Lifestyles of the Rich and Recession-Proof

While the rest of the world's population stuggles to put food on the table, a roof over their heads or to pay for a doctor, there will always be those whose lives are untouched by the struggle and suffering of their fellows. Hermetically sealed against such unpleasantries, the message is clear: money rules, and any considerations to differences in geography, religion, politics, et al are mere distractions for a world loathe to admit there is already a one-world government: Capitalism. Those at the top of that tier are the ones truly orchestrating the global course of events. The rest of of us can serve their food, fight their wars, and gobble up the goods they're selling in order to maintain their wealth.

Or perhaps reading articles such as this one really bring out the cynic in me. Sigh.....

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/13bn-Highland-playground-for-the.5514610.jp
£1.3bn Highland playground for the super-rich

Published Date: 01 August 2009
By FRANK URQUHART AND JEREMY WATSON

WITH membership fees an astronomical £2 million and annual dues of £500,000, it aims to be the most exclusive "holiday" resort ever built in Scotland. Ambitious plans were unveiled yesterday to transform one of the most remote stretches of Highland Perthshire into a £1.3 billion private playground for the world's super-rich.

The Dall Estate, on the shores of Loch Rannoch, is set to become a "mini Monaco" in the heart of the Scottish countryside – a home from home for billionaires, Russian oligarchs, heads of state, the international glitterati and Hollywood and sporting superstars.

The developers claim the plan – said to be unprecedented in Scotland in its scale and ambition – will generate nearly £250 million for the economy during the three-year construction phase alone. And they say it will be unrivalled in scale when it comes to the facilities and opulence on offer to the elite clientèle they expect to be attracted to the "world-class luxury development"...

...The cost of a night's stay in the hotel, centred on Dall House, would start at £6,000, rising to £14,000 per person for the most luxurious rooms on the shores of the loch. A total of 98 houses, each costing £1m, would be built on the estate – 91 in the grounds and seven on the lochside. Half will be for sale and the rest for rent by members of the resort.

MORE