Candid shots of the rich by the rich. A stunning and slightly nauseating peak into their lives

Well, why look at other peoples instagram? I'm pretty sure they posted that to their friends that are rich too, and understand that.

Btw, everybody knows that a pink Bentley is of incredible bad taste and a new riches thing lol

reply to post by Gemwolf


You know that really is not the majority of people in the US. Maybe 30 years ago.

The Bush tax cuts, which are simply the perquisite of the moment for the 1%, allow for the richest to prosper at the expense of middle-class and low-income workers. While CEOs make millions and their corporations make billions as part of a so-called economic recovery, the majority of Americans are struggling to make ends meet. This struggle is exacerbated by the low federal minimum wage. As middle-class jobs are increasingly replaced by low-wage work, however, this is the economic reality for a growing number of Americans.

Hardworking Americans should not be living in poverty

The difference with your second pic is America has enough wealth for all Americans to be wealthy, AND the people in your second pic. We have the infrastructure to produce enough to feed the world, but capitalism works on artificial scarcity in order to make ever more profit for a minority of people.

Technological capacity to produce enough to satisfy everyone's needs already exists globally and has done so for many decades. Yet needs continue to remain unmet on a massive scale. Why? Quite simply because scarcity is a functional requirement of capitalism itself.

Production today is not primarily geared to satisfy human needs but "effective demand"--when "consumers" are able to buy goods at a price which will enable enterprises producing them to realise a profit. If what people can afford falls short of what they need, increasing output to satisfy the latter would cause prices to fall--to the detriment of profit. So the need for profit conflicts with the satisfaction of human needs...

Artificial scarcity

reply to post by Gemwolf
125,000 for a bottle of alcohol though?. It just smells like greed to me. Cant they drink a $30 bottle like the rest of us? The sheer scale of it blows my mind. Isn't that just a little over the top? I do what I can for philanthropy and I'm getting by okay. What is the stat about the 1%? They hold 40% of the wealth? They could pay for and solve all our wordly problems and still be richer than us. Then again, the rest of us could do it too. I do honestly think it would be easier to have someone give $100 from their thousand dollar paycheque then have a wealthy person give $100,000,000 from their $1B

That's where our problem is.

reply to post by Gemwolf


You are so very right, Gemwolf - this is one of the things I always tell myself if I'm ever feeling a little down for not being as wealthy as I'd like to be.

Most of us should be grateful for the things which make our lives comfortable. I'm not sure I'd even suit being rich anyway - I think I'd still prefer the simple things in life, even if I were a millionaire!

However, living, as I do, in one of the most expensive-to live-in capital cities of the world, (London). I have seen the rich and the relatively poor living side by side and even though the money-poor people are not as unfortunate as those in certain countries, the difference is all the more stark when the two polar opposites live in the same streets. Huge town houses just yards from the council housing blocks can breed resentment at times. I'm sure this was one element which helped spark the rioting and looting last summer. When these kids see glimpses of what other's have, it's bound to stir things up.

The alienation they feel is real, because riches are flaunted in front of them so regularly in the media or in their immediate environments. In those circumstances, it is difficult to get them to believe how lucky they really are.

reply to post by hououinkyouma



Tell that to Lady Penelope! Yes, Hers was a Rolls. Bentley / Rolls same thing, even smells the same.

P

Those of us upset by those pictures can draw a little comfort from the fact that they, like the rest of us, will inherit a wooden overcoat............

reply to post by pikestaff


Hmmm I doubt it...

Originally posted by pheonix358
Not being from that part of the world,

The receipt for booze shows an item "Service (@ 15.00%) " What is that for? Just wondering cause that is an awful lot of service!

P

Added gratuity, typically for large parties. So in reality the tab was not 168,000 but only 120,000 or so. With 20,000 going to the staff and another 20,000 to the government (via VAT). That is one hell of a tip either way; 20,000?

Originally posted by FyreByrd
reply to post by jar11

 

Back in my day, we called it conspicuous consumption and it was frowned upon often by the wealthy themselves. These kids didn't make the money and likely their parents didn't either nor will they contribute to humanity.

I'd heard about this 'trend', now I've seen it. A Pink Bently (or was it a Rolls) - gauche.

We should encourage them to spend, spend and spend some more(while everyone else should be encouraged to be fiscally reasonable). That way within a decade= no more super rich, and the "lower" classes will have a chance to line our pockets off of them for once..

reply to post by Gemwolf


Truly one of the most classic responses ever on ATS Gem.
Sorry that I cannot applaud you.

If we have what we need we really are rich and have nothing to complain about.
The more you have the more you have to worry about losing.
What these people have is complete overkill, no arguments there.
But socially they're stuck with others in the same income bracket.
Any of us would turn out like them if that was all we knew.

The less we view and treat the rich like fellow human beings the less they will see us as the same in return.

Holy cow rich people spending money!! How awful!! Grow up. Let me guess you also hated the kids at school who had the latest video game system while you still had your old Atari.

