News Roundup: The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Poor Rich Kid

So 50%-75% of The New York Times has always consisted of articles about how being rich isn’t as easy as it used to be, what with flying commercial to Nantucket and not being able to get your kids into the college of their dreams. Still, never before have the interwebs devoted so much bandwith to the plight of the downwardly mobile.

The Times has a truly fascinating article about the creepy Schoppe twins, a pair of overachieving Princeton juniors who are finding themselves shut out of the i-banking dream:

They live together and take all the same courses, wear identical necklace rings given to them by their grandmother and share the same goal — the kind of high-energy, high-paying job on Wall Street that recent generations of Princeton students have seen as their birthright…

First they have to get there. Despite being in the rigorous Operations Research and Financial Engineering program, they are still struggling to land interviews for summer internships amid the financial meltdown. “I’m committed to pursuing this until the last person says, ‘No,’ ” said Christine (I think). Her sister agreed.

If it doesn’t work out for you, Schoppes (and let us say: if there is a God, it won’t), you can always stay at home and eat rice and beans. We’ll even take you to a museum.

Slate had its own sob-story by a girl who once dreamt of being a writer:

My small but helpful trust fund lost 40 percent all at once, and then another 20 percent, leaving me, practically speaking, destitute. I suddenly needed something more than an Internet writing job (Internet writers need trust funds) at the exact moment when there were no jobs. Either that or a man of means

But where would we be without MTV? True Life is having a casting call:

True Life: I Can’t Afford My Lifestyle

Were you living large but hit hard by the current economic situation? Did you have a pimped out crib and now have to downsize? Has you new financial status affected your relationships because you can no longer play with the high rollers? Are you dating someone who had it all, but find yourself disappointed to have to swap five course entrees for five dollar footlongs? Do you feel that you can’t possibly give up the life you worked for, but are left with no other choice? If you have answered ‘yes’ to any of these, then MTV would like to hear your story. If you appear to be between the ages of 17-28 and can’t afford your lifestyle and would like to share your story please email us at Lifestyle@mtvn.com. Please include a your name, your story, a phone number and a photo.

If MTV were doing this for an episode of Made, we could totally be the lifestyle “coaches.”