The Rise of Consumption Equality

[GlennO]

The Rise of Consumption Equality

Getting rich requires serving a mass market, which means the rest of us can buy what the rich buy.


By ANDY KESSLER


It used to be so cool to be wealthy—an elite education, exclusive mobile communications, a private screening room, a table at Annabel's on London's Berkeley Square. Now it's hard to swing a cat without hitting yet another diatribe against income inequality. People sleep in tents to protest that others are too **** wealthy.


Yes, some people have more than others. Yet as far as millionaires and billionaires are concerned, they're experiencing a horrifying revolution: consumption equality. For the most part, the wealthy bust their tail, work 60-80 hour weeks building some game-changing product for the mass market, but at the end of the day they can't enjoy much that the middle class doesn't also enjoy. Where's the fairness? What does Google founder Larry Page have that you don't have?


Luxury suite at the Super Bowl? Why bother? You can recline at home in your massaging lounger and flip on the ultra-thin, high-def, 55-inch LCD TV you got for $700—and not only have a better view from two dozen cameras plus Skycam and fun commercials, but you can hit the pause button to take a nature break. Or you can stream the game to your four-ounce Android phone while mixing up some chip dip. Media technology has advanced to the point that things worth watching only make economic sense when broadcast to millions, not to 80,000 or just a handful of the rich.


The greedy tycoon played by Michael Douglas had a two-pound, $3,995 Motorola phone in the original "Wall Street" movie. Mobile phones for the elite—how 1987. Now 8-year-olds have cellphones to arrange play dates.

In 1991, a megabyte of memory was $50, amazing at the time. Given its memory, today's 32-gigabyte smartphone would have cost $1 million back then, certainly an exclusive item for the wealthy. Heck, even 10 years ago, 32 gig cost 10 grand. But no one could build it—volume was needed to drive down both cost and size and attract a few geeks to write some decent apps. So it wasn't until there was a market for millions of smartphones that there was a market at all. I just bought a terabyte drive for $62 to rip all my Blu-Ray movies, and with Dolby 5.1 sound we all have private screening rooms too.

True enough, if you have $2.4 million or so in cash you can drive a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. But it's just fashion. Even a $16,500 Ford Focus can hit 80 on the highway or get stuck in the same traffic as the rich person's ride. Plus, it comes with what used to be expensive luxuries like side air bags, antilock brakes, GPS guidance and voice-activated SYNC.

Yes, the wealthy can strut around in more foo foo Jimmy Choos and Harry Winston pendants, but so what? That's all they've got left. Being envious of someone's nice outfit is no way to go through life. Last I checked, envy is noted above gluttony on the list of deadly sins. And by the way, I think Larry Page drives a Prius, a different type of fashion.

Medical care? Thanks to the market, you can afford a hip replacement and extracapsular cataract extraction and a defibrillator—the costs have all come down with volume. Arthroscopic, endoscopic, laparoscopic, drug-eluting stents—these are all mainstream and engineered to get you up and around in days. They wouldn't have been invented to service only the 1%.

I admit that a private jet beats the TSA rub-a-dub. Along with his Prius, Larry Page has a 767. But thanks to guys like Richard Branson and airline overbuild, you can fly almost anywhere in the world for under $1,000. And most places worth seeing are geared to a mass of visitors.

Spot the pattern here? Just about every product or service that makes our lives better requires a mass market or it's not economic to bother offering. Those who invent and produce for the mass market get rich. And the more these innovators better the rest of our lives, the richer they get but the less they can differentiate themselves from the masses whose wants they serve. It's the Pages and Bransons and Zuckerbergs who have made the unequal equal: So, sure, income equality may widen, but consumption equality will become more the norm.

To me, being rich means covering the basic necessities, and then having a challenging career, fun and fulfilling leisure time, and the love of family and friends. Compared to 20 years ago, or even five years ago, chances are that you're richer. Try to enjoy it.

Mr. Kessler, a former hedge-fund manager, is the author most recently of "Eat People: And Other Unapologetic Rules for Game-Changing Entrepreneurs" (Portfolio, 2011).

