IN Plato's Republic, one of two cities is healthy, the other has "a fever". The latter, said Plato, was the luxurious city. Dwelling on Socratic dialogue, Plato argued that the difference is that the citizens of the latter "have surrendered themselves to the endless acquisition of money and have overstepped the limit of their necessities". Plato's main character Socrates (not his guru Socrates), finds communities in the luxurious city living beyond the natural limits of necessity. He finds the healthy city sustainable, limiting consumption to actual needs, and the luxurious city unsustainable, because it lives beyond its needs.
That was authored in 375 BCE.
Back to today's news: As Tesla stocks tanked over the last couple of weeks, CEO Elon Musk lost nearly $200 billion of his wealth, a world record. That brought back to the top of the pile, as the richest man on earth, Frenchman Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault, co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy. He had been there before, but, like a good old wine, the stock has matured further.
The luxurious city has not only survived, but has grown beyond the expectation of all wise minds.
Assimilating this within a general social perspective, let us get one thing clear: luxury matters. LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton SE is the world's largest luxury goods company, and Arnault has an estimated net worth of $182.8 billion as of December 2022, according to Forbes.
Forget Plato's apparent prescience; flip through any business journal that cares for reality checks, you'll see the world predicting a recession. Switch on any news channel and a possible collapse of the Chinese economy is in sight. Yet, the luxurious city's walls remain high and straight, protecting its communities in cocoons of invulnerability.
Bu hikaye India Legal dergisinin January 23, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye India Legal dergisinin January 23, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
PIL, Difficult To Swallow?
In a recent ruling, the Bombay High Court lamented the increasing number of frivolous public interest litigations being filed in courts and echoed the sentiments of the Supreme Court that such litigations are the bane of the judicial system. Is there any way to restrict their misuse?
Till Infertility Do Us Part...
The Calcutta High Court slammed a husband for initiating divorce proceedings due to his wife's infertility and asked him to be a pillar of support for her. Courts have often taken an empathetic view in such matters
IS THAT LEGAL?
Ignorance of law is no excuse. Here are answers to frequently asked queries regarding matters that affect us on a day-to-day basis
The Big Lie
In America, The Big Lie is an idiom used by Donald Trump's opponents and the media to describe his constant gripe about election fraud. Now, it seems more suited to another Republican, Congressman George Santos (right), who has been facing growing calls to resign after he admitted fabricating parts of his resume and biography since his election in New York last year.
Flying into the Sunset
Over 50 years since the first and original jumbo jet, the Boeing 747, took to the skies and revolutionized air travel, the last of the legendary aircraft (right) was delivered to a freight charter company, bringing down the curtain on one of aviation's most successful products.
Star Crossed
Actor and producer Alec Baldwin is a Hollywood legend, having starred in a range of movies, award winning TV sitcoms, and theatre. He was most recently seen in Mission Impossible Fallout, which is an apt description of his current situation.
Walkouts in the UK
An estimated half a million workers have gone on strike, shutting down thousands of schools, public transport and border disruption. It is the biggest day of industrial action for more than a decade.
Myanmar's Misery
Two years after the military coup ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the brutal crackdown by the junta on so-called \"insurgents\" and civilian protesters has reached a new level with the use of air strikes, a new and deadly tactic in the ongoing civil war.
AMERICA'S ANGST
From messy, divisive politics to a series of mass shootings, and now black officers brutally beating another black man to death as seen in bodycam videos, America's domestic convulsions are cause for serious introspection
JUSTICE LEAGUE
There are few judicial appointment procedures in the world that are completely bereft of the overarching presence of either the executive or the legislature, or both. In the end, the judge is left with all the powers vested in him/her by the constitution to uphold the rule of law, within an atmosphere of external influences