The News Rules of Spending for the Rich

公元前七世纪，希腊法典规定，任何一位自由女性不得携带一名以上贴身女仆，醉酒情况下除外。她们还不得夜里在城里到处游荡，佩带黄金首饰，不得穿带刺绣的袍子，公开的职业娼妓除外。Associated Press2004年11月4日，“吹牛老爹”P. Diddy在纽约庆祝自己的35岁生日过去的这些“禁奢令”是为防范人们（包括职业人士）行为不轨。在英国伊丽莎白一世时代，这类禁令也同样发挥了作用，当时，皇室希望通过类似的规定压制不断增加的反抗者。规定要求：任何人的外衣上不得带有刺绣丝织锦缎，贵族后代或骑士除外。《纽约时报》专栏作者布鲁克斯(David Brooks)最近在专栏文章中调侃说，美国富人现在正在面临一种新的“禁奢令”。这次，不是皇室颁布法令压制布尔乔亚们，而是中产阶级制定规则压制富人。首先受到警告的是汽车业高管，他们之前还没有意识到，美国社会已不能接受他们搭乘私人飞机到华盛顿从事游说。然后是前美林公司(Merrill Lynch)首席执行长塞恩(John Thain)。他因花费35,000给办公室洗手间添置马桶而遭到指责，人们已不能接受这样的行为。接下来是突然遭到白宫批评的华尔街管理人士，总统对他们如今形势下还像往年一样大发奖金感到很光火。布鲁克斯说，这些富人正经历“社会自我否定”，因为社会对可接受的开支的观念改变了。在这样一个后TARP（问题资产救助计划）后政府救助奥巴马时代，制定富人开支标准的不是其他富人，而是住在首都华盛顿西北“三区”(Ward Three)的那些左倾监管人士记者律师奥巴马的助手和高级公务员们。现在是三区的人在掌权，而他们不喜欢富人。布鲁克斯说，这导致国家大手花钱，个人则被要求像清教徒一样清心寡欲。所有这些给今天的富人们提出了一个很实际的问题：有关花钱的新规则是什么？社会上认为一个富人应该怎样享受他的劳动果实支持经济增长（或者，用奥巴马的话说“舒适地生活”），而不会遭到媒体和公众的口诛笔伐？以下是我自己草拟的几条奥巴马时代的“禁奢令”：购物袋任何在罗迪欧大道麦迪逊大道或沃斯大道购物的自由人都不得携带上面带有图标缎带手工装饰嵌丝纸或镶嵌珠宝的外观扎眼的购物袋。购物时，所有昂贵商品必须由美国邮政寄送回家，或自己用没有任何图案的白色或棕色纸袋带回家。推荐使用食品杂物袋。炫酷服饰严格禁止穿着300美元以上牛仔服或佩带30万美元以上不显示时间的手表和外形尺寸超过粗盐的能看得见的珠宝首饰。所有这些惹眼的服饰都应部分或全部隐蔽起来，不过，对“夜里在城里到处游荡”的男人或女人，5克拉的钻石舌钉尚可接受。旅行车辆限制在丰田普锐斯(Prius)或其他采用混合动力的车型（但凯迪拉克Escalade除外）。航空旅行限制乘经济舱或货舱。禁止私人飞行，不论是通过包机分时所有权飞机乘机卡航班还是私人飞机。宠物乘坐私人飞机的情况只有在宠物没有其主人陪伴的情况下才允许。聚会生日聚会和少女16岁生日聚会的开销不得超过200万美元。Robert Frank相关阅读危机之下 情人掉价 2008-11-20纽约富人刮起节俭风 2008-09-25


In the seventh century B.C., the Greek legal code stipulated that 'no free woman should be allowed any more than one maid to follow her, unless she was drunk: nor was to stir out of the city by night, wear jewels of gold about her, or go in an embroidered robe, unless she was a professed and public prostitute.'Such rules, now known as sumptuary laws, were aimed at putting people (and professionals) in their place. And they proved equally useful in Elizabethan England, when royals sought to tamp down the expanding ranks of strivers with such dictates as: 'None shall wear any in his apparel embroidery, taffeta, satin damask in his outermost garments unless he is a Baron's sons or Knight.'In his New York Times column Monday, David Brooks quips that the American rich are now subject to a new kind of sumptuary code. This time it isn't royals imposing rules to tamp down the bourgeoisie, but the middle class creating rules to drag down the wealthy.First, there were those auto executives who didn't realize that it is no longer socially acceptable to use private jets for lobbying trips to Washington. Then there was John Thain, who was humiliated because it is no longer acceptable to spend $35,000 on a commode for a Merrill Lynch office suite. Then there are the Wall Street executives who were suddenly attacked from the White House for giving out the same sort of bonuses they've been giving out for years.The rich, says Mr. Brooks, are undergoing 'social self-immolation' because the rules of acceptable spending have changed. In a post-TARP, post-bailout, Obama world, spending rules for the rich aren't being set by other rich people. They are being set by 'Ward Three,' the area of D.C. populated by left-leaning regulators, journalists, lawyers, Obama aides and senior civil servants.Ward Three folks are now in charge, and they don't like rich people. This, he says, has 'nationalized extravagance and privatized Puritanism.'All of which raises a practical question for today's rich: what are the new rules of spending? How is a rich guy supposed to enjoy the fruits of his labor and support the economy (or, as Mr. Obama put it, 'live high on the hog') without getting media-pitch forked by the angry mob?Here are a few of my own Sumptuary Laws for the Age of Obama.SHOPPING BAGS No free person shopping on Rodeo Drive, Madison Avenue or Worth Ave., shall carry items in attention-seeking shopping bags containing logos, ribbons, hand-crafted, silk-woven paper or encrusted jewels. Upon purchase, all luxury items must be shipped home via the U.S. Postal Service or carried home in unmarked white or brown paper bags. Grocery bags preferred.BLING The wearing of $300 jeans, $300,000 watches that don't tell time and visible jewels larger than a grain of kosher salt are strictly forbidden. All bling should be partially or completely concealed, although five-carat diamond tongue studs can be acceptable for women and men who 'stir out of the city by night.'TRAVEL Automobile use is restricted to the Prius and other hybrid models (the hybrid Escalade doesn't count). Air travel is restricted to coach or the cargo hold. Flying private is forbidden, whether on charters, fractionals, jet card flights or private jets. Flying pets on private jets is allowed only if the pet isn't accompanied by the owner.PARTIES Expenses for birthday parties and Sweet Sixteens aren't to exceed $2 million.Robert Frank