Shades of Galbraith

Tyler Cowen finds luxury khakis absurd. I agree it's absurd to buy the stuff, but as I point out in my comment, it's a matter of perspective.

For Colombia's Nukak-Maku, "who have lived a Stone Age life, roaming across hundreds of miles of isolated and pristine Amazon jungle, killing monkeys with blowguns and scouring the forest floor for berries," the list of newly discovered "luxuries" includes pots, pants, shoes, caps, rice, sugar, oil, flour, skillets, eggs, onions, matches and soap.

Why complain about it? Shades of Galbraith, who believes that people don't know what they're supposed to buy.