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Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
"Luxury Shame" Will Be Big For Winter

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KillMeNow no longer has a future in journalism
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
My entire place of business is due to close in one month. The theoretical has become disappointingly real. Kinda wish I hadn't charged those earrings last month.
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Miss Smith Drank Your Vodka
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
I am still young enough to feel okay about this recession.

Before the recession, I could not buy a car or house, so I am okay with that.

I was not making great money despite my student loan, so I am okay having a job that pays less than usual, as I wasn't making great money.

But, I am very worried about my hard-working father and mother ... who have always been low middle class and have just seen their retirements ripped to shreds. My dad is a construction worker who cannot go on much longer because of severe knee and back problems, and his modest retirement is now diminished.

That's when I get mad at these fat pigs who feel they're hurting because they have to take a cab instead of a company town car. Or buy Marc by Marc Jacobs instead of Marc Jacobs.

Shut-up before you get mobbed! By me!
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Miss Smith Drank Your Vodka
12/09/08

@Miss Smith Drank Your Vodka: I mean despite my degree. The student loans kills me, so I guess that was a Freudian slip.
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SkipToMyLou
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
Maybe this is just an awful, tin-eared British thing. My husband subscribes to the Financial Times , a British business newspaper. Their magazine insert on Sundays is called How To Spend It . No shit. Last week it was the "Celebration Issue". It was like a man version of GOOP, with a thousand cloned man-Gywneths suggesting you buy 300,000pound Aston Martins, or 5,000 pound Patek Philippe watches. Hate. Burning hate every time I see that pink rag in my house.
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rah29
12/09/08

@SkipToMyLou: It's somewhat a British thing. The conspicuous consumption among the moneyed classes, in London in particular, has been so outrageous lately that the resentment is understandable. He also makes a key point that I think isn't as applicable in the US--the recession has been kind of good to some people so far. VAT (the tax on almost anything you buy) has been cut as far as the EU will allow, making the cost of buying things much lower; plus the obscenely inflated house prices are going down to a level when people my boyfriend's age (28) might actually be able to afford to buy for the first time in years. If you have a fairly secure job or are so rich it doesn't matter--shut up about how fashionable it is to be thrifty!
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Lizawithazee
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
I had gotten to the point in my life where I was occasionally feeling wistful for the carefree life I led in my early 20s. But I meant the fun, the body and the face, not the bank account!
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Aesop's Foibles. YES.
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
Dude I can't even afford the thrift shop right now. I have decided that the last unemployment check I receive before Christmas will be spent on gifts for my nearest/dearest. I realize this means my bills will be late as a result, but I refuse to forgo gifts this year. I will not be buying myself a present this year like I usually do, but that's alright, because one of my favorite things about the holidays is finding awesome gifts for my bf/fam/friends. That and all the glorious food.
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belle TL
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
The Today Show reference is what really irks me, as they vacillate between telling viewers to "buy, buy buy" and advocating going to consignment shops and thrift stores as a "guilt-free" impulse to shop.
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belle TL
12/09/08

@bellethellama: Ugh, I meant as a guilt-free alternative for one's impulse to shop.
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yellow_dog
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
They're not necessarily faking it completely. Even the wealthy have seen their wealth decreasing as the markets have been in free fall. It's not the same as worrying about your rent and food budget and losing your job, but feeling less rich is still a feeling.
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Plum-Pie
12/09/08

@yellow_dog: Yes, like it's often middle class middle-aged men who commit suicide due to losing their jobs/other financial problems.

If you've always been poor, lack of money is not a reason to kill yourself.
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pandorasmittens
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
I've said it before: Le Hameau, Part II. The French court picked eggs to embrace the novelty of "a simpler existence" while the poor had no chickens with which to obtain eggs.

I hope that at some point some of the Bourgeoisie will realize that there are people to whom "cutting back" is not a novelty or a temporary occurrence. They do it to survive, and it is never "haute".
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BuffySummers
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
Ugh. That's exactly how I felt listening to the Detroit auto manufacturer guys chirp on and on about how they carpooled to D.C and "got up at 5 a.m. to start the drive". Cry about it. I get up at 4 a.m. every single day to take the bus to work. Granted, they are actually getting hurt (professionally at least) by the downturn, but they just sounded like they were sooo pleased with themselves and assumed everyone else would be too.
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bluebears
12/09/08

@BuffySummers: well to be fair they were responding to the shit they were given about originally taking private jets to D.C.
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Bunsen Honeydew
12/09/08

@bluebears: The shit they deserved to get. Nobody deserves a private jet when they're threatening thousands of jobs existence.
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Kivrin
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
I can't make it through this article because I saw "Renton" in the byline and started thinking about Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting and how I find him sooo attractive in that movie even though he's doing a really good imitation of a heroin junkie and now I'm overwhelmed with shame and self-loathing...again.
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Kivrin
12/09/08

@Kivrin: On a more serious note...I'm having a really hard time with Christmas shopping this year. My own socioeconomic status hasn't changed (yet), but the macroeconomic situation just has me in a very un-spendy place. I just hope that anyone with whom I exchange gifts will understand why their present might be a bit, well, less this year.
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gherkinfiend
12/09/08

@Kivrin: he's a guilty pleasure of mine too. I might do my bit for the economy tomorrow and buy Trainspotting on DVD...
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jennyOH
12/09/08

@Kivrin: Ha, glad I'm not the only one who immediately had visions of Ewan MacGregor!
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Kivrin
12/09/08

@gherkinfiend, jennyOH: Oh good, I'm not alone. :)
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tomatoheart
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
This year my parents told all of us kids (there are 5 of us) that they were "cancelling christmas". Despite not caring too much about all the bullshit around christmas, I balked. "Why exactly are we cancelling christmas? I've already found some gifts I'd like to give?" They mentioned the faltering economy. I looked at them in horror -- this was coming from the mouth of folks, who just last week bought new flooring for their entire giant house and who two weeks before that bought new HDTVs. I went ahead as planned with my gift giving -- especially sending some love to my sister who just moved 3,000 miles away.
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Ultraprison!
12/09/08

@delicatetbone: my grandparents tried to lower the maximum giving amount for everyone this year. they have two houses. no one in the family has lost their job. what is it with rich old people and trying to seem thrifty?
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labeled
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
Cheerful managing? Yup - you want to know my new goal? To studiously ignore any and all mention of the economy for a while. (Fail! but I'm working on it. I haven't loaded the live Dow ticker even once today.)

