Creative Class, Clothing, and Wealth

(posted by David) A snapshot of life in the creative economy from the WSJ's Wealth Report Blog. How to Spot a Rich Person: "Identifying the rich used to be fairly simple: They dressed, talked and looked a certain way. They had iconic last names like Hutton or Hearst or Phipps, often with Roman numerals at the end. Today, wealth has been democratized and individualized, and the rich come in all ages, shapes, sizes and ethnicities." According to a Jaguar salesman, "It used to be if someone walked in with jeans and a T-shirt I could ignore them or ask them to leave. Now that guy could be a billionaire. You have to be nice to everybody these days."

Comments

[Jon Husband]

Boy, do I ever dislike the "you have to be nice to rich or powerful people" meme that seems to have infected north America lo this past decade or two.

I live in Vancouver. We have Loto 6-49 ads up on billboards out here (as is probably the case in Toronto as well). How bizarre and pathetic is it that there are ads with phrases like "Of course I don't mind changing your baby's diapers" or "Of course I'll pick you up at 4 a.m. to take you to the airport".

We may be living in a more creative culture, but we are also increasingly living in a culture of sycophancy to the rich and of the adoration of money. This can't end well.