Miss. Opinionated : Are You Kidding Me? Musings of China's Second Generation Ultra-Rich Kids (and the Fakers)
The Rich, The Wasteful and the Distasteful
There's living comfortably, living luxuriously, and then there's decadence. Which is the only word that can describe what's going on with kids belonging to the upper echelons of society in China.
However, there's also a whole "class" of people who fancy themselves as the rich, act like prudes and have some what skewed notions of value. These people desperately try to portray themselves living an opulent lifestyle, as if they come from a wealthy family or privileged background. This of course is a front, one used to try attract a partner coming from ACTUAL wealth. But as they say: "You can gift wrap a package of shit, but it's still shit".
It surely brings new meaning to the phrase "Fake it till you make it".
Take this online bout between a self labelled internet celebrity, and an actual second generation rich kid for example.
Internet Celebrity Girl (网红)
I spent 1 Million RMB on plastic surgery
Daily maintenance : 20,000 RMB
Handbag : 30,000 RMB
Shoes and Clothes : 30,000 RMB
Bracelets, Watches and other Accessories :
100,000+ RMB
A girl with moderately good standard of living will be worth around 2 Million RMB when going out (Plastic Surgery, Clothes, Shoes, Bags and Accessories) and you come pick me up in a Mazda for dinner?
Are you kidding me?
--Thoughts from a self labelled Internet Celebrity Girl
Real Words from an actual Second Generation Rich Kid
I spent 5 Million RMB on a super car
Usually spend about 1 Million RMB a year in nightclubs
Clothes and Shoes minus Watches and Accessories : 2 Million RMB
A moderately rich second generation rich kid will be worth about 10 Million RMB going out.
You f*ckin' spend 1 Million RMB on plastic surgery and expect to get in MY car?
Are you kidding me?
-- Actual Second-Generation rich kid
Miss Opinionated's Opinion
Much of the wealth these kids now frivolously enjoy and throw away on lavish flamboyant lifestyles are a result of a whole generation of Chinese people who worked extremely hard to create this wealth. Contrary to popular belief, the parents of these rich kids do not behave like them. In-fact, owing to their humble roots, they do not spend their money on unnecessary extravagances but at the same time, want to give their children a better life than they themselves had.
What happens when the kids no longer feel motivated to create their own wealth because their parents have provided everything?
In Chinese we have a saying which is 富不过三代 meaning "Rich for no more than three generations".
The first generation creates the wealth, and the subsequent generations only know how to spend.
In the case of our two internet friends, clearly it's a matter of which is the lesser of two evils. Both spend ludicrous amounts of money on luxury. Fair if they made the money themselves. But sadly, not the case for either. The girls are mostly gold diggers looking for a rich guy to support their ritzy lifestyle, and the guys only know how to spend their parents money on being Casanova's picking up these "easy" to please girls.
How do we solve a growing wealth disparity, and improve quality of life when the rich quibble over such stupid matters?
现在的年轻人分2种，一种喜欢假装富有，一种是真正富有，前一部分喜欢假装富有去吸引真正富有的人。就像下面这两个年轻人的对话。但是钱不是长在树上的，现在的小朋友化的钱都是上一代长辈辛苦赚来的钱，很多人误解上一代的人影响了小朋友铺张花钱，教他们的孩子怎么花大钱，其实他们只是想要他们的孩子过比他们更好的生活，不希望他们的孩子和他们一样辛苦的过日子。但是这些孩子只懂得怎么花钱，而不会赚钱，应验了那句古话：富不过三代。当我们每天都在纠结这些问题的时候，我们又怎么可以去改善国家的贫富差距和提升每个人的生活品质呢？
It's funny how it's like a bragging contest, but in the end they have nothing on the ultra-rich. They can spend as much as they want on their little cars and clubs, but if Bill Gates really wanted to he could BLOW THEM OUT OF THE WATER! Probably quite literally, he could buy himself like 10 battleships, aim the cannons and fire away.
The best part about being rich is the journey and earning the money yourself. I wouldn't know how to live if I had millions from my parents.. I see trust fund babies just confused and wandering around like lost children. Silly. Pathetic even. Oh well :) funny read
Yeah, it's all rather pointless in the end.
Are you kidding me #areukiddingme ! LOL. I could imagine that it's way more amplified in China because of the extreme wealth disparity (i think). But otherwise, pretty much the same.. #richkidsofinstagram .. I wonder if they'll thrive here :)
Anyway, as a friend always say -
Haha, you're right, wealth disparity is a huge problem in China. It makes people go to extreme lengths to make a living. I quite like #areyoukiddingme as a tag, we should do some more posts with it!
I think it has plenty to do with platforms.
IRL, good samaritans dont generally get rewarded, and it's much better to be on the opposite side of the spectrum. The platform IRL (gov with its centralized appointment of identity) doesn't do much to reward and incentivize good behaviour - it doesn't get amplified as much. Similarly, platforms like FB etc does help with empathy and such, but at the same time, it plays with numbers which aren't even linked to the notion of "paying attention". I think "paying attention" on Steemit has an extra dimension in which paying actually means something, one's attention is inherently tied to influence / stakes on the platform. Liking on FB / Twitter isn't really "paying attention". Lol, hope it isn't too convoluted an explanation.
oh yea definitely . #areyoukiddingme (i think quite applicable for a variety of topics)
I would have so much use for that hashtag. lol good call.
they dont have a chance on Steemit, is my best guess.
I think user behaviour will change.. perhaps for the better
These rich kids got all the wealth from the corrupt fiat money system in the end controlled by the secret societies. They will not come on steemit for a very very very long time, if ever in their lifetime, they dont like the truth, that are on steemit... So in the end, if they came on they would not have any friends, thats my best guess. The pyramid is in a way turned upside down with blockchain technology... sorry if my explanation is too wild... Steem on! Lasse
A striking post! Thanks for sharing and namaste :)
Thanks eric!
namaste！
#areyoukiddingme ? ;)
good societal study nice post.
thanks! It's not just a problem in China though, I think it's a systemic issue from countries growing too big, too quickly. We'll probably see the same happen in India as well..
Yes I agree this is a universal problem seem to be societal on the face of it but actually has it's root in psyche and is a manifestation self centrism.
You are right, Brazil has the most inequality in the world as fare as I know.
I grew up in India, I couldn't agree more. I think it has actually been happening for quite some time. The deal with India is that the majority of its population are in their 20s. The youth of India have different ideas apart from the smaller aging population. The culture continues but there are definitely some changes happening that are what some youth would call progressive. Technology has helped bring India up from economically and educationally. The population of India is also catching up with China, so it will be interesting to see how the country handles the increase in population as India's wealth increases. I could predict that at some point the population will increase and the markets drop out and many people who had money will lose out. This is similar to what happened in America during the Great Recession of 2008, where you had many about to retire lose most of their portfolios and due to their age the potential to rebound was less likely. How sad, right?
worth thinking,thank u for your posting.
Thank you so much for this post ! Unfortunately, this picture is not typical only in China , in other countries , this phenomenon is the place to be ! In Russia, such children are called "Golden youth" . Nothing can be done ! I will follow you !
I had no idea this was the case in Russia too. Perhaps they're better at hiding their behaviour within closed circles. In China its very open..
thats incredible, but thats the reality...
I'm wonder if the one child policy in the past has contribute a bit to this kind of pampering from the rich parents.
I think that's a very real explanation contributing to what we see. However, culturally I think Chinese are more susceptible to showing off wealth.
See it in Japan also. But regionally it is different.
你也是网红了 :)