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by ghurtado4 hours ago |
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upvoteby NiloCK4 hours ago|
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What are you referring to with the phrase "status symbol"?

I can't connect it at all to your listed points. An Olympic medal is about obvious a status symbol as I can imagine but it can't (meaningfully) be bought or transferred.

The status signified with a knit sweater is membership (and good standing!) in a caring family with elders not yet fully subsumed into their phones.

People, acquaintances and strangers alike, frequently comment on the knit socks I often wear, ask after who made them, and all of a sudden we're on "how's your mom" terms.

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upvoteby ghurtado4 hours ago|
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> it can't (meaningfully) be bought or transferred.

https://www.ebay.com/b/Olympic-Medal/27291/bn_55191416?_sop=...

> People, acquaintances and strangers alike, frequently comment on the knit socks I often wear,

Ok, that explains pretty much everything about your line of thought.

Thanks.

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upvoteby NiloCK4 hours ago|
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(edited for clarity)

> https://www.ebay.com/b/Olympic-Medal/27291/bn_55191416?_sop=...

Of course you can buy an Olympic medal. You can't buy the status conferred by the medal (of Olympic champion / nth runner up).

> Ok, that explains pretty much everything about your line of thought.

I don't understand this either. Are you insulting me?

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upvoteby bluecheese4524 hours ago|
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Buying someone else’s medal is not a status symbol. That is why they included the word meaningfully.
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upvoteby simonw4 hours ago|
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I don't care about the opinion of kids.

I'm also completely unimpressed by someone wearing a Rolex though, so different mileage for different people.

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upvoteby ghurtado4 hours ago|
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You should be able to understand the definition of a common term such as "status symbol" though.

Understanding words does not require being impressed by anything, nor caring about the opinion of kids.

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upvoteby simonw3 hours ago|
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Different mileage for different people.
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upvoteby daveguy3 hours ago|
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If most people are thinking "whoopdedoo... you clearly have more money than sense" when they see your status symbol, is it still a status symbol?
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upvoteby fluidcruft1 hours ago|
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Status symbols signal different status in different contexts. Some contexts (mostly lower middle class and below) are impressed by Rolex watches because they are expensive and the struggle for money forms a collective experience.

The old rich doesn't give a shit about Rolex watches beyond noticing the newb rich using them to tell on themselves.

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upvoteby daveguy34 minutes ago|
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And some people just don't give a shit about a fancy watch no matter how much money they have or don't have.
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upvoteby Avicebron3 hours ago|
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It depends, if someone fundamentally believes that having more money than someone else means that person is of higher status, then it is.

If people don't consider that someone with more money is of a higher status then symbols of that wealth aren't meaningful.

I think a lot of people have an ingrained belief that "more money == more status"

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