Luxury the Concept of Luxury Term Paper

If just about anyone but the poorest people in America can afford what once were considered luxuries, what is there left to aspire to or hope for? The author's concept of wealth states that people acquire desirable objects to illustrate their superiority over those who cannot afford them, and their meshing with the wealthy and powerful who can. So, many luxuries are acquired as status symbols that say, "look what I can do" rather than for necessity or even personal pleasure.

I don't know if I agree with the author's conclusion that this need to acquire luxury goods could ultimately be good for the globe, and bring people closer together.This seems to simplistic to me, and too glib. He notes that many of the world's underprivileged will ever see this consumerism, and to me, it sometimes seems wasteful and unnecessary in the light of so many other important issues facing the world. If Nikes can bring peace to the world, so be it, but I think it's far more difficult than that.

References

Needing the Unnecessary: The democratization of luxury.".....