Originally posted by Monger
It doesn`t effect the way I live my broke life at all. It`s not my place to dictate how somebody else pisses away their money, nor is it yours.

Except that it does affect your life, in numerous ways.

These people pay very little tax, if any. The tax they don't pay ends up coming from you. So not only are they living it up with extreme luxury, they demand that YOU pay for the social systems, YOU pay for national education, YOU pay for the sick to be treated - all while they swan about in their elitist strata ignorant of the society they live in.

In addition, these people are in their special, secret little clubs, those clubs involve police officials, members of your elected government, judges and lawyers. These people live without laws to bind them, because all they need to do is write a little check to make everything okay.

Also, these people lobby your politicians (they sponsor them) to get laws passed in their favour. They manipulate the legal process, government, and policing to suit their needs and demands.

If you think the arrogance, actions and behaviours of these twisted people do not affect you in slightest, you are delusional.

It's going to be amazing when all of this decadence is recycled for better use when the meek inherit the earth...

If I am ever around someone I believe may be incredibly rich I ask them quite frankly how they got where they were. I then ask them if they believe personally that they should have that wealth when, for example, there are children in Detroit starving because their parents can't afford food and rent in the same month. Usually, even after giving the previous example, they will still say that yes they should be that wealthy. This is who they are. This is the definition of a psychopath.

Originally posted by detachedindividual

Originally posted by Monger
It doesn`t effect the way I live my broke life at all. It`s not my place to dictate how somebody else pisses away their money, nor is it yours.

Except that it does affect your life, in numerous ways.

These people pay very little tax, if any. The tax they don't pay ends up coming from you. So not only are they living it up with extreme luxury, they demand that YOU pay for the social systems, YOU pay for national education, YOU pay for the sick to be treated - all while they swan about in their elitist strata ignorant of the society they live in.

In addition, these people are in their special, secret little clubs, those clubs involve police officials, members of your elected government, judges and lawyers. These people live without laws to bind them, because all they need to do is write a little check to make everything okay.

Also, these people lobby your politicians (they sponsor them) to get laws passed in their favour. They manipulate the legal process, government, and policing to suit their needs and demands.

If you think the arrogance, actions and behaviours of these twisted people do not affect you in slightest, you are delusional.

Delusional, right. Tell me again about how a rich man buying his kid a fancy car effects my life? In what way does some random guy posing on a Segway in front of his mansion keep me broke? It doesn't. And if you think it does, maybe you're delusional.

I don't hold hate or begrudge the wealthy. I can at times be a little envious as I have to work my butt off just to keep the lights on and dinner on the table. But I figure...even though none of them admit it...there is a huge part of luck involved in getting that big break. I have met some wealthy people that were remarkably not all that bright...just lucky.

I blame shows that started back in the 80's "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous". It rubbed everyone's nose in it.

There was a time, that the extremely wealthy kept to themselves. They didn't want people knowing how much money they had, what they did with it or how they lived. Maybe those were the clever ones. But not only that, some of the earlier Kings of Commerce...Carnegie, Vanderbuilt, Morgan...did different things with their money. They built museums and hospitals, theaters, parks and they commissioned art and sculpture. Today's wealthy...meh...not so much.

At this point in life, I do not hate or despise the very wealthy. I look at it as a challenge. How do I create a product or service that makes them want to pay me big chunks of their money? It's all in how you look at it I guess.

reply to post by Gemwolf

You read my mind. If I could applaud you, I would.

Originally posted by ANOK
They get this wealthy by exploiting the majority, hard working people.

No one get's that wealthy working an honest job.

Its all relative isnt it?

Originally posted by ownbestenemy

Originally posted by pheonix358
Not being from that part of the world,

The receipt for booze shows an item "Service (@ 15.00%) " What is that for? Just wondering cause that is an awful lot of service!

P

Added gratuity, typically for large parties. So in reality the tab was not 168,000 but only 120,000 or so. With 20,000 going to the staff and another 20,000 to the government (via VAT). That is one hell of a tip either way; 20,000?

Yea, and I worked in an industry that was driven by gratuity. Let me tell you there are plenty of those salt of the earth regular joes that dont give a #### about thier fellow salt of the earth types. I have worked in poor to upper middle class areas.......and can only say that its no wonder the poor get poor service.

if one recieved 5% interest on a billion dollars, that's 50 million dollars a year, close to 1 million dollars a week.
of course after taxes averaging out over a year depending on where you live, conservatively that should still be 700,000 dollars a week....and you would still have the billion dollars!!

now, if one had 500,000 dollars saved up for retirement, and they live off the 5% interest, that would be 25,000 dollars a year, after taxes, probably around 20 thousand dollars, approx. 400 dollars a week.

so when i hear a billionaire say that they "know" how the rest of the people should vote, think, act, live....i dismiss what they say, because they are clueless to the rest of us

reply to post by jimmyx


Absolutely. They are so far removed.