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RE: More wretched excess from D'agostino

Posted by RGA (R) on November 11, 2021 at 00:34:27

In Reply to: More wretched excess from D'agostino posted by Mike K on November 3, 2021 at 09:36:15:

The thing is that if you didn't have toys for the rich then what would be the point of being rich?

Let's say you decide to be a lawyer for Big Tobacco and you get an ulcer for defending such a horror show of an industry - but the pay is so incredible - you can buy a private jet and a dozen D'Agostino amps and 12 Bughattis etc. The high pay is a rich man's Tums. Until you might realize that none of it really makes you happy. Then what - the whole system teaches people that they should desire consumer goods.

If you are wealthy you could buy a $75 Timex the guy working at Walmart buys but isn't the point to make him envy you? You buy a Rolex. Then when you go to Hong Kong and realize that Rolex is a mainstream cheap watch that almost anyone here can buy you then go to Patek Phillipe. Those poor guys who can only spend $10k on a watch lol - Paeons.

One thing about Audio that is separate from all these other pricey hobbies is the fact that it is in your house - it isn't showy like a watch or a car. And if the average Joe comes to your place they probably won't care or notice the stereo.

The question one must ask themselves is whether you feel envy for the people who can afford such toys - "If I won the lotto I would buy the same things" or that it is not envy but frustration that the money could have been put to better use.

There is a psychology to consumerism that people have been programmed with since near birth. If I buy this - I am somebody - the brand makes me a somebody. I saw this in South Korea - a guy at work was always asking me about how his new expensive sunglasses made him look and he would date women and ask how she looked on his arm - Everything was about how he presented to the world.

Whether that is wearing $50,000 worth of gold chains, Women with diamond rings of whatever carat that will impress their friends - having the right LV bag, driving the right expensive car, etc.

To a degree, I think everyone has a blind spot on this somewhere.

My girlfriend wanted me to taker her to Hong Kong Disneyland for our 2 year anniversary of dating. So I did - a female friend said to me that I was lucky I wasn't dating her because she would expect at least a thousand dollars worth of jewelry.

As I get older I am slowly just accepting the fact that people have their different values - the friend has been married to her guy for about 10 years they have a child. They live in a penthouse here and are paying nearly $4,000 a month and pay for a full-time live-in maid and their income isn't really such that they should be doing something like (she makes less than me and her husband makes less than her). But they are the center of things and host parties for others etc.

Other guys here live in pretty crappy apartments and then I walk through their parking garage and it's all top-of-the-line Mercedes, BMW, Lotus etc. They can show off in their car - their home is a dirty old pile of crap - but hey - up to them.

I scratch my head and think that is not the way I would do it but like I say - it's their money - they can do whatever they want with it. You get one life on this blue ball and if buying those amplifiers will bring them some joy so be it. A lot of people find joy in consumerism.

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Schiit Audio

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