I expected to enjoy reading “The Floating World: Outrageously luxurious superyachts are attracting political scrutiny–and buyers in record numbers.” For one thing, it was written (experienced, actually) by Evan Osnos, a fine and witty writer. For another thing, I am somewhat cognizant of the superyacht lure. Although, as I wrote in a previous post, when I worked for Malcolm Forbes, I learned that “yacht” is the wrong term for big boats. Malcolm had a succession of big and bigger boats all named The Highlander. Big boats are called “boats.”<\/p>\n
The article, as deservedly supersized as the boats Osnos describes, appears in the July 25, 2022 New Yorker. It is, as you’d expect, delicious, with a shpritz of Tabasco sauce. But more than an excellent read, it’s an unintended test of character — yours, his, mine, ours.<\/p>\n
I realized this as I was less than halfway through the article, as I “met” the newest incarnation of boat people. My reaction to them was not horror, certainly not envy, but more as if I had encountered another species, a tiny subset of homo sapiens<\/em> whose genetic code had been altered by money.<\/p>\n I’m aware the rich are thought to be different from the rest of us; we’re supposed to regard them with wonder. But at some point in my reading I found myself thinking, “What are these creatures?” And then,”I am nothing like them.”<\/p>\n I felt that in a sort of profound way. I didn’t want to be like them, I didn’t want what they have. I didn’t hate them, I didn’t see them as my enemies, or monsters. I saw them as poverty-stricken, even pitiable, imprisoned in their diminished psyches, and terrified of the world around them.<\/p>\n When I got over my pity, I recognized them as protagonists of a great, modern social satire. Somebody should do the movie.<\/p>\n Read Osnos and learn that having a massive boat isn’t satisfying if another guy has a bigger one. These frantic characters race to build a bigger boat, and then another bigger boat and on and on. One yacht broker told Osnos, “This client owns three big yachts,” he said. “It’s a hobby for him. We’re at a hundred and ninety-one feet now, and last night he said, ‘you know, what do you think about getting a two hundred and fifty?” [The broker] laughed. “And I was, like, ‘Can’t you just have dinner?'”<\/p>\n Further, Osnos writes, “[T]he American yachtsman Bill Duker said, ‘If the rest of the world learns what it’s like to live on a yacht like this, they’re gonna bring back the guillotine.'”<\/p>\n I urge you to read “The Floating World.” It will either alter your perspective about these vastly wealthy cartoons, or you’ll succumb to whatever out-of-tune siren song they’re sailing toward, at which point you’ll realize you, too, have no soul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I expected to enjoy reading “The Floating World: Outrageously luxurious superyachts are attracting political scrutiny–and buyers in record numbers.” For one thing, it was written (experienced, actually) by Evan Osnos, a fine and witty writer. For another thing, I am … Continue reading