You will frequently see people mocking the nouveau riche, i.e., people who have recently acquired wealth, typically those perceived as ostentatious or lacking in good taste. (source: encyclopedia.com)
It's pretty easy to spot someone who has recently acquired wealth, especially if they were not previously wealthy. There are certain, dead giveaways because almost every nouveau riche does the same things. They splurge. They indulge. They flaunt their wealth. Usually, this involves spending money on things typically associated with 'being rich': expensive race cars, luxury designer clothing and accessories, property, artworks.
There's another similar term -"fashion victim", which refers to someone who is obsessed with wearing the latest trends, lacks any personal style and ends up looking like walking billboard. They're very easy to spot as they wearing a lot of the items which are "in" or popular this season, and more often than not they look extremely tacky wearing them. Fashion victims also usually buys only luxury goods like handbags, jewellery, watches, etc. An example of this would be the recent case of Christine Jiaxin Lee, a 21 year old Sydney student who is charged with fraud after a bank accidentally put $4.6 million in her account. Read more about this at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-05/woman-arrested-at-sydney-airport-over-alleged-fraud/7385482
It's undeniable that suddenly coming into a large sum of wealth can be a very exhilarating experience. Sure, you could argue that maybe those people are just envious and you wouldn't be completely wrong. But, envious of what exactly? Their wealth? Both people of wealth and of lesser wealth engage in this, so there's an issue with your argument. Maybe it's an issue with society that we place so much importance on wealth and socioeconomic status.
- Anthony
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