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Luxury Fever
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The pressure to emulate the lifestyles of the super-rich has left Britain's middle classes suffering from 'luxury fever', according to a new study. -BBC NEWS
The real concerns of yesterday's poor have become the imagined concerns of today's rich. Nearly half of those earning more than 35,000 a year said they couldn't afford items they considered "essential", such as luxury cars, cosmetic surgery and state-of-the-art homeware.
Author of the study Dr Clive Hamilton - who is a visiting scholar at Cambridge University - said the "suffering rich" felt poor and were racking up debt while losing out on quality of life.
Dr Hamilton told BBC News Online that the government's tax-cutting policies towards the middle classes were as much to blame as the modern-day media obsession with the luxury lifestyle of celebrities.
Manufacturers also had a part to play, by creating what Dr Hamilton called "entry level" products at relatively affordable prices, to give people a taste of decadence. "You can get a Jaguar for less than 20,000 now. That is within reach for a lot of people," he said.
Working with the British Market Research Bureau, Dr Hamilton - executive director of The Australia Institute - also found that four in ten people with an income of over 50,000 a year felt deprived. He said it was becoming increasingly difficult for celebrities to distinguish themselves as more and more people fork out on designer labels and foreign holiday homes.
"In earlier eras people set their aspirations for their standard of living by their own social class, and the people around them. However, television and other media, has broken down those barriers, and people are increasingly setting their aspirations by people who lead a luxurious life."
"How do they remain conspicuous? It's a real dilemma for them," he said. Meanwhile British "luxury fever" sufferers are paying a high price for their lifestyle. Credit card debt has trebled in the last seven years, along with a sharp rise in personal bankruptcies. And a large number of people are sacrificing leisure time and time spent with family, so they can work longer hours to fund their decadent tastes.
Overconsumption and increased waste is adding to Britain's environmental problems. "The real concerns of yesterday's poor have become the imagined concerns of today's rich," said Dr Hamilton. "This 'deprivation syndrome' induces politicians to distort policy to reduce the burden of taxation and increase public payments to wealthy households."
He said a culture of middle-class complaint had been created. This emphasis on the tribulations of the middle classes not only validates the preoccupation of wealthy people with their own financial circumstances, but crowds out sympathy for those who are genuinely struggling."
Q1) If you can afford to shop around anything you want, what could be your top 3 luxury products made by Korea ? And made by foreign countries? Please name them all.
Q2) What are the good merits and demerits of luxury products? Are there something special in it?
Q3) Thanks to luxury fever, a lot of imitations do play its role for many people. What is imitation? And what are the social or psychological benefit by holding imitations?
Q4) Asian is regular customer for luxury business field other than western countries. Can you guess why Asian gets notorious reputation over having appetite for luxury products?
이 글은「대학연합영어토론동아리」www.pioneerclub.com에서 제공하는 영어토론 정보입니다.
The real concerns of yesterday's poor have become the imagined concerns of today's rich. Nearly half of those earning more than 35,000 a year said they couldn't afford items they considered "essential", such as luxury cars, cosmetic surgery and state-of-the-art homeware.
Author of the study Dr Clive Hamilton - who is a visiting scholar at Cambridge University - said the "suffering rich" felt poor and were racking up debt while losing out on quality of life.
Dr Hamilton told BBC News Online that the government's tax-cutting policies towards the middle classes were as much to blame as the modern-day media obsession with the luxury lifestyle of celebrities.
Manufacturers also had a part to play, by creating what Dr Hamilton called "entry level" products at relatively affordable prices, to give people a taste of decadence. "You can get a Jaguar for less than 20,000 now. That is within reach for a lot of people," he said.
Working with the British Market Research Bureau, Dr Hamilton - executive director of The Australia Institute - also found that four in ten people with an income of over 50,000 a year felt deprived. He said it was becoming increasingly difficult for celebrities to distinguish themselves as more and more people fork out on designer labels and foreign holiday homes.
"In earlier eras people set their aspirations for their standard of living by their own social class, and the people around them. However, television and other media, has broken down those barriers, and people are increasingly setting their aspirations by people who lead a luxurious life."
"How do they remain conspicuous? It's a real dilemma for them," he said. Meanwhile British "luxury fever" sufferers are paying a high price for their lifestyle. Credit card debt has trebled in the last seven years, along with a sharp rise in personal bankruptcies. And a large number of people are sacrificing leisure time and time spent with family, so they can work longer hours to fund their decadent tastes.
Overconsumption and increased waste is adding to Britain's environmental problems. "The real concerns of yesterday's poor have become the imagined concerns of today's rich," said Dr Hamilton. "This 'deprivation syndrome' induces politicians to distort policy to reduce the burden of taxation and increase public payments to wealthy households."
He said a culture of middle-class complaint had been created. This emphasis on the tribulations of the middle classes not only validates the preoccupation of wealthy people with their own financial circumstances, but crowds out sympathy for those who are genuinely struggling."
Q1) If you can afford to shop around anything you want, what could be your top 3 luxury products made by Korea ? And made by foreign countries? Please name them all.
Q2) What are the good merits and demerits of luxury products? Are there something special in it?
Q3) Thanks to luxury fever, a lot of imitations do play its role for many people. What is imitation? And what are the social or psychological benefit by holding imitations?
Q4) Asian is regular customer for luxury business field other than western countries. Can you guess why Asian gets notorious reputation over having appetite for luxury products?
이 글은「대학연합영어토론동아리」www.pioneerclub.com에서 제공하는 영어토론 정보입니다.
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