This was a jaw-drop moment this morning:
The "Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America" found luxury spending would rebound for the first time in three years, led by purchases of automobiles, services, travel and children's clothing.
But the online poll of 1,900 households with an average annual income of more than $235,000 by American Express Publishing and Harrison Group showed 94 percent still believe the United States is in recession.
The households surveyed between January and April represent 10 percent of Americans and 50 percent of all retail sales.
So they believe we're still in a recession but the 10% who own most of the wealth can now spend more money on luxuries. It gets better -- this is where my irony meter shattered:
And this pride had led to happiness among the rich, with 71 percent saying they are happy, up from 40 percent in 2007.
"It's because they didn't know they could survive something this bad," Taylor told the Luxury Marketing Council of New York on Wednesday. "They have got competent, they have gotten close to their family, they have self-esteem from their ability to handle a crisis."
"Happiness is now the abiding object of affluent American life, not success," he said. "They're really happy with their ability to operate under pressure."
So they've managed to insulate themselves against the worst effects of their own excesses and they feel good about it.
And since they own the people who should be calling them to account, they can go on living in their little bubbles.
I'm speechless.
Fortunately, Dylan Ratigan is not: here's the way the rich got to feeling so good about themselves:
Update:
There's a linkage here to the political violence that is an ongoing fact of American life but is once again in our faces. Read >this from Esquire, and then wonder how much of the wealth that's being spent on luxury goods -- because, after all, these people deserve they're pretty things -- could be used to help someone. Like maybe someone whose life they've screwed up.
And then ask yourself how much money someone like Rupert Murdoch is making from this.
2 comments:
I can imagine how terribly difficult it must be to feel good about yourself if you have only $235,000 to live on each year. Why, that's hardly enough to keep your daughter in shoes, much less send her to Switzerland for finishing. And don't forget the expense involved in kitting the boy for varsity lacrosse and crew. Yikes!
That $235,000 a year is a floor -- it's not even an average.
And the way they make their money, for the majority, is indicative of their attitude toward everyone else. I'm so happy they feel good about themselves.
They truly are the Parasite Class.
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