Status symbols

Nature is composed of predators and prey, though of course many predators are themselves prey for other, larger predators. Prey multiply into vast herds or schools or whatever, and the predators come along periodically and harvest them, like a blue whale gulping down tons of krill.

I was thinking of this the other day as I read an advertisement for a vastly overpriced watch. Being social animals, humans are status conscious – it matters to them where they are in the group’s pecking order. And among the alpha humans or those who aspire to alpha status, status displays are important.

This has spawned a whole group of predators selling overpriced stuff to the masses of status-conscious prey: oversized McMansions, overpriced watches and cars and art and purses and suits. If one child has an iPod, every other child wants one too. In the ghettos, young people sometimes even kill for overpriced “status” athletic shoes.

I’m sure a $150,000 Bentley is better built than a $25,000 Ford, but surely not 6 times better! Perhaps a $5000 Rolex watch really is better built than a $50 Timex, but odds are they tell time just the same. A 25,000 square foot house certainly has more room than a 2,500 square foot house, but who really needs that much extra room?

It is amusing to watch nature at work – the alpha humans oh-so-proud that they made it, being harvested systematically by those predators who, for a good price, cater to their need for ostentatious status displays.