How important do you consider status symbols which show luxury (like nice cars, expensive watches, trendy brands?)

[noname223]

I am glad I live in Germany. Wealth is often seen as greediness and rich people are often seen as selfish. Though there is still a huge inequality which gets fueled by all the crises. I think most of my fellow Germans envy other people with more money. In the US at least this is what I have read wealth is more associated with hard work and the peole act like these people deserve it. Yeah I would have absolutely hated it to be surrounded by those people. I rather like my resentful citizens who love to point at the rich people for all bad things that are happening.
I am a lefty. Yeah I like that. Though it is often more just words than real action.

Oh I realize I am pretty off-topic. Lol. I don't care about such status symbols. My existential health problems have shown me that there are more important things in life. Though I never had making money as my highest priority rather gaining power. Lol. Now look what the result is. LMAO.

I like my watch. It looks a little bit expensive and kind of as if it shows my strength of purpose. But it is 6 year old and I don't plan to buy a new one. I think it costed 120 Euros. A lot of money. I bought it during a mania bu tI don't have hard problems to spend money during mania I know people with problems in completely different dimensions. I am always ungenerous. Also because I have extreme anxiety about poverty.
I would completely be fine if I could have an income with which I would belong to the lower middle class. I don't need much more. Though I will probably be dependent on welfare. And yeah I will probably kill myself due to that.
I don't care too much about status symbols. If I listen to my favorite rappers and they rap about cars and money I rather dislike it. They act like anti-mainstream but the most mainstream thing you can do is to chase the money till you die. I rather like contrarianism, Flexing with money is kind of boring. Most of my lefty friends have this attitude. Me too. There is one former friend of mine who always brags with his money. Just another reason for avoiding contact with him.

To conclude. I don't really care too much about it. I don't buy brand clothes. Maybe I should care more for the enviornment where it was produced. But I feel like with my low amount of money I cannot really change anything anyway. I prefer things which have a practical usage for me. Like the new playstation 5. I have not bought it but might will soon. I don't see it as a status symbol rather a great time to spend my free-time.
Moreover I care about healthy food. Often way too expensive.
I think I could not live with missing so much of my favorite producst. WIth welfare I had to miss so much. The life quality which is already very low would drop even way more. I am also extremely scared about homelessnes.

Yeah maybe you recognize I have other sorrows than to flex with status symbols. Maybe in another life without all the torturing and crippling mental health issues I had other priorities. Less existential sorrows and more time to brag about my lifestyle.
Yeah I dislike when people are doing that. It is arrogant and most of my friends hate such a behavior.

 

[FuneralCry]

I don't consider it important. To me it is all meaningless.

 

[VirtualSnow]

It actually devalues people in my opinion, we are defined by our thoughts and actions instead of by our possessions or any kind of status symbol. Caring that much about other's opinions already shows how dependent someone is on recognition.

 

[8evergo]

my rolex and my suv and real estate what i hard earned wasn't easy i finally can't take it with me after life anyway.

 

[keitaro]

in my view, everything is ultimately pointless. why buy a fancy car when one can buy a painless death? death has so much more to offer: eternal peace.

 

[lofticries]

Honestly don't care.

I don't see the point in flexing because it's like a never ending contest between yourself about the most luxurious shit you can buy. It's like after the insta photo is taken said items are gone and forgotten to make room for the next big thing. Seems like a depressing never ending cycle. Are you buying that shit because you enjoy having it or because you just want others to know you have it. I'd rather spend bank on traveling and creating special memories for myself alone.

 

[TakeMeBack07]

anyone who says it's meaningless is coping and just can't find a way to attain these things

 

[keitaro]

anyone who says it's meaningless is coping and just can't find a way to attain these things

people who have attained these things still decide to ctb.

 

[Zegers]

I think I'm too fucked up to worry about such things. I wouldn't spend much on a watch, and too lazy to buy clothes. A nice car is cool but in this empty life i have there is no point. i would also invest in self-care things like holidays, experiences with friends, etc

 

[chloramine]

I really don't care. I don't think it's wrong to enjoy those things or anything, but I do not understand caring about it. I'm more than happy (other than the depression and the wanting to die bit) if I earn enough for basic necessities and a little extra to be able to play sports and occasionally buy a book or do something with friends.

 

[HappyForever?]

I don't care about them at all, and I think they are just a means to impress other people. However, these superficial symbols of wealth only attract people who value money above anything else, and these people would not make good friends or partners.

 

[_smile_]

Honestly, I have a very good job, I make really good money for my age, I drive an expensive car, buy thousands and thousands of dollars worth of purses and shoes and anything else I want. And here I am….

