Before the turn of the century, Jim Taylor and Watts Wacker wrote "The 500 Year Delta", and I recall the mention of "Downward Nobility"

Checking on that, it really refers to products, not people. Insane ostentation is still the rule, with mega-yachts and buying up most of Hawaii, the "norm".

I thought it would be more like myself, wanting not to be a prince, and certainly not wanting to look like one, but to live like one. That hasn't exactly worked out, but my slobbovian clothing is genuine.

Wolves in sheep's clothing.

How dare they go hatless in public!

I've always wondered why people wear 1920's period attire to weddings, funerals, courts of law, and while giving presentations. In the 1920's, did people dress like 1820's dandies on those occasions?

Also, how do you thrift a T-shirt for $30? They're that price new, and like $5 at the thrift stores near me.

Maybe because they are selling a digital "drug," quite likely the most potent we humans have ever crafted