By Jason Lim
The luxurious Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi is taking flak for setting up a Christmas tree estimated to worth $11 million. And it’s not even a real tree. The fake fir tree is decorated with real gold, diamonds, rubies, pearls, and other precious jewels.
When accused of overdoing it, the hotel did manage to sound defensive, explaining that the jeweled decorations were on loan from a local jeweler, and the whole thing was a stunt to win the “Most expensively dressed tree” title in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Perhaps the record should be retitled, “Most Crass Conspicuous Consumption Resulting in the Worst Distortion of the Christmas Spirit.”
But who am I kidding. Trying to find a modicum of genuine Christmas spirit in the materialistic orgy that is today’s Christmas is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
What usually passes for generosity is dropping a dollar bill in the Salvation Army kettle on your way to the holiday sale in the mall. The Abu Dhabi tree is just the latest and one of the most egregious examples of material crassness that pervades our world today.
At least, the Emirates Palace can make the excuse of being clueless. However, I recently experienced something so crass that it left me demoralized: I boarded an airplane.
More precisely, during the boarding process, I witnessed how the carrier classified its passengers into a taxonomy that could only come from the twisted imagination of a marketer from hell.
First, the gate agent announced that the plane would start boarding, beginning with first class passengers first. This was normal, and I fully understand that people who paid more for their seats are entitled to certain privileges and comforts. However, that’s when it started to get unreal.
The gate agent invited the first class passengers to exclusively use the left side of a stanchion that they set up and walk along the “red carpet” that they laid out especially for them. Then the next to board were the frequent flyers above a certain level.
Then the elite flyers. Then the leading flyers. Then the exclusive club members. Then the passengers with certain credit cards. Then passengers with various affiliations. Then the customers who had bought some “skip to the front of the line” option at check in. And so on. Before I was able to board, there must have been at least 10 different “classes” of passengers who had the “right” to board ahead of me.
One common theme ran through these absurd classifications: money. If you had paid even slightly more money, you were given special privileges. But, as I said, I don’t have problems with this.
However, what I do have a problem with is that these artificial classifications were obviously designed, executed, and delivered as to create a sense of disenfranchisement for the “regular” passengers who don’t belong to any one of these privileged “classes.”
They were purposely calculated to inject a humiliating sense of dejection. They tried to shame you and make you feel bad for daring to pay only the fare.
And the carrier obviously wanted you to feel that way so that you would pony up that extra amount not to feel so bad the next time. And be able to walk along the red carpet.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not against capitalism per se. In fact, as an American, I love capitalism. It’s right up there with God, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, when capitalism becomes as narrow-minded and crass as to tear down our God-given dignity for the purpose of making an extra buck, it crosses the line.
Pursuit of the profit should not include an artificial creation of a new caste system of haves and have-nots that basically equates one’s worth to how much he or she spent on a commercial product. Bah humbug!
Then I come across the news that Kate Middleton, the recently betrothed of Prince William of England, is facing a growing chorus of hobnobish, backroom criticism for being a “commoner” whose ancestor once worked in a coal mine.
Never mind that her family is very well-to-do now, affording her the best education and posh lifestyle that money could buy without any royal help.
That a person’s inherent worth and character can still be defined by the accident of his or her birth is astounding and makes me think that I would far prefer a class system based on gross commercialism than a class system based on bloodlines. That is truly an affront to human dignity.
As John Feehery write in “The Hill,” “here in America, we wouldn’t be giving Kate Middleton a hard time because she had a distant ancestor who once toiled below the earth. We would be celebrating her because she is both really hot and really rich; two traits that never go out of style back here in the colonies.”
Oh well, maybe I’ll stop being a scrooge and just pony up that extra $100 to walk on the red carpet when I board an airplane next time. My self-esteem does need a boost. Merry Christmas, everyone.
Jason Lim is a Washington, D.C.-based consultant in organizational leadership, culture, and change management. He has been writing for The Korea Times since 2006. He can be reached at jasonlim@msn.com and on Facebook.com/jasonlim2000.