Excess used to be fun. Suddenly, it’s starting to look scary.
Extravagance is practically synonymous with the Hamptons. We like hefty, sumptuous houses; lively, opulent parties; stylish, crowded restaurants. We like the convenience of buying diamonds on Main Street, and the fulfillment of relentlessly, perpetually pampering ourselves. We don’t even mind the fuzzbuzz of traffic as long as the cars look classy.
If there is such a thing as excess wealth, it found a natural home here. We have it and we flash it, especially in our homes. This is an accomplishment society, proud of itself, eager to build it big, buy it big and ballyhoo it big. New money drives real estate, and until the economy tanked the real estate market was sizzling.
Old money here does not have to go back generations. A decade or two is enough. It conveniently maintains the standards of moderation and good taste and lets the arrivistes off the hook. The gold standard of a fine home in the estate area of Southampton or East Hampton is not the benchmark it once was. Traditional location matters less than it used to. Mass and measurements, hedonism and high living, all the accumulated goodies supersede the right address.
But even excess has its limits. Our lighthearted excess took on a dark side with the recession. People have retreated to their sublimely decorated poolhouses, looking back and smiling about the days when anything worth doing was worth overdoing. Gas-guzzling SUVs and 30,000 square foot weekend houses with air-conditioned garages and chemical drenched lawns belong to the days when we could waste money, waste resources, and waste time, and get seamless, guiltless gratification in return.
It seemed so innocent at the beginning. Just some Wall Street traders and hedge fund managers showering money on their summer pleasures. Excess was such fun. Who could imagine that it would begin to turn treacherous? Who could predict that a lifestyle practically invented in the Hamptons would be questioned on its home turf? The answer is that living well does not have to mean living large.