4 ms·

>This whole scenario is just the logical conclusion of American anti-intellectualism. Fawning over wealthy people has been happening for far, far longer than A

• jacquesm 7mo ago
  Agreed it is not new. But it is taken to a new level.
• keiferski 7mo ago
  I'm not talking about fawning, I'm talking about taking the "intellectual" thoughts of rich people as seriously as academics/intellectuals. The notion of taking John Rockefeller's ideas on metaphysics seriously would have been seen as strange by his contemporaries.
• spacechild1 7mo ago
  What's kind of unique about the US is the way poor or middle-class people idolize the rich. As the saying goes, everyone feels like a temporarily embarrassed millionaires. My parents told me story about their trip to the US. They went on a boat tour in Miami and when the boat passed the homes of some rich people, the tour guide proudly announced the price of each building. The US tourists on the bus applauded! My parents were shocked.
  • skdhfkdjfhsjk 7mo ago
    It's not everyone who is like that here--just certain classes. (For certain definitions of "class.") I laugh in derision at such people and stay as far away from them as possible. The rich people I respect are owners of respectable businesses that they built themselves or competently manage, who live in modest homes out in the boondocks--not the idle rich and bankster puppets with their big prominent homes that they want people to see and admire. Likewise, the masses of desperately poor people trying to pretend that they are rich are just as despicable. Picture a Cadillac Escalade parked in front of a dilapidated old trailer, or a giant oversized home in an exclusive neighborhood with a garage full of high end cars and other toys, all "paid for" with $1M in debt, $100k on credit cards, and little to no actual equity or net worth. These types are everywhere nowadays, sadly. The coming market crash will wipe many of them out, however. We're in the beginning of that now.