I’ve come to a conclusion: An excess of money makes people insecure. I have no real facts to back up this affirmation. It’s merely conjecture based on actions of the wealthy, attention seekers and known oligarchs.
“Everything has to be perfect.”
“I’m not easily satisfied.”
These are phrases I’ve heard on reality shows that celebrate those with abundance. Setting high expectations seems to be part of their motus operandi. My assumption is that because there is an abundance of money, the wealthy feel entitled to expect more than is really necessary.
It’s my belief that the desire for excess, as a reward for wealth, is a substitute for validation. But, the validation that excess provides clearly doesn’t last. The very nature of excess doesn’t allow it. This creates a cycle of increased need to feel validation. Thus, solid gold toilets are made to remind the user that their excess makes them better than others.
In fact, the very rich take great pains to feel that validation, provided by brand names, titles, wears, and big ticket items such as luxery automobiles, yaughts, and private jets.
For some, it seems there is never enough. In the quest for validation and legitimacy, that wealth doesn’t necessarily provide, the most insecure of the rich reach for power. And those who do so in the most public ways dance around like Pinocchio, claiming to be a real boy, except their unspoken mantra is “I do matter. Please recognize that I matter!”
We see this in both politics and business, where displays of yearning overshadow the crux of their need: substance and consequence. But vanity and materialism choke that inherant truth.
This is what I see.
Beyond Clarity 