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PaperclipPerfector  5mo ago (text post)   4295 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 10, 2023

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Shower thought: the state should manufacture luxury items, or alternatively subcontract the work to a few officially approved brands, which would pay enormous taxes for the privilege. If you buy from them, you know you’ve overpayed through the nose, so you must be rich. Basically the state sells you a licence to signal your wealth. Why should the perfectly good money of morons go into Bernard Arnault’s slimy pockets?

I always thought the state should find ways to get donations from citizens, normalize it, reward it somehow. It is technically a big charity with an army. I want to see politicians and business leaders prance around with their million dollar StatelyTM cufflinks.

I think the issue with that is often luxury products are actually marginally better than the defaults, and I don't think the state could consistently make actually good products. It's one thing to pay $10k for a watch that's 1% better than a $500 watch, it's another to pay $10k for a watch that's 1% worse

They could just repeal the ban on civilian post-'86 machine guns, but add a huge stamp tax. The wholesale prices will come back down to Earth by unrestricting the supply, but the retail prices would remain high due to the tax, and the government gets the windfall.

This would only work if you outlaw all other luxury brands. why would someone buy a $5k Statelyᵀᴹ watch at 5000% markup when they can buy a $10k Rolex at a 400% markup? Anyone who bought a Stately would just look like a rube - which is the opposite of what they want!

I think the signalling structure isn't wealth → class, but wealth → quality → discernment → class

It's "paid" not "payed".

1616, William Shakespeare, Last will and testament:

...and the use and proffitt therof cominge shalbe payed to my saied Sister Jone...

This was well before the standardization of English spelling.

Please edit the rest of your comment to be consistent with The Bard's grammar, then.

I agree. The best way is titles, become the Count of Iowa for $1bn, Duke of New York for $20bn, your kids inherit the title for an extra 40% of the purchase price + inflation upon your death etc.

(un?)fortunately unconstitutional. But maybe we can come together and pass an amendment to make it okay.

You think they'd shell out just for courtesy titles? Although for that much dough we the people can throw in an exclusive weekend once a year, where the aristocracy gets to hunt in the sacred groves of west virginia.

The prices quoted are much too high, but people will do a lot for a knighthood or other such gongs. They aren't hereditary, due to vague egalitarianism and a desire not to inflate their value.

You might also be interested in the "For Iron I Gave Gold" campaign:

In 1833, Princess Marianne of Prussia asked Prussian women to give their gold in order to fund the war against Napoleon Bonaparte. In exchange, they received an iron brooch or ring with the inscription ‘Gold gab ich für Eisen’ (Gold I gave for iron). A similar appeal occurred during WWI, when the German state asked its cititzens to donate their gold for funding the war and support families who lost relatives. People donated their gold jewellery, coins a.o. and received as a thank you iron medals or rings (known as Berliner Eisen) with the same inscription as earlier.

https://www.antoinettevondermuehll.com/For-Iron-I-Gave-Gold

In 1833, Princess Marianne of Prussia asked Prussian women to give their gold in order to fund the war against Napoleon Bonaparte.

Obvious scam. The man had been buried for over ten years at this point.

But yeah, it seemed to work, and so could this.

Ah, mercantilism. I agree, on the condition that we bring back the powdered wigs.

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