this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2023
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I did a track day with some hypercars once for a bachelor party and yeah they're amazing machines, was a great way to try them out. I don't think it was the Huracan but there was a Lamborghini, Ferrari, and a McLaren that we all got to take turns on.
There's always a commodified and manufactured "rich lifestyle" side with these luxury products, but I find the people genuinely in to the products aren't flaunting them as much because that's not why they enjoy them, and are actually more interested in sharing the product and experience with others. The ones I don't get are things that are almost entirely meant to be "rich person thing," especially where all the branding and marketing materials build that reputation into the product, like the only reason why you'd have it is to look like you're rich. It's more like "rich guy with cars and cool clothes" that is a super lame aspiration and basically makes you a boring person, like imitating what you are told is how a rich person lives and considering your likeness to that an achievement in itself. A lot of those guys are incredibly particular and narcissistic about how they look in front of other people, and get very upset and angry at others in their life when small things happen that they think make them look less perfect. A lot of times our economic system rewards this sort of behavior which is why a lot of rich guys are assholes.
Its like the difference between a Patek Philippe and a Hublot. The Patek is an incredible display of craftsmanship and stupendously expensive because it takes multiple highly skilled watchmakers like a year to make one. The Hublot is expensive because owning it is expensive and that makes it cool. There is no technological advantage it has on a watch that is half the price. No watch enthusiast would ever buy a Hublot.
Yeah like the skilled craftsman is not the problem in the world of luxury products. The idea that an individual could afford something like that while someone else starves is another matter, but I think we could still have these products and support the labor that goes in to them without the rich lifestyle buyer side of it. The public commissioning and ownership of luxury products is an interesting area of consideration.
I think in a communist society, it might make sense to reward special personal achievements and such with goods like that, like awarding every college graduate a certain thing (jewlery etc) depending on their field of study. It might also make sense to allow for an exchange of such goods through a special market
Yeah regulated markets are a tool. China's "keep the big free the small" approach has a lot of positives, the way bulk energy markets are designed and regulated is another model that's used in practice, Allende's Cybersyn is interesting as well. Even if a government was to commission a watch or something, the idea is that will increase in value, similar to art commissioning or even architects to design buildings, it's not really an "expense" in that the value isn't retained and likely increases. You'd want to make sure your craftspeople are constantly producing because that's added value in to the economy. The aesthetics of the products themselves might take on a whole other quality if the craftsperson isn't bound to certain client's preferences.