But only in the abstract. Saying "I bought some IBM shares which then went up 7%, which was nice" is fine. Saying how much your capital gains were in the last fiscal year is absolutely faux pas.
I suspect talking about wealth in concrete numbers is deemed unacceptable because it confronts people with the moral consequences of hoarding wealth and inequality, and they really don't want those uncomfortable conversations.
> They don’t really think in terms of class these days.
Because their social networks are ruthlessly narrow. They don't think in terms of class because they never interact with people who aren't at least at the social level of an educated professional.
Yep. Well, you can probably push it, and say like, I made 7% / €100k on that investment. That’s acceptable. But saying that you increased your net worth from €4m to €5m is not.
Another reason why they often don’t talk about their total net worth is because most are actually incapable of growing their wealth, even if they wanted to. A few percentage points of yield, sure. But taking calculated risks to double their money is hard for them.
> They don't think in terms of class because they never interact with people who aren't at least at the social level of an educated professional.
What I find interesting is that wealth is often not the main driver behind their relationships. You can be relatively poor, and be accepted by them (but maybe not by society as a whole), as long as you share their values. They will regard certain people as their peers who, while looking at it from a monetary perspective, should not be.
But yes, their social networks can be extremely interesting. In Belgium especially, it is not uncommon to see people of nobility achieve great things (whether that is in business or in public service). They carry around genuine chauvinism / patriotism. At the same time it has shown that, for example judges in court, tend to be less strict in applying the laws on nobles. Not exactly sure why that is, but it makes for an interesting case study. Maybe because some judges carry a title themselves?
> At the same time it has shown that, for example judges in court, tend to be less strict in applying the laws on nobles.
This one is easy. For the same reason judges give harsher sentences to people of color than to white people. Harsher sentences to men than to women. Harsher sentences for street crime than for financial crime. They give harsher sentences to uneducated people than to educated people. Good looking people get lighter sentences too. Confidence and charisma pays off too.
It's so much easier to empathize with somebody who looks exactly like the people you went to school with, you went drinking with in college, who talks like you do and who cares about the things you care about. So naturally their defense will sound reasonable in your eyes, and a lighter sentence follows.
> unacceptable because it confronts people with the moral consequences
Or more likely, because it gives out confidential information about how much you're really worth, which one should never do (for reasons varying from "avoiding hangers-on" to "avoiding loss of status").
I'm skeptical of your explanation because there are no "hangers-on" in that social class (the nouveau-riche have to worry about that) and status is only loosely correlated with wealth.
The more I think about, especially in Europe, the more it seems that status has little to do with money / wealth. It very much has to do with your values and the company you hold.
But only in the abstract. Saying "I bought some IBM shares which then went up 7%, which was nice" is fine. Saying how much your capital gains were in the last fiscal year is absolutely faux pas.
I suspect talking about wealth in concrete numbers is deemed unacceptable because it confronts people with the moral consequences of hoarding wealth and inequality, and they really don't want those uncomfortable conversations.
> They don’t really think in terms of class these days.
Because their social networks are ruthlessly narrow. They don't think in terms of class because they never interact with people who aren't at least at the social level of an educated professional.