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What are you blaberring about? I agree that these luxury watches are mere status symbols and not a necessity, but no one's selling them at 90% margin. A conside

What are you blaberring about? I agree that these luxury watches are mere status symbols and not a necessity, but no one's selling them at 90% margin. A considerable amount of highly skilled exclusively first world labor goes into these watches, and these devices are probably the single best type of objects where the labor that went into it is patently obvious right in front of your eyes. In fact, that exactly IS the symbol here for the most part, the fact that it's a human creation whose value is purely of the labor (the good kind) more than something that came out of the earth, and something, all considered, that holds its value over time instead of being ephemeral. I understand the angst and anger against the plutocracy but logic needn't go out the window in pursuit of an outlet for that anger.

bergstromm466 6y ago
> whose value is purely of the labor (the good kind) What's the 'bad' kind? > logic needn't go out the window in pursuit of an outlet for that anger Many of these watches are Swiss. Switzerland is (or was) a known tax-haven... It's our inability to connect the dots that baffles me sometimes. Where else do the wealthy elites get the kind of cash needed to buy these watches?
- ramraj07 6y ago
  The good kind of labor is where the people doing it are free, compensated and satisfied. If we are going to avoid Switzerland because it's a tax haven then we should probably avoid doing any commerce with any country, including the one you probably are in now (unless you're in NZ or something). And with regards to your update - no one is talking about faux luxury consumer goods here; in fact an argument can be made that the _only_ sustainable mode of consumerism is the kind practiced by these luxury watch makers if antrhung.
- mhroth 6y ago
  High quality watches were coming out of Switzerland long before it was a tax haven. [0] [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/style/international/what-enabled-switzerland-to-dominate-watchmaking.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/style/international/what-...
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  The US (a country without a wealth tax, and an income tax that only applies to realised, non-loopholed, income) can be a more effective tax haven than switzerland. I believe various ex-british islands may also part of the reason we get this particular bit of anglophone[1] two minute hate[2]. Yes, we're part of the Global North. We have a relatively high standard of living now, due to not having blown ourselves up twice last century, before which we were considered poor in relation to our neighbours. Compare Heidi. (Iodine in salt may have helped immensely, too.) [1] the brits may still be salty that our bankers did to them what Soros did to thailand. Someone's gotta make sure The Market stays efficient, innit? [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23975900 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23975900 How are worker protections in your jurisdiction? Solidarity is an ideal invoked here even by the pro-free trade pro-small business centre-right party. (One way our rich flex amongst themselves is on the Züri equivalent of Groundhog Day: they ride horses around a giant wooden snowman with explosives in its head after it's been set on fire. The faster it goes boom, the better the summer will be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reuJ8yVCgSM&t=58 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reuJ8yVCgSM&t=58 One can tell the Zürchers are a bunch of capitalist pigs who'll be against the wall when the revolution comes[3] because although the holiday is celebrated on a Monday evening, some of them don't even get the day off.) [3] at the end of Cold War I, we learned we'd had a secret https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay-behind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay-behind unit active on our soil. This was a scandal, because we are not a Nato member. Thank you, UK!
TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
Luxury watches - maybe. Although the fact that these rare and unique precision-made craft pieces are incredibly bad at basic timekeeping compared to a $5 Casio, which is in turn pretty average compared to a $50 World Time Wave Ceptor, is both hilarious and sad. But luxury handbags and other "fashion" items are inexcusable, because they are literally assembled in sweat shops by slave labour and then sold for four/five/six/seven figure price tags to vulgar stupid people. https://www.fastcompany.com/90279693/did-a-slave-make-your-sneakers-the-answer-is-probably https://www.fastcompany.com/90279693/did-a-slave-make-your-s... The point of this kind of luxury isn't utility or quality - it's pure status display, combined with narcissistic indifference to the fate of the unfortunates whose work is being displayed so ostentatiously.
- ip26 6y ago
  ... incredibly bad at basic timekeeping ... A modern minivan is faster than a classic Porsche in virtually every metric. That doesn't lessen the appeal of the Porsche; speed isn't the point.

bergstromm466 6y ago

> whose value is purely of the labor (the good kind) What's the 'bad' kind? > logic needn't go out the window in pursuit of an outlet for that anger Many of these watches are Swiss. Switzerland is (or was) a known tax-haven... It's our inability to connect the dots that baffles me sometimes. Where else do the wealthy elites get the kind of cash needed to buy these watches?

ramraj07 6y ago
The good kind of labor is where the people doing it are free, compensated and satisfied. If we are going to avoid Switzerland because it's a tax haven then we should probably avoid doing any commerce with any country, including the one you probably are in now (unless you're in NZ or something). And with regards to your update - no one is talking about faux luxury consumer goods here; in fact an argument can be made that the _only_ sustainable mode of consumerism is the kind practiced by these luxury watch makers if antrhung.
mhroth 6y ago
High quality watches were coming out of Switzerland long before it was a tax haven. [0] [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/style/international/what-enabled-switzerland-to-dominate-watchmaking.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/style/international/what-...
082349872349872 6y ago
The US (a country without a wealth tax, and an income tax that only applies to realised, non-loopholed, income) can be a more effective tax haven than switzerland. I believe various ex-british islands may also part of the reason we get this particular bit of anglophone[1] two minute hate[2]. Yes, we're part of the Global North. We have a relatively high standard of living now, due to not having blown ourselves up twice last century, before which we were considered poor in relation to our neighbours. Compare Heidi. (Iodine in salt may have helped immensely, too.) [1] the brits may still be salty that our bankers did to them what Soros did to thailand. Someone's gotta make sure The Market stays efficient, innit? [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23975900 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23975900 How are worker protections in your jurisdiction? Solidarity is an ideal invoked here even by the pro-free trade pro-small business centre-right party. (One way our rich flex amongst themselves is on the Züri equivalent of Groundhog Day: they ride horses around a giant wooden snowman with explosives in its head after it's been set on fire. The faster it goes boom, the better the summer will be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reuJ8yVCgSM&t=58 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reuJ8yVCgSM&t=58 One can tell the Zürchers are a bunch of capitalist pigs who'll be against the wall when the revolution comes[3] because although the holiday is celebrated on a Monday evening, some of them don't even get the day off.) [3] at the end of Cold War I, we learned we'd had a secret https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay-behind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay-behind unit active on our soil. This was a scandal, because we are not a Nato member. Thank you, UK!

TheOtherHobbes 6y ago

Luxury watches - maybe. Although the fact that these rare and unique precision-made craft pieces are incredibly bad at basic timekeeping compared to a $5 Casio, which is in turn pretty average compared to a $50 World Time Wave Ceptor, is both hilarious and sad. But luxury handbags and other "fashion" items are inexcusable, because they are literally assembled in sweat shops by slave labour and then sold for four/five/six/seven figure price tags to vulgar stupid people. https://www.fastcompany.com/90279693/did-a-slave-make-your-sneakers-the-answer-is-probably https://www.fastcompany.com/90279693/did-a-slave-make-your-s... The point of this kind of luxury isn't utility or quality - it's pure status display, combined with narcissistic indifference to the fate of the unfortunates whose work is being displayed so ostentatiously.

ip26 6y ago
... incredibly bad at basic timekeeping ... A modern minivan is faster than a classic Porsche in virtually every metric. That doesn't lessen the appeal of the Porsche; speed isn't the point.