The display of one’s wealth is always vulgarity, but nowadays it borders on pornography.
The Turkish restaurateur Salt Bae, born Nusret Gökçe, famous for the exorbitant prices of his steakhouse scattered around the world, most recently negatively regarding the quality of the meat, published on his social media the receipt that he presented to his 14 diners, for an amount of 161,000 euros. The not-so-young athlete who aspires to become Johnny Deep, is convinced with his inappropriate performance to present his inns as exclusive places dedicated to luxury; since vulgarity evidently comes from chronic ignorance, the mean does not know that luxury in addition to good taste provides for knowledge and that it can also be found in “poor” elements.
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It is the case of the well-deserving “Confraternita del Bollito e della Pera Madernassa” constituted with official ceremony on October 27, 1984 in Castagnito and Guarene (CN), cultural association where a character like chef Nusret would never be admitted, for any figure in the world.
Already in the title page of the site we start with pure poetry: “ ... the guest presents himself well empty, rested and well disposed, does not do time calculations and least of calories. Use a razor sharp knife and two plates, 1 for meat only and 1 for baths and vegetable side dishes.”
The enhancement, thanks to a deep culture, of the territory passes through the uniqueness of the products, in front of which a “Istanbul steak” covered with gold leaf (2,370 euros) appears decidedly cheesy.
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It comes to mind an episode of chronicle rose d'antan: the son of a president of Lazio was so rich that he could afford the holidays in Montecarlo, something that in the fifties was allowed to very few Italians. Staying in an exclusive hotel, he enjoyed in the lobby spitting on an ashtray on the ground, mistaking it for a spittoon. Reprimanded by the director for inappropriate manners, with a phone call he bought the company and fired the director.
But luxury is also a choice and every choice involves a renunciation.
In the sixties, one of the most beautiful women in the world, daughter of one of the most famous Italian artists, used to boast that she would never arrive in Santa Margherita Ligure, by land. He wanted to get into port, arriving in a boat for at least a billion. At that time, in Italy, they did not exist. From that college of nuns, the girls of good family went out so! However his wish came true the day of his fortieth birthday.
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Is culture a luxury? No, luxury is a culture, as well as being an industry that produces tens of billions, employing millions of people around the world. And in terms of GDP, for Italy, it is not little.
Speaking of GDP, we should remember a famous speech by Robert Kennedy, who gave March 18, 1968, at the University of Kansas, from which the most significant steps: “We cannot measure the national spirit on the basis of the Dow-Jones index, nor the country’s achievements on the basis of the Gross Domestic Product... GDP does not take into account the health of our families, the quality of their education or the joy of their moments of leisure. He does not understand the beauty of our poetry or the solidity of family values... It measures everything, in short, except what makes life truly worth living”.
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Summing up, luxury is choice, elegance, culture, good taste and a lot of lightness; it is not vulgarity and above all it is not waste. Then, as an ancient Afghan sage says, “You have clocks, we have time!”
In the end, being masters of one’s time is man’s true luxury.
Photo by Morgan Housel on Unsplash
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