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Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

robkhenderson.substack.com

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Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#311

Post by pclmulqdq »

mozman wrote: post #187
AlbertCory wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a fake "Rolex" in Thailand, for $10. It actually didn't work very well. I guess there's a hierarchy even among the fake.

I bought a $400 fake rolex. Aside from the glass not being sapphire you cannot tell the difference visually

Is the escapement running at the same rate? A big part of the "rolex" appearance that is very hard to copy is the 8 ticks per second that the second hand goes through. I have seen very high quality Rolex copies before that don't do that, and are instantly recognizable as a fake to people who know a little bit about watches.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#313

Post by osigurdson »

sangnoir wrote: post #257
osigurdson wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. Wow, look at me, I now have a cushy (soul crushing) job at the city just like my slightly wealthier neighbour. All life goals checked off now.

I knew you were someone who could afford to "ignore" social cues. I used to think the tech-type was not like that until I observed some common threads, at lest in the Bay Area (driving an EV or planning to buy one - likely a Tesla, Patagonia vests, loves to hike, has an Apple watch)

Gorpcore

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#314

Post by ejb999 »

ipaddr wrote: post #215
steveBK123 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. To me, a $500k unnecessary renovation throws more money away than a $70k vs $40k car. At least with the car you are likely getting safety features and extensive sensor suites for driver assist for the money, that have tangible impact on your driving experience. Or Spending 5-10x on a $10k appliance where a $1-2k one would do. These people tend to get the whole set, so it's a good $30-40k worth of kitchen app…

500k or 500m in renovations will increase the value of the property. A car is worth 20% less the day you drive it off of the lot and keeps losing value. Having freezer space can save you thousands of dollars in food.

of course it will, but spending 500K in remodeling, doesn't mean the house is necessarily going to be worth 500K more - it might, it might not.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#315

Post by Glyptodon »

Tarq0n wrote: post #261
helen___keller wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> wearing a $2k Rolex or driving a $70k BMW is frowned upon. But instead they have eccentric "hobbies" requiring $10ks of of equipment, inclusive of "needing" $10k viking stove/range, and $10k subzero fridge/freezer in your kitchen because you are a "foodie" […] Isn’t this conflating status signal with lifestyle? The wealthy have always enjoyed expensive lifestyles and hobbies. In and of itself, expensive hobby equip…

A sociologist would tell you that there is no such thing as a lifestyle which isn't a performance of one's status.

I think there are some people who are fine with exhibiting themselves (and their status) as they are without it being performative.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#316

Post by pclmulqdq »

331c8c71 wrote: post #63
steveBK123 wrote: post #47

"An example from Ogilvy Vice Chairman Rory Sutherland: If you’re a top executive, turning up to work on a bicycle is a high-status activity because it was a choice and not a necessity. But if you work at Pizza Hut, turning up on a bike means you can’t afford a car." This tidbit reminds me of a similar anecdote (that my experience aligns with) re: the modern upper class that wearing a $2k Rolex or driving a $70k BMW i…

>$2k Rolex I thought the cheapest Rolex is substantially more expensive. Am I wrong?

New Rolex watches are more expensive (around $6k I think), but the Rolex to happy meal ratio is lower than it has ever been.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#317

Post by steveBK123 »

xyzelement wrote: post #282
steveBK123 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. To me, a $500k unnecessary renovation throws more money away than a $70k vs $40k car. At least with the car you are likely getting safety features and extensive sensor suites for driver assist for the money, that have tangible impact on your driving experience. Or Spending 5-10x on a $10k appliance where a $1-2k one would do. These people tend to get the whole set, so it's a good $30-40k worth of kitchen app…

I dunno. We recently bought a house where the kitchen had been recently renovated. I don't know if our appliances are super high end but they are definitely on that side, and it makes the kitchen feel great. We probably wouldn't spend as much time in it otherwise. So let's say that kitchen cost 40k (I have no idea)...but lasts us 20 years. That's 2k a year for a very enjoyable part of our house, probably the most use…

Again you are talking a $40k renovation, I am talking $500k renovation.

