Roaring 20s novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote: “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.”

Well, yes… they’re rich!

But maybe you’re doing pretty well these days, counting yourself among the rich. That’s charming, but let’s check the latest wealth indicator: Do you have a “private concierge?” You might live in a megahouse, have a maid and a nanny, travel First Class – but having a private concierge is what separates you commonplace millionaires from the filthy rich.

What do these personal servants actually do? “We fix problems,” says one owner of a boutique firm that offers “hyper-personalization” services to select clients worldwide. Want to get a table tonight at a fully-booked restaurant in Paris? Don’t call the restaurant – call your fixer, gets it done. If you’re going to a formal ceremony in Hong Kong but – OMG you left your tuxedo back home in Oshkosh. Your concierge will find a courier to deliver it on time.

In addition to dealing with such upper-class urgencies, these “lifestyle managers” also relieve the überrich of having to cope with everyday details of real life. No need to call a plumber, plan a birthday party, shop for basics, and such – that’s why you pay about $75,000 a year to have your own handler. They’ve become such a must-have emblem of luxury that even Chase Bank and American Express now offer concierges to their high-end clients.

What’s at work here is a decadent ethic of royal entitlement. It’s a grandiose (and socially-destructive) assumption of superiority by the filthy rich – who misinterpret their wealth as worthiness. Oh, and we common taxpayers get to subsidize these personal concierges.

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