Do the rich appear to be arrogant, flamboyant and elitist? Yup

BY STEVEN KASZAB

Within the Canadian retail experience, it is the high-end brands that are designing and building stores that most of us can only walk through (if allowed), but certainly not purchase. Those who design these retail environments of grandeur, spectacular affluence and privileged comfort apply no moral compass to their designs, nor challenge themselves to whether the environment is just too expensive and classy.

Louis Vuitton, Prada, Phillipe Lim, Hermes, The House of Dior, Burberry and Bulgari lead the pack of high-end brands building stores all over the world. There is a class system within this retail sector and even those just mentioned are not at the top, just level three in fact. No matter the level, we most times will not be able to experience the thrill of not only viewing their stores but entering them. The first and second level stores have guards at the doors opening for the apparently known celeb, or rich folk, and generously turning those of us from the dirty washed classes away with a pleasant smile. I experienced this in Rome, as well as the Middle East. Want to enter, but your very clothing tells the fella out front you’re a working stiff, and not an elite at all.

Did you know that when a recession or economic downturn happens the rich get richer, and everyone else does not. It feels like the days of feudalism have returned does it not? We can vote politically and financially by deciding what to buy and when, but: employment, taxes, food costs, fuel and energy costs, and the very cost of living are controlled by the wealthy, who are not among us, but live in highly secure gated communities.

The rich show their arrogance and self-assurance in many ways. When Galen Weston faced a Parliamentary Committee about price gouging, he appeared in a $2,000+ outfit, smiling and pronouncing to all that everyone else’s figures, statistics were not correct, and that his corporation only made 1.5-3% profit. The rich appear to believe their own admissions, but his smile said it all. He achieved his goal of appearing, saying his piece and off he went. Trump like, in his disdain of the average person, the rich will quietly threaten us by saying they could easily go elsewhere and take their business along with them.

Upscale retail will continue to lead the way for the retail sector, as to businesses that cater to the well off.  Those who study the markets and economic growth will often use this scale as a leader in their studies, ignoring the plight of those of us less financially set. No wonder America’s economy is said to be growing, as to Canada’s, but is news of this growth economic propaganda? Ask the wealthy’s: butlers, servants, drivers, and nanny’s if they are better off? The average Johnny Canuck and American Joe struggle to make ends meet and the only entertainment available to them are shows about wealthy people and their lifestyles.

The wealthy often pretend to walk the path of those who have less, trying to acquire sympathy and acceptance from the public, while those with little cannot act rich for long.