The rush to eliminate damning evidence of alleged ill-gotten wealth has started. Instagram accounts have been switched to private. Facebook accounts have been locked. Social media accounts have been deactivated.
Well, it’s about time — not just for the plunder to stop but for the flex, as well.
It might have all begun with an innocent flex. After all, when you work hard for something, it’s not wrong to be proud of what you have worked for: an award, a recognition, a promotion, a blemish-free face or a well-toned body.
But sometimes, the flexing can get out of control. It becomes an unhealthy competition.
I get that people are proud when they are able to own expensive stuff: beautiful homes, designer bags, luxury vehicles, expensive jewelry. But I’ve always felt it a bit tawdry to flaunt one’s wealth.
My mother always told me that the truly rich do not flaunt because they don’t have to. They, in fact, like to stay obscure and lowkey. And they are not victims of designer labels because they don’t have to prove anything to anyone.
Today’s rich kids, however, do not seem to want their wealth to go unnoticed. Their extravagant lifestyles are well-documented on social media and voluntarily shared to the world.
Is it for the dopamine hits? Perhaps, every love or like validates their existence, boosts their self-esteem and justifies their lifestyle. Perhaps, they want to be admired and envied.
Acquiring financial wealth is a feat that escapes many. The question is how did they acquire their wealth? From where do they derive income to fund their extravagant lifestyles?
The rich kids flaunting their lavish lifestyles, profligate parties and scandalous shopping sprees are children of politicians or contractors involved in spurious government contracts.
No one can buy designer bags and watches worth millions on a fixed government salary. How does a government engineer earning a monthly salary of P60,000 afford to wear a designer shirt valued at P96,000 and a luxury wristwatch priced at P2M? When you work for the government and you own a P500M mansion abroad, that requires an explanation, if not, an investigation.
What kind of government terrorizes legitimate business owners with higher taxes, increased business expenditures and extortion schemes while its own personnel raid the nation’s coffers and rob its citizens blind? Why should we pay taxes, at all?
Where is the justice in this country when those who work hard and honestly are summarily penalized for every small infraction yet those who steal and plunder with impunity are allowed to prosper, flaunt their ill-gotten wealth and go scot-free?
It’s time people stopped flaunting their wealth—honestly-earned or ill-gotten. In a country teeming with poverty, it is extremely insensitive of the wealthy to think it acceptable to flaunt their wealth when the majority wallow in poverty.
But it’s even worse when you flaunt the fruits of plunder. These rich kids showing off extravagant private plane trips, shopping hauls and restaurant bills are off the deep end. Their behavior has been enabled by parents who are, themselves, drunk with their wealth. After all, who supplies the money to squander?
Their greed is staggering. Who needs 40 luxury vehicles in their garage? When you buy something not to use but simply to look at, you know you have fallen deep into the abyss of consumption addiction.
Wealth, unless acquired through the fruits of your labors, is not necessarily something to be proud of. What you do with your wealth, however, is something you could potentially be proud of.