I am ugly, but I can buy for myself the most beautiful of women... \ stacker news ~mostly

I am ugly, but I can buy for myself the most beautiful of women...

878 sats \ 13 comments \ @Taft 12 May mostly_harmless

Fine economic theorists do psychoanalysis:

I am ugly, but I can buy for myself the most beautiful of women. Therefore I am not ugly, for the effect of ugliness - its deterrent power - is nullified by money. Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, 1844

https://m.stacker.news/30652

Portrait of Karl Marx by Nicolai Ivanovich Feshin

Marx was bang on here about the power of money and its general allure... Even his theories on the fetishism of commodities have proven accurate and can be seen all around us via mass consumption and consumerism... Social media has added to this further with the commodification of space via the Internet where advertising fills the space and algorithmic profiling measures are used to subtly influence "users" and feed them whatever they desire... Everyone and everything is up for sale, and people are commodities utilizing aspects of themselves considered desirable by others and making themselves available in a world obsessed with consumption... Desire is successfully stoked manipulated, and cashed in on to the tune of billions..Money is king... It's no wonder that Marx dedicated his lifelong studies to its power dynamics, allure, contradictions, and failures...

Power, confidence (and money) can make a man appear attractive. Impotence in the face of circumstance, anxiety, and poverty do him no favors. I’ve been in both situations.

Marx was right.

Do you agree?

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199 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 12 May

I’m not sure it’s makes men attractive, but it can make them desirable to people who want those things. It’s kind of an abuse of the word attractive.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Taft OP 13 May

Yes, I agree, desirable fits better than attractive in this context, but you understand the point. Everyone can see what's happening nowadays, especially with young people, and what are the "things they want" - money, fame, easy success!

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @elvismercury 12 May

Possession of money by a man is definitely a correlate of attractiveness. It's not the only way to be attractive obviously, but it's pretty effective.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Taft OP 13 May

Agreed!

31 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 13 May

Value is subjective as is beauty. Ugly and unattractive are different. One can have many virtues that make one attractive besides outward beauty. Some people value physical traits over ability or virtue. Others value wealth over everything. Others status. This to me is one of those obvious observations that sounds smart because it is all dressed up in fancy clothes.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nullama 13 May

Money can buy a service, of course.

But money cannot make someone else feel attracted to you.

You can be ugly and poor, but if you know how to behave and what to say, you can make women desire you. Also men will want to be like you. Money is no substitute for this. Looks will usually help(check out halo effect), but it's not a requirement.

Note that money doesn't make a man attractive. It is simply the money the thing that is attractive. The moment the man stops having control of the money, the man stops being attractive. Therefore, it is the money, not the man, in that case what is attractive.

A man can be attractive even if they are poor. Or rich. It doesn't matter. Attractiveness of a man is independent of money.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Kontext 13 May

Very "fiat" mindset. I see it the same as saying "I am bankrupt, but I can print more money, therefore I am not bankrupt" You can lie about it for a while, but eventually the truth will catch up with you.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs 13 May

+1.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @freebookspls 13 May

Virtue is more attractive and lasts longer than looks

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Coinsreporter 13 May

I'm not sure. There are many philosophical school, perhaps. And if you are tied to one, you lose the best things from other schools. I always like to be somewhere in the middle of everything.

I kinda accept a few good things and reject what do not fit into my own perspective.

Money can definitely affect and attract others but often it is for money. It's not for you or your true self.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satosora 13 May

Shit will always attract the flies. Isnt this the same concept? Money will always draw the people that love money.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @go 12 May

thanks for the history clip

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @riberet19 12 May

We can say that yes, Marx is correct about money can change many aspects of the game.