A New Class of Rich Americans

There is a notion that the rich will always seize an opportunity to display their wealth. However, this is not the case like a little recent research has shown. When the rich buy new commodities, they will always scrap the price tag so that people don’t get to see their spending habits. A New Yorker known as Beatrice says that she is considering buying a second home. Together with her husband, they were also contemplating about taking their kids to private schools. Beatrice then confesses that she often removes price tags from her clothes so that her nanny don’t get to see them. At the same time, she buys a six dollar bread and she doesn’t want her nanny to know. The reason behind this behavior is that she is uncomfortable with the inequality that exists with her workers. As for Beatrice, she gets to make $250,000 annually. She also inherited millions of dollars from her parents. She considers the choice to buy a six dollar bread as obscene. Talking to an interior designer the same day, she revealed that most of her customers remove the price tags that come with expensive furniture. Thorstein Veblen once called the rich the conspicuous consumers. In the past, the rich would compete for status by displaying their wealth. For those still floating, President Trump is the chief conspicuous consumer. He takes the opportunity to show his wealth at any chance.

However, this is not the case anymore. Rich people at this age show deep ambivalence about being considered as affluent. Today, the rich don’t brag about their wealth, they have taken to keeping quiet about the advantages they enjoy as rich people. Instead, the rich people of today prefer to be seen as hard working people from their prudent spending. They will take any opportunity to step aside from the common stereotypes of the wealthy people. In the past, the wealthy have been referred to being entitled, snobby, selfish and ostentatious. However, the emerging trend of the rich people tells a tale of the current America we live in especially economically. This is a clear definition that class no longer matters in the United States. If we go by the basic questions that the poor always ask themselves about the rich people, we will be distracting ourselves from the morality of vastly unequal wealth distribution questions. However, people should realize that hiding price tag is not the same as hiding privilege.