Luxury is Subjective - The Cultural Bias in Status Symbols

--- by D. Petkovski ---

What is luxury?

In simplest terms, it’s a condition of abundance – possessing or experiencing something considered rare, valuable, or exclusive, often accompanied by a sense of indulgence and enjoyment.

At the same time, it’s is not a universally accepted concept across all cultures and societies. The perception of luxury can vary greatly from one region to another, as it is often shaped by local values, traditions, and socio-economic contexts.

Table of Contents

Cultural Bias in Luxury – Western EU vs The Balkans

Status symbols also aren’t objective or universal.

As someone that has lived in multiple countries and immersed in various cultures, I’ve had the opportunity to see what people value in different places.

And trust me, the list can be quite large if I start listing every thing I’ve observed.

Also, to avoid relying just on personal observations, I analyzed an art-form where status symbols are explicitly pointed out: rap music.

Analysis of Rap Videos – Status Symbols Edition

Rap Video Case Study #1: Eating Out

A Dutch rapper brags, among other things, that he is eating out every day and haven’t cooked in years.

Most people in the Balkans would find this confusing, as every working-class individual can and does afford to eat out multiple times per week.

In the “West”, “eating out” is seen as a special event that’s planned weeks upfront, is recounted over and over in the tiniest details, and in many cases requires budgeting. In Serbia, people simply go out and eat.

Rap Video Case Study #2: Car Ownership

Now let’s switch the roles – I know about multiple songs from Balkan rappers that are titled after car brands such as Audi or BMW.

Of course, those are more expensive than a Fiat or Renault, but most westerners would find the glorification of a mid-tier Audi quite weird since it’s a brand that many working-class people actually drive.

In the Balkans that’s not the case – owning a semi-luxury car puts you in a different position in the society and that’s reflected in the music as well.

Rap Video Case Study #3: Housing

A video of a rapper flexing possessions in front of a big farmhouse in a Dutch village.

This of course resonates with the average Dutchie that fell victim to the housing crisis.

However, in the Balkans, 95%+ of the people own their homes (compared to the EU average of ~30%). And without a shortage, most Balkan rappers would find it weird to flex owning their primary residence, especially out of the capital city. It’s like bragging that you can afford bills, to an extent.

Rap Video Case Study #4: Traveling

Balkan rappers oftentimes mention European capitals that are considered “expensive” or “exclusive”.

I can’t imagine a Luxembourgish woman being fascinated that her boyfriend “took her” to Brussels or Paris. I mean, many young adults from EU take a year off after studies to immerse in another culture overseas.

But since travelling is less common and more expensive for the people in the Balkans, songs about visiting or shopping in certain places resonate with most people.

What Does Rap Music Tell Us?

Status symbols emerge in areas where most countrymen of these performers are lacking.

And we observe this over and over again, in modern-day rap culture and throughout history – flashing cake to the hungry peasants.

A detached spectator might consider this malevolent, but at the end, using his own social conditioning to judge others for the circumstances they grew up in also exhibits bigotry.

It really takes observing all cultural norms from a third-person perspective in order to understand how foolish most biases are. And it’s almost impossible to notice this from within, as the societal benefits of flashing these symbols reinforce the belief that they’re indeed valuable.

And this is where we enter the ~~non~~ less-materialistic realm.

Global Status Symbols

Regardless of the existence of an observer, there are a few things that provide objective value to a human in the framework that we live in.

This brings us to the global status symbols, most of which encapsulate under “freedom”.

But there are many layers of freedom – personal, financial, political, ideological, etc. So here’s a list of luxuries that’d be appreciated by everyone and everywhere:

Abundance of time and pursuit of self-actualization
Self-reliance and mental resilience
Being an attentive, considerate, and caring partner, descendant, and parent
Financial abundance and absence of material concerns
Ability to satisfy one’s emotional, physical, and intellectual needs
Being in an optimal to prime physical condition
Conditions to relax and pursue hedonism in a balanced manner
Ability to exercise professional pursuits without geographical constraints
Spending uninterrupted quality time with loved ones
Having a fallback that is more than “good enough”, even if all aspirations fail

And a few more freedom representations that are less obvious to the average person but will turn out extremely important: multiple citizenships and residencies, self-custodying Bitcoin, autonomy in choice, expression, and movement.

Of course, our values and ideas for “the good life” may differ.

I’m totally immersed into pursuing my path and living by my moral code and everyone should be free to do the same.

As such, I highly encourage you to evaluate your priorities and put your best efforts to be the person you would enjoy being, unrestricted by societal expectations or common gauges of status.

That may be the only way to live a life worth living.

Author

D. Petkovski

📓 The Author Husband & Father
Software Engineer StrengthCentric
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