Andy Kessler: The Rise of Consumption Equality - WSJ.com

[GlennO]

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--

[mattfivefour]

Not to question the framers of your Constitution, but in the Bible I can only find ONE "right": the right to life. And I can only find two duties: the duty to serve God, and the duty to serve our fellow man. Outside of that one right and those two duties, everything else—regardless of how noble it may sound—is an idea of man.

[GlennO]

Bro- My life is not my own, but it was bought with a terrible price. This makes me a bondservant. Yet He has elevated me to be his friend!

Our founding documents have been under assault for more than a generation. Is there another country in the world that would be a suitable safe harbor for Liberty should the USA fail? Certainly not! I firmly believe our Creator had a hand in the establishment of this great nation. Believing the character of the great I AM does not change, and seeing how He has deal with His Chosen People, we in America should should be in state of continual trembling. If the rebellion against King George was evil in the sight of God, He turned the evil for good. For this, I give thanks to Him.

Last Sunday's teaching -
1Pe 2:13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,
1Pe 2:14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
1Pe 2:15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
1Pe 2:16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
1Pe 2:17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
1Pe 2:18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.
1Pe 2:19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

I fully subscribe to the above...

Adrian said:

but in the Bible I can only find ONE "right": the right to life.

Teacher please enlighten me to the source.

[mattfivefour]

Only God is allowed to take life. That is fundamental ... right back to the Garden of Eden. He created us and thus we live at His pleasure. Thus the stiff penalty on Cain. Later this is enshrined in the Decalog ("Thou shalt do no murder") as the very first of the second group of commandments, those governing our behavior towards our fellow man.

As to duties, they are summarized in that same Decalog and further summarized by Christ as: "Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thy heart, mind, soul, and strength and thy neighbor as thyself." (Matthew 22:37-40) Thus I see one right and two duties. And they encompass the full root of everything that God has ever spoken. In the Old Testament, loving God—through obedience to His external Law as handed down through Moses—was the preliminary process by which man might please Him.. In the New Testament, loving God—through faith in His Son, in who His Son is, and what He did at Calvary—is the perfect process by which man might please Him. And they both spring from the same root.

[dave-o]

Love is is the only thing makes you richer by giving it away.

With the indwelling of the Holy Spirit you have an infinite supply so the only question is how rich do you want to be?

[enturner]

Not to question the framers of your Constitution, but in the Bible I can only find ONE "right": the right to life. And I can only find two duties: the duty to serve God, and the duty to serve our fellow man. Outside of that one right and those two duties, everything else—regardless of how noble it may sound—is an idea of man.

In both Old and New Testament, man is commanded not to do certain things, like steal, murder, commit adultery, etc. I believe this idea of rights, as something which one human may not deprive another, is actually derived from this. Because murder is unlawful, one has a right to life. Because theft is unlawful, property rights exist. There are both legitimate and illegitimate methods of acquiring wealth. Rights are simply another way of stating law.

However, one cannot make an assertion against God that God is violating one's rights because calamity happens. Job tried this and lost everything. Just because murder is illegal does not guarantee everyone will live to age 70 or 80 (Biblically predicted general life span), so the right to life is not absolute. Christ also warns against this sort of presumption:

Luke 12:20 "But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?"

The Bible also warns against envy, but that is a spiritual matter, not a legal one. To the best of my knowledge, I don't believe anyone on this earth has ever been tried or punished solely for the sin of envy, simply because it happens in the mind before other sins are committed. Cain was envious or jealous of Abel, but when God found Cain in this condition, he was only warned. Cain disregarded God's warning, and committed murder, but he was not punished by God until he actually committed murder -- the point where he violated the right to life of his brother. If my neighbor is envious of me, I cannot assert any violation of my own rights as would be the case if he stole from me. Thus, rights are simply God's law as it applies to human interaction with other humans. They restrain humans from doing evil to each other.

