I find it hard to empathize because I just have no experience of whatever phenomenon is making these people go out and spend thousands of dollars on tat. I don'

I find it hard to empathize because I just have no experience of whatever phenomenon is making these people go out and spend thousands of dollars on tat. I don't understand it any more than I understand rich people spending millions on shinier tat when they could be investing it in the search for an ebola vaccine. I can sympathize because clearly they're getting a shitty deal out of life, and I'm aware of various possible explanations as to why somebody with no money might want to buy expensive goods, but I can't really do empathy because the phenomenon is basically mysterious and counterintuitive to me.