The Best of Everything

One of the first things I noticed about Las Vegas, is that billionaires generally become billionaires through a habit of always trying to have the best of everything, and since they have considerable wealth and power to get it, they always tend to have a cascading array of really amazing things in their way and wake. They leave a trail of things that seem impossible, and they're usually working on amazing things for the future, as well as releasing something pretty amazing at any given time. Las Vegas is probably the best place in the world to see this trend, but the trend is everywhere that billionaires and their ilk are to be found.

After noticing this, the second thing that occurred to me, is that what we consider "the best of everything," is up to us. There is often general agreement on what represents the upper end of cost and quality, but it has nothing to do with our own priorities--and the price of things has nothing to do with how much you or I might value them. Indeed, there is an entire class of products in our economy called "Veblen Goods," which are defined as products whose demand increases as price increases. A $25 million Rolls Royce got to be $25 million because it is a Veblen Good. That has nothing to do with its worth though. I would never in my life get $25 million of value out of that car, so even if I had $25m, I'd never spend even a fraction of that on a vehicle. I can afford a new car just fine, but I won't buy any car at all, because I consider them obsolete for my purposes--let alone one of that price. I'm the same with $5,000 Armani suits, which will give me nothing at all I can't get from a $500 suit.

Most of worth to me is first about whether I need it at all. An F35 jet fighter might be wonderful, but I have no use for it. Most of the rest is about function of function over form--and that applies to people as well as inanimate objects, and products I buy. How good is it or he or she at what it's for? The other day, I laughed out loud to see a $1.5 million Bugatti Veyron speed off the line at a green light, and race about 1000 yards, and then screech to a halt at a red light. Was that really worth the money spent on that thing? Okay, so maybe he can go faster on the freeway at night when there are no cops and no traffic--and hit a piece of debris and do a 200mph cartwheel and explode into a seething ball of flame. Was that worth it? I'd rather spend $100 on a plane ticket, and blast off at 500mph, then also catch air at the end of the race, have a pretty lady serve me snacks and drinks, and all of it MORE exciting, more safely, without hassle or enforcement problems, and at a cost of $100 instead of $1.5 million--PLUS all the medical bills, repair bills, and legal costs--and you get to be alive afterwards. You can't have the best of things if you're dead. Speaking of race cars, did you know the average Tesla is just as fast off the line as F1 race cars? So why is F1 even a thing anymore, if they can be bested by just about any recent car on the road?

Those are my own priorities, but I feel like it's always a worthwhile conversation about what people tend to see as the best of things, be it part of general consensus, or just what they value the most individually.

So, let's get things started. What are the things and people you consider the best for what they're for? There are no strict rules here, and a lot of things and people have plenty of competition, so it doesn't have to strictly be ONE winner of all things. There's plenty of room for more than one, and it's very much worth considering BOTH what is the best for our own interests, and the best by consensus.

For example, I love a pretty woman, and at the moment, I'd say Amanda Walsh takes the gold, but there are plenty of others out there. I consider Las Vegas to be the best city in the world in terms of entertainment and accommodation, which is why I'm here--but it tanks in other categories.