it as a given that our line will stay right where it is for generations.  This is why we invest in property and possessions that will outlive us (and why we are less likely to "waste" our money on short-term investments and items).