Now that it’s officially autumn, and even the sun-worshippers among us are being forced to accept the inevitable, it seems timely to celebrate the season. Herewith, we share our inside information on how the luxury class plans to spend this fall.
Traditionally, luxury was considered to be the height of seriousness. The lofty price points seemed to necessitate a sober mien and a clear head. There’s nothing funny about spending serious amounts of cash on something that strictly speaking you could easily live without. So for many years, I didn’t think that humor had any place in the luxury milieu. But then I had a little epiphany.
One thing you can count on in terms of the luxury class: elites love to be the first to discover the next new thing. There’s rarely a dinner party when someone is not describing his/her foray into some gritty place, replete with the requisite whiff of the unknown the air, in pursuit of the best meal, the rarest scotch, that jazz ensemble that you just have to hear live, the nightclub of your dreams. The luxury of exploration and discovery, and the attendant bragging rights, are one of the joys of being wealthy.
It’s probably apocryphal, but it is said that Ernest Hemingway told F. Scott Fitzgerald: “the rich are not like you and me.” Implying that the woes and satisfactions of the wealthy are beyond the comprehension of the rest of us. Which raises the question: are really rich people happier than everyone else? Or do they have problems and worries, but different ones than the hoi polloi?
Talk to them long enough, and you’ll hear an interesting undercurrent running through the conversations of many highly wealthy people: despite the bravado that many project externally, internally they feel quite vulnerable. They are deeply concerned with security, and with minimizing their dependence on outsiders or on the government for anything related to the health and safety of themselves and their families. With all due respect to John Donne, some people want to be an island unto themselves, and they have the means to make it happen.