I shop and buy expensive things as a crutch. As a way of fooling people into thinking I have an amazing life and I'm so happy and blah blah blah. The grass isn't always greener. I still wish more than anything else to not exist.

 

[andweallfloatonok]

not exactly luxury, but i like having name brand stuff to feel better about myself and to feel like my family isn't completely broke and that i can fit in. i've been poor for all my life, so it was a big deal for me to get my real converse and docs instead of shitty walmart knockoffs that fall apart in a couple months.

 

[Zegers]

I don't care about them at all, and I think they are just a means to impress other people. However, these superficial symbols of wealth only attract people who value money above anything else, and these people would not make good friends or partners.

Appearance (dressing well, manners) and status is important and also wealthier people are who have more fruitful social relations (scientific studies about it) and you can read a lot about in blogs of social skills, but I can understand you because i know that being poor is dreadful (i've been there) and it makes you resentful and hateful.

 

[waitingforrest]

Money can't buy me the things I want in life.
I find it wasteful to keep buying new things just for trends and status. Maybe I'm just sentimental, but I like to keep old things. Even crappy ones.
I just can't help but feel guilty spending money for things when people struggle with starvation.

It is mind numbing to see people put so much focus on money and how rich they are. That people have gotten to the point where they care more about pieces of paper than each other. People treat poorer people like shit.

For the homeless that have nothing.
Countries have installed spikes under bridges/near sidewalks, designed benches impossible to sleep on. Because the homeless are an eyesore apparently, could have just built houses instead for them to live in. The less money, the lower the status. The lower the status, the less human you are.

Status symbols have their place however, it can be a symbol of hard work instead, progress of rising out of adversity. But then there are the people that just flex on people just to boost their egos on how much better they are.

You can't buy genuine love, real friends, or more time. Money is infinite, you can always try to get more, but for people, once they are gone, they are gone forever. No amount of cash will bring them back.

But money has become blood and air to us now. Run out and you die.

 

[Grav]

Doesn't matter to me and not impressed by them but if someone wants to spend money on it I don't care. I do like nice pens, that flow nice and have a certain look, for my journal but that's for my personal use and nobody ever sees them, utilitarian.

 

[8evergo]

Honestly, I have a very good job, I make really good money for my age, I drive an expensive car, buy thousands and thousands of dollars worth of purses and shoes and anything else I want. And here I am….

I shop and buy expensive things as a crutch. As a way of fooling people into thinking I have an amazing life and I'm so happy and blah blah blah. The grass isn't always greener. I still wish more than anything else to not exist.

with money has a wider and soft bed than others but the nightmares are still there

 

[hellispink]

It is part of the system. They create stuff that people do not need and they convince them that they need it or would be better off with it. For me, it means nothing. After analyzing life and also death, I realize how insignificant one can be. We really don't take anything with us but our feelings and regrets. Showing off to others? What for? What would i need to prove to people who don't feed me or care about me just to mantain certain look? Their opinion liittle matters at this point. I think no one should need to feel like they need a lot of material stuff to be happy, because it is taught to keep us buying and wanting more (hence being like other people who are they are is greedy and vicious about status and power). However, I am not saying it is wrong to have or buy some of those stuff but it needs to be because one enjoys it, not because someone else will see us differently because we have cause after all they don't care about us but what can they obtain from us.

 

[Symbiote]

I consider people who buy luxury items to attain certain status as poor people who either attained their riches through family, social media, or they're credit card poor. People who buy practical items that last a long time are wealthy in general because they don't have to buy an item unless it's for investment purposes. Louis Vuitton bags lose value over time, but Hermes bags gain value as they age.

 

[8evergo]

People have always underestimated me because of my hair color or slightly darker skin, but if I show them that I'm smarter and have more money than them because I'm the devil, I'm the best luxury item for that reason alone

 

[Celerity]

A fool and his money are easily parted, as the saying goes.

Some things are worth paying more for because of the quality but buying something for its perceived "status" is such a waste of time.

I did some window shopping in a luxury mall near me. It splits into two wings: one with semi-affordable upscale clothing and the other with $5K purses and the like. The luxury wing is often deserted, and extra staff stand there as mere bodyguards. When I looked at the prices of some of the items, I immediately calculated how many useful items you could buy with the same money instead: groceries, medical bills, cars, a computer. I couldn't imagine being so extravagant and wasteful.

I think the greedy, self-aggrandizing behavior is disgusting and says a lot about why the world is so shitty.