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Thoughts from Yachts

2015-07-03 · letter vlog · Hank, Katherine Green · 3:59 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Economics · mode: Personal essay · tags: on location, recurring series, guest or collab

Hank, back from presenting at a lavish advertising convention in the south of France, argues that its displays of wealth come from manufactured discontent and personal insecurity, worries that no one will ever be satisfied, and says real happiness comes from being secure in yourself rather than from money.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Hank presents at a fancy advertising convention in France and tours a friend-of-a-friend's yacht (crew of 12, $250,000 to fill the tank)

  • ★★★ Hank went to France last week (week of 22 June 2015) to present at a very fancy advertising industry convention, and spent the week alternating between enjoying how pleasant it was and being disturbed by ostentatious wealth. — 00:00:01
  • ★★ Invited by a friend's friend to see a yacht, Hank first wanted to see its engine room and water treatment and desalination systems; he found the yacht very cool and pretty. (playful) — 00:00:17
  • ★★ Hank says the yacht has a crew of 12 who live and work aboard, a 24-hour diner, and costs $250,000 to fill its gas tank. — 00:00:34

00:00:45 — Thoughts from the south of France: advertising creates need, manufactured discontent, displays of wealth born of insecurity, hope for abundance vs worry that no one is ever satisfied

  • ★ Hank quips that, as 'Thoughts from Places' places go, the south of France is very easy to have thoughts from. (playful) — 00:00:45 · Thoughts from Places
  • ★★★ Hank says one of the main goals of advertising is to create need where none exists, which he kept thinking about while surrounded by an AT&T AdWorks campaign implying the benefit of more. — 00:00:52
  • ★★★ Hank says that in a place where the rich go to spend lots of money at fancy shops and restaurants, manufactured discontent is both everywhere and invisible. — 00:01:09
  • ★★ Hank calls it a place where people go to realize how much they don't have: beyond a 2,000-euro jacket there is a 9,000-euro one around the corner, a bigger boat next door, and always a better party. — 00:01:22
  • ★★★ Hank was upset not only by the difference that wealth could make to suffering people, but because the monstrous displays of wealth seemed to come from sad places, mostly personal insecurity and a need to seem important. (hedged) — 00:01:45
  • ★★★ Hank hopes growing productivity will one day give everyone enough to minimize suffering, but in Cannes and Saint-Tropez he worries no one will ever be satisfied, so wealth keeps concentrating instead of serving global goals like ending poverty, war and climate insecurity. (hedged) — 00:02:08 · economic inequality, extreme poverty, climate change

00:02:37 — Families enjoying the place: real happiness comes from personal security, not from being the biggest fish

  • ★★★ Seeing families enjoying the place reminds Hank that many of the smartest people are not famous: real happiness comes from being secure in yourself, your values and your future, which involves money but not only money. — 00:02:46
  • ★★ Happiness also comes from being comfortable with the life and identity you have created and doing things you love with people you love. — 00:03:07

00:03:15 — 'Mediterra-knee' pun with Katherine, sign-off, Snapchat montage from the trip

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In the description Hank adds that, to many people, his own house, computer, dog and air conditioner are monstrous displays of wealth. — video description
  • ★★ The description says Hank has more money than 50% of Americans just by not having any debt. — video description
    • a number in question (doubtful): "50%" — check against the recording
  • ★★ Hank admits that, on a smaller scale, he makes the same irrational purchases every day, choosing his own brief pleasure over relieving real suffering, partly to fit into culture but also out of plain selfishness. — video description
  • ★★★ Hank says he knows no way to counteract that selfishness except through force, which is why he believes in taxes, even though he hates paying them. — video description

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: advertising · consumerism · economic inequality

Also: People: Katherine Green

Projects: Thoughts from Places (“Thoughts from Yachts”)

Organizations: AT&T

Concepts: climate change · extreme poverty · hedonic adaptation · war

Places: Cannes · France · Mediterranean Sea (“Mediterranean”) · Saint-Tropez · Southern France

Events: Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity

Only in the description or credits: Four-minute rule · tax

Also centred on advertising: The Adpocalypse: What it Means

Also centred on consumerism: November 23rd: BLACK FRIDAY! · November 27th: Eagle's Nest, Blogger's Choice and Shopping · Nov. 30th: A CHRISTMAS RANT · CHUBBY BUNNY...blergh!

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