Luxury Goods Are the New Porn
| January 20, 2009 | Posted by Roshawn Watson under Uncategorized |
By: Roshawn Watson
Conspicuous wealth is coming under a lot of fire lately. Americans are outraged over a decimated economy (and its implications) and the deceptive path that led us here. Together, the transgressions of Wall Street (including unjust gains), real estate lenders, and other creditors has cast such a negative light on excess that flaunting wealth just draws disdain from the masses.
Perhaps the perfect, recent example of this is the 2009 Golden Globes. According to Variety,
Golden Globes gift suite organizers (were) worried that images of celebrities flaunting bags of free swag could rub consumers the wrong way, given the current economy.
The other obvious reason is that many businesses are just hemorrhaging too badly to participate regardless of PR. These gift bags have be reported to have tens of thousands worth of free merchandise, trips, memberships, etc.
Meet the YAWN
Now it is true, many of the wealthy are already frugal. That’s how many of the self-made millionaires (typically small business owners) kept their money in the first place. The classic example of this type of millionaire is the YAWN (Young and Wealthy but Normal). YAWNs typically forego status symbols associated with extravagant wealth and live far beneath their means. On average, millionaires annual realized income is less than 7 percent of their wealth. Moreover, the average millionaire saves and invests at least 20% of their earned income. These wealthy individuals generally don’t get much media attention because they don’t live that extravagantly.
Stealth Wealth
However, there is another segment of the wealthy that would normally have no problem “sashaying down the street with a telltale Tiffany-blue box and an Oval Room dress bag” except for fear of being arrested in the courts of public opinion. Because of the recent
Less Public Consumption Could be Good
Regardless of the motivations, less public consumption could be very good for us all. There is already evidence supporting that frugality is on the rise in America. Still, there is much room for improvement. For example, a disturbing statistic showed that 20 percent of Americans planned to “dip” into savings this past year so that they would not have to cut back on holiday spending. I guess regardless of our net worth, we can still have judgment lapses when it comes to prioritizing our spending.
Nonetheless, if you could no longer see what the “Joneses” had, maybe there would be dramatically less pressure to keep up with them. Perhaps most people would feel less compelled to make unnecessary purchases if such excesses are deemed silly and wasteful. .
I just wanted to point out that even Michelle Obama shops at Nordstrom’s and J. Crew. She often wears outfits that are not out of reach for many American women. I agree, flaunting wealth unnecessarily does not draw admiration and exemplifies poor taste given current economical climate.
Good points!
I think the concept of stealth wealth is fascinating.
Many of these ‘stealthy’ items can actually cost more as they are exclusive brands that only other rich people would know.
Tom, you are completely right. I guess part of the whole luxury experience is exclusivity. If only people in your "inner circle" know, then it is probably more gratifying even if you pay more.