Do the Media Hate the Rich?

The headline "Do the Media Hate the Rich?" in Newsweek caught my eye:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/201864

The key point:
"In a two-page note in the June issue of "Robb Report" entitled "Putting Luxury Into Perspective," editor in chief Brett Andersen attacks "the mainstream media" for its "demonization of the wealthy and the industries that cater to them." This antipathy toward the magazine's prime audience and advertisers, Andersen charges, is "a media phenomenon we have observed lately with increasing dismay." He lambastes the wave of populism as failing "to recognize the ways in which luxury industries have enriched society not only economically, but also intellectually, technologically and culturally."

Maybe I have missed something (I doubt it) but I have not seen general "demonization of the wealthy or the "industries that cater to them." What I have seen is some questioning of whether some specific individuals -who were apparently responsible for engineering much of the financial mess we are in- deserved to be compensated in the way they were. Whether they deserved mammoth compensation up front in light of the fact that the risks they undertook have now been offloaded on the rest of us as things go south is a fair question and it's not the same thing as a general "demonization" of the wealthy.

I have also seen some hard questions about the wisdom and propriety of making use of the accouterments of privilege (like private jets) while begging for government money. I don't see a media spotlight on Apple executives taking private jets. Big difference.

But perhaps the question of to what extent the "luxury industries have enriched society not only economically, but also intellectually, technologically and culturally" deserves some thought.

Looking at the the luxury industries presented by Robb Report we can see several themes (note: I do read it from time to time). Things tend to be hand crafted, many items have incredible attention to detail. Things often are part of a tradition. I can see Brett Andersen's point about luxury industries adding something to society (what do we live for in the material sense if not for the finer things?). But I also see a dark side. One facet of these industries is things are typically made by hand. Take high end watches. The high end watches are all made by hand by (very) skilled craftsman yet will never be as accurate as a simple quartz model. On the other hand they are beautiful and something can definitely be said for that. There is something fascinating and compelling about the tiny machinery that goes into a watch. I'm glad this tradition is kept alive but the size and extent of it is a bit troubling: do we really need this many high end watches?

Next lets look a Bentley cars. Again hand crafting is key. Most (virtually all?) parts are hand crafted. So far so good, but the Continental Flying Spur is 5467lbs and gets about 8mpg. Not such a good thing in this era of global warming. I suppose the damage is minimized if it's only used occasionally.

I think a stronger case can be made that luxury industries have enriched society culturally vs. technologically. They uphold traditions of craftsmanship. That's positive in a cultural sense. But technologically? I'm not sure I go along with that. There is almost an anti-technology attitude in the luxury goods market. Look at this high end applifier: http://www.robbreport.com/Old-Is-New-Again. It's based on vacuum tubes. Vacuum tubes can give a certain distinctive sound I guess and in some limited ways out perform more recent technologies but it's a stretch to suggest that a cicruit design dating to the 1940's is contributing to technological enrichment. That "it can safely be called a classic" seems true. Robb Report is filled with such items.

Aside: I like vacuum tunes. The hum as they warm up. Even the smell - I swear there is a distinctive smell. A device based on vacuum tubes seems to slowly come alive like some sort of being waking up. I'm glad that there are companies out there still manufacturing electronics based on vacuum tubes. I vividly remember my grandfather's "hi-fi" and it's vacuum tubes.

Handbags. There seems something almost psychotic about spending thousands of dollars for a Birkin or other simplar handbag. Another spiral of conspicuous consumption where people are in a "can you top this" mindset? I guess a certain set of women watch these things very closely. I wish people would rise above this a bit or a least keep in in check. It seems bordering on the obscene. One way to look at it is if you have millions of dollars what's 3 grand for a handbag. That to me is an argument against such income polarity. Wouldn't it be nice if this passion went into creating green sustainable homes as opposed to overpriced handbags? Maybe it does in some places but not on the pages of the Robb Report.