One of the attractions of the series Successionwhose final season is airing these days on HBO, is that it lifts the veil on the lives of the ultra-rich: viewers revel in the lavish interiors, helicopter rides, breathtaking landscapes in which the powerful find themselves ( Tuscan countryside, Norwegian mountains, etc.).
The Roy family’s clothing even started a trend: “quiet luxury”, or discreet luxury, which consists of wearing ultra-expensive but ultra-neutral clothing, without a logo, because flaunting your wealth is vulgar, everyone knows that. , except the new rich…
In white dog, whose action takes place in California, Romain Gary spoke of “the provocative society” to describe the opposition between the exhibitionism of wealth and the poverty of the population who struggled to meet basic needs. Dahlia Namian made it the title of her virulent essay.
The professor of sociology at the University of Ottawa has collected a ton of data that she puts in opposition: on the one hand the violent excess of the rich, on the other the poverty and suffering of the masses. Pierre Falardeau had used the same process in The time of the jesters when he contrasted a meeting of wealthy businessmen on the one hand and the consequences of the conquest of Quebec by the English on the other. If not subtle, it was effective.
But rest assured, Dahlia Namian’s essay is not as Manichean as The time of the jesters. The author has done her research to fully explain the impact of the excesses of the rich on the lives of their contemporaries.
Let’s face it, his book comes at a very good time. Even if the luxury industry is doing well (the proof, Bernard Arnault is the richest man in the world and his LVMH group makes a fortune selling its Vuitton bags), the fascination exerted by the lifestyle of the ultra-rich begins to falter.
The pandemic, combined with the climate crisis and the economic crisis, has further widened the gap between social classes. Dahlia Namian reminds us that “the wealth of the 64 Canadian billionaires has increased by 57.1% since 2020”. Another piece of data underlines that the rich have become richer during the pandemic than during the previous 20 years!
Result: some things no longer work. Like this time when American host Ellen DeGeneres compared her confinement in her beautiful Californian villa to a prison when the majority of the population was living through the pandemic in apartments that were too small, without access to nature. The reaction had been strong.
Dahlia Namian reminds us that while people struggle to make ends meet wondering if their descendants will burn to death or drown on this planet shattered by natural disasters, the ultra-rich travel the world in their private jets, live in houses bigger and bigger and pay for space trips.
Dahlia Namian cites the example of Elon Musk floating a Tesla in space, just because he could. These destructive frenzies of the wealthy no longer amuse as much as before. They have become obscene.
The extravagances of the ultra-rich are just the tip of the iceberg. What is invisible to the naked eye is even more problematic: tax evasion, funding of political parties, occult influence, establishment of private foundations that influence the public policies of States, decisions made according to dividends from shareholders to the detriment of the well-being of the population and the workforce. The excesses and paradoxes of billionaires Carlos Slim, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, among others, are pointed out.
As Paul Reich, former adviser to Bill Clinton, recently pointed out on Facebook: “Elon Musk lost $13 billion in 24 hours on Thursday, and he is still the second richest person in the world. Don’t tell me billionaires can’t afford a wealth tax. »
One wonders if at the point where we are, a tax could change something, or if the system is not broken forever.
Extract
“Over the past decade, the number and funding of private foundations have grown in Canada, to the point that they are now reaping profits well in excess of inflation rates or the growth of Canadian GDP. However, this growth has not resulted in a greater redistribution of wealth. And that’s the rub. Despite its altruistic or “innovative” claims, philanthrocapitalism contributes to blurring the social safety net that protects the poorest and actually reduces inequalities, sometimes by privatizing essential public services, sometimes by capturing money that would otherwise go into the coffers of State. »
Who is Dahlia Namian?
- Dahlian Namian is a sociologist and teaches at the School of Social Work at the University of Ottawa.
- His research interests include social inequalities, homelessness, poverty, housing and dependency.
The provocative society – Essay on the obscenity of the rich
Dahlia Namian
Lux
233 pages