West Egg: big enough to crack East Egg

I was sitting down talking to my cousin, Kirk, on spring break, who told me all about his road to success as a businessman.  Much like Gatsby, Kirk came from virtually nothing and worked all he could to get where he is today.  Starting off with completing three paper routes in the morning, then mowing lawns, then bagging groceries, and eventually working at a coal mill, he did everything he could to save money to get through college at Michigan State on his own.  Now Kirk lives what many would call "the dream" in the US virgin islands.  However, much like Gatsby, Kirk, even in his slice of paradise in the middle of the Caribbean continues to work tremendously hard.  This idea of making your own way in the world through hard work, the American dream, is one increasingly more relevant today.  In Forbes' 400 richest persons list of 2013, out of the 400 billionaires listed, 273 of them were self-made billionaires, and the remaining 127 of them were heirs to their fortune.  Unlike in The Great Gatsby, it seems like new wealth is just as equally respected these days.  Oprah came from nothing, and she is now one of the most well-respected and wealthy people on the planet.  In this way, old wealth and new wealth are not separate, competing factions, but instead just wealth.  On the topic of progress through history for our upcoming final in our American Studies course, I would argue that the notion of new wealth being as respected as old wealth has made great progress over time.  From what I can tell, from my cousin and from many of the new, self-made members of the world's top 5% , new wealth is indeed equally respected.  Does it hold true to your experiences as well?  Leave some thoughts or comments.