[mattfivefour]

Interesting. I do not necessarily disagree (although the Decalog with its protection of the rights of others came a couple thousand years later.) After all, it stands to reason that love for your fellow man means you will not deprive him of anything that is his. Therefore it could be said that those are rights God gave us. However the right to live is the one fundamental right that God gave man immediately following the fall. The rest— protection for a man's possessions, his wife, etc, from which the pursuit of happiness is perhaps derived— are rights that flow from the fundamental one.

BTW, I nowhere see liberty as one. Israel was permitted to make slaves of anybody they conquered (barring a divine decree to kill everybody); and even Israelites were allowed to be enslaved in return for compensation given (though they all had to be set free when a year of Jubilee occurred).

But thank you. Good post.

Welcome to RF!

[YeuEmMaiMai]

Only God is allowed to take life. That is fundamental ... right back to the Garden of Eden. He created us and thus we live at His pleasure. Thus the stiff penalty on Cain. Later this is enshrined in the Decalog ("Thou shalt do no murder") as the very first of the second group of commandments, those governing our behavior towards our fellow man.

As to duties, they are summarized in that same Decalog and further summarized by Christ as: "Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thy heart, mind, soul, and strength and thy neighbor as thyself." (Matthew 22:37-40) Thus I see one right and two duties. And they encompass the full root of everything that God has ever spoken. In the Old Testament, loving God—through obedience to His external Law as handed down through Moses—was the preliminary process by which man might please Him.. In the New Testament, loving God—through faith in His Son, in who His Son is, and what He did at Calvary—is the perfect process by which man might please Him. And they both spring from the same root.

I have a different take on it

God has given the government the right to take a person's life in the approperiate circumstances. This is repeated through out Scriptures beginning right after the flood. All government is ordained through God...

[mattfivefour]

Good thoughts. You are correct, of course. Governments are instituted by God. However they are not given His permission to act outside of His express command ... thus those "appropriate circumstances" of which you speak were given in the OT in specific situations by God's command and in general situations by God's Law. In this dispensation we walk by the Spirit not by the letter of the law, nevertheless government being an external application of law for the welfare of man should use both His Word and His Spirit if they are to avoid personal culpability and judgement before His throne in due course. So, ultimately, God still reserves to Himself the right to give or take life.

[Meg]

I don't envy the wealthy their luxuries, that shiny stuff isn't all that. But the workers do cry our for their wages, and just because someone thought something up doesn't make them the greatest thing on Earth. I maintain a company or business is only as good as the employees who produce the product or service, so no matter how smart they think they are, that gadget they thought up on paper is useless without good people to build them. All most of us older folks wanted was to work hard and pay our bills. Now the Chinese get to be worked to death for nothing while the Americans are getting starved to death for nothing...

[GlennO]

Meg, Joe Stalin used this as his blueprint.....


