Thursday, 22 August 2013

The Paradox of Ostentation.

I walked past a brand new, very big, top-of-the-top-range Jaguar today. It stood out like a carbuncle among the ordinary cars, and had me pondering my attitude to ostentation. It may be summarised thus:

‘Ostentation is the flaunting of expensive accoutrements for the express purpose of garnering empty approbation, and in so doing demonstrates a cheapness of spirit.’

If I were ever to become very rich, I hope and trust that I wouldn’t stoop to such a demonstration. If you think that’s an example of inverted snobbery, you might be partly right, or you might be wholly wrong.

And of course, if I were to buy a top-of-the-top-range Jaguar simply because I liked the look of it and didn’t give a damn what anybody else thought, it wouldn’t be ostentation, would it?

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