Definitely living beyond their means.
James, you’re on to something with your post. Status within the group is very important to people, so important that they will hurt themselves financially to achieve the perception of high status …….. unfurnished McMansion,lol.
The competition for status pervades many of our interactions, it drives the sale of the latest clothing fashions, I see it being employed in the sales pitches for the latest, greatest, high speed low drag tactical gear …..gucciflage, a must have for the real operator, more macho than all other camouflage, lol. People stab friends and potential allies in the back to gain status. It even appears on obscure internet forums, resulting in needless bickering and hurt feelings …… LOL!
I majored in Anthropology in college, I particularly enjoyed cultural Anthropology. From that perspective meet the “Potlatch”, an interesting custom practiced by the indigenous peoples, the Indians, of the northwest.
“In the <i>potlatch</i>, the host in effect challenged a guest chieftain to exceed him in his ‘power’ to give away or to destroy goods. If the guest did not return 100 percent on the gifts received and destroy even more wealth in a bigger and better bonfire, he and his people lost face and so his ‘power’ was diminished.”<sup id=”cite_ref-9″ class=”reference”></sup>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potlatch …….. Yeah OK, wikipedia is good enough to get a feel for what this is about.
This was referred to as conspicuous consumption, proving status by “consuming”, giving away or destroying valuable assets, including the killing of slaves …… they had a special club just for that purpose.
We cannot help it, the drive for status is hardwired, part of the survival instincts, the need to achieve the highest status possible to reap the rewards, of which breeding rights was the foremost. If we understand these things we can control, to a large degree, the drive to act out on it, especially when it is inappropriate, for example, when it is tantamount to financial suicide.