I'm starting to feel sorry for rich people. They're not allowed to buy nice things because that is just obnoxious showing off, and now they're not allowed to spend their money on education, retirement, and healthy food? Maybe the author should stop bearing around the bush and just tell the rich off for being rich!
The new, subtle ways the rich signal their wealth
21–30 of 59 posts
Re: The new, subtle ways the rich signal their wealth
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
"having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way." That seems like exactly the word to use for self perpetuating inequality to me...
And what's the alternative? Should people make a conscious decision to be less educated, less healthy, and less prepared for retirement?
The alternative is to tax the rich (gasp!) and provide good education and health care for everybody.
Re: The new, subtle ways the rich signal their wealth
#23This article is an archetypal example of raw, unpasteurized Crab Mentality. More focus on healthy behaviors and education? God forbid!
Re: The new, subtle ways the rich signal their wealth
#24> More profoundly, investment in education, healthcare and retirement has a notable impact on consumers’ quality of life, and also on the future life chances of the next generation. Today’s inconspicuous consumption is a far more pernicious form of status spending than the conspicuous consumption of Veblen’s time. Spending money on education, healthcare, and retirement is pernicious? Self-perpetuating, perhaps, but p…
"having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way." That seems like exactly the word to use for self perpetuating inequality to me...
You're expressing the Harrison Bergeron impulse born from the pathological elevation of equality-of-outcome as an ultimate terminal value.
People get different outcomes, and it's "unfair", and if we can't lift someone up then we'll damn well hold someone else down to make it "fair", even if it benefits nobody to do so.
This is why equality-of-outcome is a harmful impulse. (And it's mostly just raw envy with a layer of lipstick slapped on anyway).
Re: The new, subtle ways the rich signal their wealth
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
And what's the alternative? Should people make a conscious decision to be less educated, less healthy, and less prepared for retirement?
The alternative is to tax the rich (gasp!) and provide good education and health care for everybody.
How is that an alternative? Both can and should co-exist.
Edit: that is to say, yes, I'm in favor of taxing the rich and universal healthcare. I don't see how enacting those policies would be an alternative to people investing their resources in improving their own lives in ways that are harmless to society at large, if not beneficial.
Re: The new, subtle ways the rich signal their wealth
#26Reading "The Economist"? Talking to vendors at organic farmer's market? Breastfeeding? (Not that there's anything wrong with that). All of these signal middle class more than anything else. The rich people I know display the following marks of belonging: 1) the ability to make a call and solve any petty problem they have (forgot to take a prescription to the pharmacy? Make a call, and the medicine will be released an…
In your example with a phone call and a pharmacy, how would that work (the exact mechanism)? I assume that you imply that this is happening in a first-world country, of course.
Re: The new, subtle ways the rich signal their wealth
#27Reading "The Economist"? Talking to vendors at organic farmer's market? Breastfeeding? (Not that there's anything wrong with that). All of these signal middle class more than anything else. The rich people I know display the following marks of belonging: 1) the ability to make a call and solve any petty problem they have (forgot to take a prescription to the pharmacy? Make a call, and the medicine will be released an…
In your example with a phone call and a pharmacy, how would that work (the exact mechanism)? I assume that you imply that this is happening in a first-world country, of course.
Switzerland. I don't know and they don't tell :) But probably he has called his concierge or family office, who called his family doctor, who told the pharmacist to release the medicine on his behalf.
Re: The new, subtle ways the rich signal their wealth
#28So, people are status conscious.go over to overcoming bias.com and read it from the master Robin Hanson. Every thing we do is based on stay.including pretending to care about inequality
Re: The new, subtle ways the rich signal their wealth
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
"having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way." That seems like exactly the word to use for self perpetuating inequality to me...
Would you rather everyone be uneducated and poor as shit? Honestly, this is such an insane sentiment. Things are getting better for everyone! Increased focus on health and education is obviously a good thing for society; you have to have some seriously fucked up priorities if you think jealousy is a reasonable objection to that fact.
You've strawmanned me into a black & white cartoon character, sufficiently that my views can be labelled "jealous", "fucked up", "insane". That is way out of bounds for HN.
Recognizing the flaws in a system is not advocating tearing it down, or even shifting direction.
For instance, you can simultaneously believe that the carbon emissions of countries lifting themselves out of poverty will be an ecological disaster, while also cheering them on because the alternative is a permanent human tragedy.
If the mere suggestion that there are problems with the inequality capitalism brings is enough to kill your civility and launch you in to a tirade, I'd suggest taking a step back and avoid commenting on the topic here.
Re: The new, subtle ways the rich signal their wealth
#30As a non-American and occasional visitor the most obvious class distinction is Teeth. The American middle-class have great looking teeth, bought and paid for. What's funny is they talk about other countries having bad teeth, ignoring the fact that all you have to do is walk into some other neighbourhood and see all the bad teeth you want...