$40k for a kitchen is on the order of magnitude of getting all your appliances reasonably up to date, plumbing/fixtures, electrical and cabinetry/countertop refreshed, without anything being exotic or luxury. The bare bones one could probably refresh everything in the kitchen has to be easily $20k, so the incremental "above bare minimum spend" here is only $20k and therefore very reasonable.

That is a reasonable level of taking something outdated which is hard to market and making it up to date move-in ready and therefore quicker to sell.

To contrast for example in my experience, a Miele dishwasher for $800 washes dishes vastly better than a $400 GE. To the point it is significantly labor reducing. On the other hand, does a $10k subzero freezer/fridge keep my vegetables better than a $2k Samsung?

Most people underestimated how much of their homes value appreciating over the 5-20 years of ownership is purely the land value increases over the long term due to real estate inflation and the relative performance of their local markets. Ie - if all the condos in NYC went up 2x from 2004-2007, mine going up similarly isn't because I put fancy tiles in my toilet.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#318

Post by pclmulqdq »

Gordonjcp wrote: post #285
steveBK123 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely! Not to mention a fully specced out Tesla Model 3 is $80k and Model Y is now.. $90k, and the tax credits are basically gone! I remember getting a pretty well configured Model 3 for $50k after tax incentives in their first year of production. For ~$70k you used to be able to get a Model S, which now STARTS at $105k. Easily configurable into the $130-160k range now.. insane.

> For ~$70k you used to be able to get a Model S, which now STARTS at $105k. Easily configurable into the $130-160k range now.. insane. For a shit car with the interior fit and finish of a poverty-spec Skoda, and all the important controls replaced with a bloody great iPad that blinds you at night. Oh, and it's from an obscenely "techbro" company. Am I the only one not impressed in any sense by Teslas?

No, you're not alone, but they still have a cachet in a certain crowd (the "green" and "forward-thinking" types love them). Hopefully it goes away soon.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#319

Post by nostrademons »

LAC-Tech wrote: post #299
pfisherman wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wearing a suit to a tech company will probably get you ostracized even if you just like wearing suits. Not true. If you are a menswear enthusiast who is genuinely into fine tailoring, then people will respect it and even show interest. Generally, having hobbies and interests adds to one’s character. Now wearing a suit because you think it will make people take you more seriously will get you some side eye.

Which is a shame. Someone wearing business casual is so much more pleasant to the eye than typical sloppy hacker wear. Especially once you start getting older and flabbier.

These are also culturally dependent, and are in-group/out-group signals. Many people in Silicon Valley explicitly want to keep people who believe that business casual is more pleasing to the eye out of their social circles. It's a value judgment; to them, hoodies are more pleasing to the eye, and more comfortable, and they don't want people who believe otherwise in their companies.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#320

Post by yourapostasy »

Gordonjcp wrote: post #285
steveBK123 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely! Not to mention a fully specced out Tesla Model 3 is $80k and Model Y is now.. $90k, and the tax credits are basically gone! I remember getting a pretty well configured Model 3 for $50k after tax incentives in their first year of production. For ~$70k you used to be able to get a Model S, which now STARTS at $105k. Easily configurable into the $130-160k range now.. insane.

> For ~$70k you used to be able to get a Model S, which now STARTS at $105k. Easily configurable into the $130-160k range now.. insane. For a shit car with the interior fit and finish of a poverty-spec Skoda, and all the important controls replaced with a bloody great iPad that blinds you at night. Oh, and it's from an obscenely "techbro" company. Am I the only one not impressed in any sense by Teslas?

> Am I the only one not impressed in any sense by Teslas

I could excuse the drawbacks you cited and the cost if they were the Framework laptop of the automotive world. But at those price points, and a repairability narrative that is not much better than, “out of warranty and one accident away from into landfill”, there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell I’ll buy a Tesla.

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