This disconnect between what a thing actually says, and what people seem to think it says, just bothers me. I feel the desire to point it out.
Heh, welcome to public discussion. There are enough idiots who can’t or won’t think deeply, and hucksters who prefer good-sounding stories to rigorous analysis, that you’re pretty well doomed to be bothered most of the time on most topics.
Being rich enables you to spend less money on things.
I think even at the base object level, the reason good boots appear to last so much longer is that owners spend on maintenance and have spares so they’re not daily wear. You’d be hard-put to actually show the math that they’re less expensive per-day of use. More comfortable, healthier, more convenient, better-looking, and generally nicer, sure. The Ghetto Tax is real, but it’s not purely monetary.
Note that there’s a curve at play—the cheapest of the cheap probably _is_ more expensive in the long term than mid-tier boots. But fancy, expensive ones are _also_ more expensive (in long- and short-term) than the plain, solid ones. It’s not as compelling a metaphor to say that it’s the reason the very poor spend more than the lower-middle-class, but it’s perhaps more true.
Heh, welcome to public discussion. There are enough idiots who can’t or won’t think deeply, and hucksters who prefer good-sounding stories to rigorous analysis, that you’re pretty well doomed to be bothered most of the time on most topics.
I think even at the base object level, the reason good boots appear to last so much longer is that owners spend on maintenance and have spares so they’re not daily wear. You’d be hard-put to actually show the math that they’re less expensive per-day of use. More comfortable, healthier, more convenient, better-looking, and generally nicer, sure. The Ghetto Tax is real, but it’s not purely monetary.
Note that there’s a curve at play—the cheapest of the cheap probably _is_ more expensive in the long term than mid-tier boots. But fancy, expensive ones are _also_ more expensive (in long- and short-term) than the plain, solid ones. It’s not as compelling a metaphor to say that it’s the reason the very poor spend more than the lower-middle-class, but it’s perhaps more true.