1936 CONSTITUTION OF THE USSR
Adopted December 1936

CHAPTER I

THE ORGANIZATION OF SOVIET SOCIETY

ARTICLE 1. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a socialist state of workers and peasants.
ARTICLE 2. The Soviets of Working People's Deputies, which grew and attained strength as a result of the overthrow of the landlords and capitalists and the achievement of the dictatorship of the proletariat, constitute the political foundation of the U.S.S.R.
ARTICLE 3. In the U.S.S.R. all power belongs to the working people of town and country as represented by the Soviets of Working People's Deputies.
ARTICLE 4. The socialist system of economy and the socialist ownership of the means and instruments of production firmly established as a result of the abolition of the capitalist system of economy, the abrogation of private ownership of the means and instruments of production and the abolition of the exploitation of man by man, constitute' the economic foundation of the U.S.S.R.
ARTICLE 5. Socialist property in the U.S.S.R. exists either in the form of state property (the possession of the whole people), or in the form of cooperative and collective-farm property (property of a collective farm or property of a cooperative association).
ARTICLE 6. The land, its natural deposits, waters, forests, mills, factories, mines, rail, water and air transport, banks, post, telegraph and telephones, large state-organized agricultural enterprises (state farms, machine and tractor stations and the like) as well as municipal enterprises and the bulk of the dwelling houses in the cities and industrial localities, are state property, that is, belong to the whole people.
ARTICLE 7. Public enterprises in collective farms and cooperative organizations, with their livestock and implements, the products of the collective farms and cooperative organizations, as well as their common buildings, constitute the common socialist property of the collective farms and cooperative organizations. In addition to its basic income from the public collective-farm enterprise, every household in a collective farm has for its personal use a small plot of land attached to the dwelling and, as its personal property, a subsidiary establishment on the plot, a dwelling house, livestock, poultry and minor agricultural implements in accordance with the statutes of the agricultural artel.
ARTICLE 8. The land occupied by collective farms is secured to them for their use free of charge and for an unlimited time, that is, in perpetuity.
ARTICLE 9. Alongside the socialist system of economy, which is the predominant form of economy in the U.S.S.R., the law permits the small private economy of individual peasants and handicraftsman based on their personal labor and precluding the exploitation of the labor of others.
ARTICLE 10. The right of citizens to personal ownership of their incomes from work and of their savings, of their dwelling houses and subsidiary household economy, their household furniture and utensils and articles of personal use and convenience, as well as the right of inheritance of personal property of citizens, is protected by law.
ARTICLE 11. The economic life of the U.S.S.R. is determined and directed by the state national economic plan with the aim of increasing the public wealth, of steadily improving the material conditions of the working people and raising their cultural level, of consolidating the independence of the U.S.S.R. and strengthening its defensive capacity.
ARTICLE 12. In the U.S.S.R. work is a duty and a matter of honor for every able-bodied citizen, in accordance with the principle: "He who does not work, neither shall he eat."
The principle applied in the U.S.S.R. is that of socialism: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his work."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Obama (under the cloak of the National Prayer breakfast) tried to sport Christian credentials by quoting Luk 12:48(b)[ESV] Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

At the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual gathering of several thousand leaders from numerous religions, President Obama said faith and values are important in setting the nation's policies.

"In my moments of prayer, I am reminded that faith and values play an enormous role in motivating us to solve some of our most urgent problems," he said.

The president said his call for wealthy Americans to pay higher taxes is particularly based in teachings which are common to several religions.

"It also coincides with Jesus' teaching that 'For unto whom much is given, much shall be required.'

It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who have been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation in consideration for others,"

Obama added.

Some analysts see the president's comments as an indirect slap at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who said Wednesday that his main economic concern is for America's middle class. Romney said there are government programs in place to help the poor.

"I am not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I will fix it," he said. "I am not concerned about the very rich. They are doing just fine. I am concerned about the very heart of America - the 90 to 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling, and I will continue to take that message across the nation."

At the prayer breakfast, Obama also said his religious beliefs guide his foreign policy. He mentioned his opposition to cuts in U.S. foreign aid, and his campaigns against atrocities in Uganda and human trafficking throughout the world.

"It is not just about strengthening alliances, or promoting democratic values, or projecting American leadership around the world, although it does all those things and it will make us safer and more secure. It is also about the biblical call to care for 'the least of these,' for the poor, for those at the margins of our society," Obama noted.

The president, whose Kenyan grandfather was a Muslim, said he grew up in a nonreligious household and went through a period of doubt and confusion before embracing Christianity. He said he regularly asks God for guidance in both his personal life and his work as president.

[WKUHilltopper]

Meg, Joe Stalin used this as his blueprint.....


