by Ken Saydak
Why is it that regardless of their field of endeavor or personal political preference, people of means choose to live in ostentatious abundance? What is it about extreme wealth that commands its beneficiaries to dwell in homes with the square footage of a National Park?
Rock stars and movie stars are understandable. They are people in highly visible and brutally competitive fields, whose rise to the top is usually born of a desire for attention and approval which their previously modest lives failed to satisfy. It’s in their biological genes as well as in their Italian leather wallets parked in their designer jeans. Having an estate with an Olympic-sized pool and a Jumbotron theater for screening first-runs is their way of saying, “See, I made it. Look what I got, I’ll bet mine is bigger than yours.” It’s like getting a Grammy or an Academy Award every day. Of course, after a few years of using GPS to find the guest bedroom wing, they get bored, flip the joint for a few million more than they paid and move on to the next Taj Mahal, simultaneously delighting both their accountants and press agents.
Sports celebrities are often from impoverished backgrounds. Many follow the path from obscurity to fame and fortune as a dream opportunity which, minus their athletic prowess, would be beyond their grasp. They also often live in excess simply as a result of never having had the chance to experience opulence. It’s not only a mark of achievement in their field but also a badge of arrival which they otherwise may have never had a shot at.
It’s natural that titans of industry need to present in regal proportion. After all, they are the apex of the capitalist pyramid, the ones who are always pointed to as an example of the wonderful prize awaiting you if you successfully navigate the turbulent waters of a cutthroat economy. They are usually politically conservative, as in order to successfully compete in the game, one must wholeheartedly embrace the rules of the free market as gospel. Like a year-round Santa, it grants impossible wishes that magically appear if your bankbook has enough zeros to the right of a whole number and to the left of the decimal point.
What befuddles are the numerous hugely successful individuals (think Hollywood) whose politics and worldview is liberal or progressive. Their mouths cry eloquently of the inequities endured in the competitive market free-for-all while their feet are raised on an antique ottoman amid the splendor and safety of one of their five mansions. Don’t they see that there is inherent hypocrisy in posturing as a defender of the little guy while installing state-of-the-art security systems to keep the little guy out of their kingdom?
John D. Rockefeller said “How much money does it take to make a man happy? Just one more dollar.” To borrow from his observation, how many square feet does a person need to occupy? Maybe the answer is just one more bathroom.