Seriously, though. Fear begets fear. And I can't afford to be afraid right now, because I'm the only motherfuckingthing holding my family's sanity together as we face crazy-scary downsizing and plant closures in my husband's industry. (Yay, wallboard/building products.)

And frankly, I can't get too worked up if some others are resentful that I'm fucking worried that he may not have a job tomorrow, but he does *today, and I've been spending accordingly. Which means thriftily. Because that's what you're supposed to do when you're afraid that you know how to pay your bills TODAY, but tomorrow might be a motherfucker.

Uh. Sorry for the personal.
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J.D.Regent
12/09/08

@labeled: yeah i am totally the only one with any semblance of stability in my family right now. And I am not that stable. Sometimes you have to take it easy just for survival's sake. Fear is a luxury we can't always afford!
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labeled
12/09/08

@J.D.Regent: Ain't that the truth.
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littlemissvan
12/09/08

@labeled: Yeah, right now my job is safe, but I'm not sure for how long that will be the case. Fortunately people seem to still be buying books in Canada, but all the shakeups at the big publishing companies in the US are really scary to see from here. So I will feel no shame in giving everyone jars of jam I made this summer.
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hellosunshine
12/09/08

@labeled: I mentioned this in another thread, but I had to leave work early yesterday AND be out today because I'm so queasy and vomity that I don't know if I could get out my apartment door without hurling. I've had to take way too many sick days this year and am terrified that I won't have a job tomorrow.
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labeled
12/09/08

@littlemissvan: @hellodarling!: Fingers crossed all the way around. And Darling, puhleeeeeeze - any employer should bow at your feet and feed you homemade soup until you feel up to sharing your genius with them again!
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hellosunshine
12/09/08

@labeled: Oh, HOW I LOVE YOU. My backup plan is to stick Boyfriend with the lease and head on down to Dallas, where I have an apartment and a kickass recruiter waiting for me. And a car.
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hellosunshine
12/09/08

@hellodarling!: Actually, what the hell. Why didn't I stick him with the lease in the first place.
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special_boots
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
I'm not technically poorer this Christmas, but I sort of am: my company (an online news publication) just announced that there will be no raises this January (the policy is raises for everyone each January) and one important employee who left recently will not be replaced. So more work and the same amount of money for everyone, and since the cost of living has gone up, it's less money, really.

I hope no one is expecting any Christmas presents from me. =/
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sportz.star
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
I try my best not to complain - and to get good gifts for family for the holidays, because while regular things, especially food, are a lot more expensive, I still have and continue to be a paid a very comfortable salary and my job is not in jeopardy. Why would I jump on the "poor me" bandwagon? This Christmas, I'm doing my best to help the consumer economy as much as I can!

Not everyone is in the same spot. I'm lucky. I will try and share my luck. Which will likely make me poor. Oh well,
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Bunsen Honeydew
12/09/08

@sportz.star: Good for you. That's really nice to hear. I'm in a similar boat, and I don't go bragging about my "Hand-made Christmas" with my knitting buddies. But one thing to keep in mind when you are doing well this holiday season is to buy American-made goods. I keep reminding everyone I know when they're going shopping. We want to keep decent paying manufacturing jobs here!
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sportz.star
12/09/08

@amy needs a clever name.: I am trying to do that!! People don't always realize that - I agree - spread the American-made gospel!
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Jessi Ramsey
12/09/08

In reply to Rich People: Shut Up! The Recession Backlash
thrifty chic. I don't know this couldn't come about when I was I middle school and my family shopped at Goodwill. Back then, I was made fun of for being poor and now that those same people are embracing it, it pisses me off.

Also, get out of my thrift shops! I'm selfish and I want more for me! Can't you replicate what you're trying to accomplish by going to Anthropologie?
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J.D.Regent
12/09/08

@Jessi Ramsey: seriously, GET OUT of the thrift shops. There are not that many pairs of Express work pants in good condition. Can't you people just stick to the sale racks at Neimans?
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Cam/ron
12/09/08

@Jessi Ramsey: But where will the young, hip and affluent go for their ironic, novelty T-shirts and trucker hats?
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J.D.Regent
12/09/08

@Cam/ron: they can go to Urban Outfitters, that's what it is there for.
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Jessi Ramsey
12/09/08

@Cam/ron: @J.D.Regent: Or Free People to look boho. Or American Apparel to look urban hipster.
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lisas
12/09/08

@Jessi Ramsey: If it makes you feel any better, I had the exact same reaction to grunge fashion. GO BUY YOUR PLAID AT GAP, RICHIES, LEAVE THIS FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE NO CHOICE.
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Miss Smith Drank Your Vodka
12/09/08

@Jessi Ramsey: Interestingly, I never see celebs or rick ppl at the real thrift stores. They go to those Hollywood and Santa Monica thrift stores that are selling used designer jeans at $50 or more a pop.

Make sure they stay out of my SA and they can keep those hoity toity "thrift" shops and "vintage" designer chop shops.
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