Ego

My late-brother used to tell me "we" were better than other people. He'd take me aside at a party or in front of his friends and whisper to me, "We're better than them; we're smarter than them, it's in our blood."

Before you dismiss my brother's arrogance, you have to realize what he was doing. The "friends" he was showing me we're typically either extremely well off i.e. trust fund kids, a few parents too or would be some day. It's not like I worshiped them -- I didn't -- but as teen, I had no self esteem, and my brother thought I loved money too much, loved what we didn't have. We were working class kids that had managed to class jump into the social circles of the lower rung of the upper class. Okay, rather he managed to class jump, I was just the little brother enjoying the ride. So, I wonder if he really believed what he said, or was he just trying to build me up. Probably a bit of both. Turns out the blood thing is not that far off base either, but intelligence I am coming to find does not equal wisdom.

I miss my Machiavellian brother, more than you could ever know.