Decadent nobility wasted fortunes in basically gardens and lawn ornaments. It's reprehensible, but I think most of us are already decadent and wasteful in out own scale, at least compared to poorer societies.
Say what you will about the robber barrons. We still have rockefeller, carnegie, and vanderbilt buildings, institutions, and colleges today. Being a patron for general public welfare was at least socially popular for the ultra wealthy capitalists in this country 100 years ago. A shame how that has changed.
We don't call them robber barons anymore, they've succeeded enough at spinning their entrepreneurship in the public eye that they don't need to build those institutions these days
Instead they now buy enough land to keep common folk far enough away from them on what used to be areas free to roam, eg what they're doing in Hawaii
We still have rockefeller, carnegie, and vanderbilt buildings, institutions, and colleges today
A very narrow slice of American geography has those things, primarily within the Mid-Atlantic and New England states.
Regardless, they did that kind of thing back then because there was a real risk of a lower-class uprising if they didn't at least pretend to care about the little people.
They did that where they lived. Chances are if some town in texas or wherever had a local magnate in the 1920s they made similar investments in the local community.
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I wish billionaires were spending more on beautiful public places with cool sculptures.
Better than hiding wealth with art in storage centers that will never be seen again.
Bezos is funding this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_of_the_Long_Now
Which sounds like it will never be open to the public.
Say's Bezos is getting the prototype. A public one is planned for Ely, Nevada.
do they not?
little island in NYC was funded by Barry Diller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Island_at_Pier_55
Decadent nobility wasted fortunes in basically gardens and lawn ornaments. It's reprehensible, but I think most of us are already decadent and wasteful in out own scale, at least compared to poorer societies.
Say what you will about the robber barrons. We still have rockefeller, carnegie, and vanderbilt buildings, institutions, and colleges today. Being a patron for general public welfare was at least socially popular for the ultra wealthy capitalists in this country 100 years ago. A shame how that has changed.
We don't call them robber barons anymore, they've succeeded enough at spinning their entrepreneurship in the public eye that they don't need to build those institutions these days
Instead they now buy enough land to keep common folk far enough away from them on what used to be areas free to roam, eg what they're doing in Hawaii
I’ve visited Lanai, you can too you know.
Ok
A very narrow slice of American geography has those things, primarily within the Mid-Atlantic and New England states.
Regardless, they did that kind of thing back then because there was a real risk of a lower-class uprising if they didn't at least pretend to care about the little people.
They did that where they lived. Chances are if some town in texas or wherever had a local magnate in the 1920s they made similar investments in the local community.