LIFESTYLE

Our Gold-Plated Decay

How America normalizes elite lifestyles most people cannot actually afford

This is how I usually present myself on a random Tuesday. Don’t you? Photo by Asal Mshk on Unsplash

When did everything become so tacky and decadent even as more Americans struggle to pay rent?

In this great wealth divide, half of America is drowning, 10 percent is living it up and the shrinking middle class is trying its utmost to pass as wealthy.

America has always celebrated the rich. That part has never changed. But we’ve taken it to an extreme. We increasingly present elite lifestyles not as luxuries, but as normal life. And when ordinary people cannot afford those things, they assume they are failing.

Luxury Lifestyles Are Being Presented as Normal Life

Weddings are a good example. People of modest means feel pressured to put on a show they cannot afford. Every milestone now comes with the expectation of professional photography, coordinated aesthetics and Instagram-ready perfection.

The same thing has happened to beauty standards. Botox and fillers are increasingly discussed as routine maintenance for everyone instead of expensive cosmetic procedures for the wealthy. Professional manicures are treated as basic upkeep rather than luxuries.