Crass struggle : greed, glitz, and gluttony in a wanna-have world / R.T. Naylor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Naylor, R. T., 1945-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wealth--Moral and ethical aspects.

Wealth.

Wealth--Social aspects.

Rich people--Conduct of life.

Rich people.

Consumption (Economics)--Moral and ethical aspects.

Consumption (Economics).

Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (494 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Ithaca [N.Y.] : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A critique of the lifestyles of today's ultra rich bolstered by old-fashioned muckraking, Crass Struggle provides a sharp, original, and often humorous commentary on "the bad side of the good life, the underbelly of the potbelly." Taking the reader inside today's luxury trades, R.T. Naylor visits gold mines spewing arsenic and diamond fields spreading human misery, knocks on the doors of purveyors of luxury seafood as the oceans empty, samples wares of merchants offering top-vintage wines (or at least top-vintage labels), calls on companies running trophy-hunting expeditions and dealers in exotic pets high on endangered lists, and much more. What stands out is that so many high-priced items glitter on the outside, but have more than a spot of rot at the core. Through a series of outrageous but all too true stories, Crass Struggle reveals the appalling consequences of consumerism run amok and its links to repetitive financial swindles and the alarming degradation of the biophysical environment.

Contents:

Preamble: Bacchanalian adventures with the ultra-rich

The gold-diggers: precious metal, poisoned chalice

Vulgari: flawed beauty in the gemstones business

Icecapades: the diamond's darker facets

Sketchy business: on art connoisseurs and con artists

The chiselers: from tomb-raider to curator

The numismaniacs: when big modern money chases little old coins

The winophiliacs: uncorking the secrets of the wine trade

Puff artists: behind the smokescreen of high-end cigars

Afishionados: on fishy business in the fishing business

Jailbirds: if parrots could really talk ...

The hunter-gatherer society: from law of the jungle to maw of the market

Goring the tusk trade: mammoth task, toothless law?

Coda: from class struggle to crass struggle.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-7735-8660-1

0-7735-8652-0

OCLC:

806255306