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
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?