1936 CONSTITUTION OF THE USSR
Adopted December 1936

CHAPTER I

THE ORGANIZATION OF SOVIET SOCIETY

ARTICLE 1. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a socialist state of workers and peasants.
ARTICLE 2. The Soviets of Working People's Deputies, which grew and attained strength as a result of the overthrow of the landlords and capitalists and the achievement of the dictatorship of the proletariat, constitute the political foundation of the U.S.S.R.
ARTICLE 3. In the U.S.S.R. all power belongs to the working people of town and country as represented by the Soviets of Working People's Deputies.
ARTICLE 4. The socialist system of economy and the socialist ownership of the means and instruments of production firmly established as a result of the abolition of the capitalist system of economy, the abrogation of private ownership of the means and instruments of production and the abolition of the exploitation of man by man, constitute' the economic foundation of the U.S.S.R.
ARTICLE 5. Socialist property in the U.S.S.R. exists either in the form of state property (the possession of the whole people), or in the form of cooperative and collective-farm property (property of a collective farm or property of a cooperative association).
ARTICLE 6. The land, its natural deposits, waters, forests, mills, factories, mines, rail, water and air transport, banks, post, telegraph and telephones, large state-organized agricultural enterprises (state farms, machine and tractor stations and the like) as well as municipal enterprises and the bulk of the dwelling houses in the cities and industrial localities, are state property, that is, belong to the whole people.
ARTICLE 7. Public enterprises in collective farms and cooperative organizations, with their livestock and implements, the products of the collective farms and cooperative organizations, as well as their common buildings, constitute the common socialist property of the collective farms and cooperative organizations. In addition to its basic income from the public collective-farm enterprise, every household in a collective farm has for its personal use a small plot of land attached to the dwelling and, as its personal property, a subsidiary establishment on the plot, a dwelling house, livestock, poultry and minor agricultural implements in accordance with the statutes of the agricultural artel.
ARTICLE 8. The land occupied by collective farms is secured to them for their use free of charge and for an unlimited time, that is, in perpetuity.
ARTICLE 9. Alongside the socialist system of economy, which is the predominant form of economy in the U.S.S.R., the law permits the small private economy of individual peasants and handicraftsman based on their personal labor and precluding the exploitation of the labor of others.
ARTICLE 10. The right of citizens to personal ownership of their incomes from work and of their savings, of their dwelling houses and subsidiary household economy, their household furniture and utensils and articles of personal use and convenience, as well as the right of inheritance of personal property of citizens, is protected by law.
ARTICLE 11. The economic life of the U.S.S.R. is determined and directed by the state national economic plan with the aim of increasing the public wealth, of steadily improving the material conditions of the working people and raising their cultural level, of consolidating the independence of the U.S.S.R. and strengthening its defensive capacity.
ARTICLE 12. In the U.S.S.R. work is a duty and a matter of honor for every able-bodied citizen, in accordance with the principle: "He who does not work, neither shall he eat."
The principle applied in the U.S.S.R. is that of socialism: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his work."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Obama (under the cloak of the National Prayer breakfast) tried to sport Christian credentials by quoting Luk 12:48(b)[ESV] Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

At the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual gathering of several thousand leaders from numerous religions, President Obama said faith and values are important in setting the nation's policies.

"In my moments of prayer, I am reminded that faith and values play an enormous role in motivating us to solve some of our most urgent problems," he said.

The president said his call for wealthy Americans to pay higher taxes is particularly based in teachings which are common to several religions.

"It also coincides with Jesus' teaching that 'For unto whom much is given, much shall be required.'

It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who have been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation in consideration for others,"

Obama added.

Some analysts see the president's comments as an indirect slap at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who said Wednesday that his main economic concern is for America's middle class. Romney said there are government programs in place to help the poor.

"I am not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I will fix it," he said. "I am not concerned about the very rich. They are doing just fine. I am concerned about the very heart of America - the 90 to 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling, and I will continue to take that message across the nation."

At the prayer breakfast, Obama also said his religious beliefs guide his foreign policy. He mentioned his opposition to cuts in U.S. foreign aid, and his campaigns against atrocities in Uganda and human trafficking throughout the world.

"It is not just about strengthening alliances, or promoting democratic values, or projecting American leadership around the world, although it does all those things and it will make us safer and more secure. It is also about the biblical call to care for 'the least of these,' for the poor, for those at the margins of our society," Obama noted.

The president, whose Kenyan grandfather was a Muslim, said he grew up in a nonreligious household and went through a period of doubt and confusion before embracing Christianity. He said he regularly asks God for guidance in both his personal life and his work as president.

Good catch! And another rationale why I refer to him as "ObaMao".

[GlennO]