What is money if we don't spend it? This question does not seem to pose a problem for India's newest economic class of nouveau riche farmers. Many of these farmers have found themselves suddenly rich by selling their land and reaping the benefits. It is not these new pockets of wealth that are of interest, however; it's what these newly rich farmers decide to do with their money. For many, the influx of cash translates to "Spend Big, and Spend Now." The attached picture illustrates this: the newly rich Yadav family has decided to marry off their son by flying him in a helicopter to his bride's hometown. Although this impulsive consumption could be blamed on poor education and financial planning, as well as the allure of cold hard cash, sociologists say that much of it is due to the desire of lower casts to "show off their social mobility, partly by emulating the practices of the upper classes."
In India, a country with a strict caste system, social mobility is considered a rarity and a well-earned privilege. Everyone wants to be better than their neighbors, and the more material wealth you show off, the richer you are perceived to be. In fact, many of these farmers are truly rich by Western standards. But we're seeing the same effect here as was demonstrated by the Harvard students economics study - it doesn't matter how much money you have; it just matters how much you have in comparison to everyone else.
5 comments:
In my opinion, I feel like this shows how condescending society is. In a capitalist economy, there will always be someone at the top making more money than the rest, and there will always be someone at the bottom. Almost always, the lower class is always looked down upon while upper class elites like to flaunt their riches. Because the lower classes are so looked down upon, they look at the riches of the upper class with envy and try to have the same kind of luxuries the upper class has. This ends up in spending way too much money on unnecessary luxuries leaving them with little or no money for the future, as described in this post.
-Michael C
That's disappointing. I suppose that mentality is the reason why fake LV bags generate a lot of money. I understand their reasoning of wanting to make the marriage grand but spending maybe two years or more worth of income on less than ten minutes isn't always the smartest move. Sure, they can have their fifteen minutes of fame then but people will just look down at them later for their spending choices later on. ;/ Plus the richer class are sometimes looked down upon as well. "Oh, they are too good for us" Vise versa. I suppose thats why the US is a "middle class" nation. ;) They want to flaunt their wealth but be humble about it.
I agree with both Michael and Lily. I also feel that the the idea of this getting rich and spending it as fast as one can can also relate to the idea that these farmers fear that their money will lose in value. Maybe not as severe as inflation but rather they feel that they were able to achieve their large amount of money in such an expedient way that they are scared there money will leave just as fast as it came. I also believe like Lily said that it could be the fleeting moment of "fame" but this type of fame, I would assume would be viewed as completely superficial and uneducated by the upper class. Which ultimately would be the worst direction to go to if these farmers were truly interested in being viewed as a higher class.
i agree with micahel.. this new class isnt very helpful to the indian people because the rich will get richer and the poor poorer..
I agree with you 100% Julia. India is soooo materialistic, it's not even funny. People there are after brand names, expensive cars, big houses, and VIP passes to clubs. I like the name of the new class though...the spending gurus. Land in India especially in the Punjab, is skyrocketing. Punjab or the northern part of India is a farm area and land there that was once cheap is worth 10 times the price now.People that own land and do farming belong to the Jatt cast and they are one of the two classes that are very elite because they have money (aka land). In India, if you own land, you are well off. However, if you live on rent, then you are in a very unstable condition. That's how India is. Status or marriage is usually determined by wealth or amount of land you have. Everything in India revolves around money and because of that, corruption in India is skyrocketing. It's an inevitable part of this system.
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