The early death of George Vanderbilt was one of many steps along the road of the family’s decline. According to the guidebook, he died in 1914 because of “complications from an appendectomy.”

The family runs a massive tourist operation at the Biltmore to earn money to maintain the estate, restore various rooms to their original states and, presumably, to rebuild the family fortune. According to the Biltmore’s guidebook, this operation provides jobs for 1,800 employees.

Surely this country would be stronger if those 1,800 were making or producing something new rather than maintaining one family’s cultural artifact. On the other hand, and whatever the family’s motivation, those jobs are real.

The extravagantly rich, it is true, have more money than the rest of the 99 percent, or – as in the Vanderbilt case – at least they do for a short time. But visiting the Biltmore reminded me that reality simply is much more complicated than a “the 1 percent” versus “the 99 percent” narrative allows for.

Here’s the interesting question: Why do so many of the so-called 99 percent visit the Biltmore?

Nick Capo, associate dean and associate professor of English at Illinois College, writes as a public scholar and private citizen.