"Let them eat cake" -- 21st century style

OK, so Marie Antoinette didn't really say, "Let them eat cake."    But that myth has persisted because it so perfectly captured the feelings of the era, when the aristocracy concerned itself with enormous vanity and exaggerated ornamentation -- costing huge amounts of money that ultimately came from the poor people of France.



Meanwhile, poverty was rampant, but inconceivable to the idle rich.   So they had the French Revolution, and the heads of the aristocrats rolled into baskets beneath the guillotine.

All this talk of income inequality.  Are we headed there again?   21st century style? 

I'm prompted to think along these lines, because this item of shocking, pampered luxury -- seems like the 21st century, technological version of the French aristocrats silly baubles and bibelots.

Thanks to Cathy Ledbetter of the Huffington Post for this dubiously useful information:

She describes a new product, seemingly a homely thing:   a mattress pad.   But this is no ordinary mattress pad.   It's called Luna and is described by its manufacturer as "the world's first smart mattress cover."

Ledbetter writes:  "By simply plugging your mattress cover into the wall . . . Luna literally tracks and learns your bedtime so that it can adjust the music, temperature and heating/air conditioning in your bedroom. Luna will even lock your doors for you. 

"In the morning, Luna functions as an alarm clock, waking you up during the lightest cycle of your sleep with the option to turn on some subtle tunes AND your coffee pot, making getting out of bed that much easier. It'll even let you know how well you slept. . . . 

"Luna is on sale now in both queen and king sizes starting at $179."

Meanwhile, thousands of Americans go to sleep hungry every night.    And countless people don't even have a bed but crouch in doorways or beneath underpasses.

Comparatively, I enjoy a good bit of modest luxury myself.   I do have a very nice, medium sized Steinway grand piano, which I make good us of;  but I drive a 10 year old Toyoto Prius, which I love and will continue to drive as long as we're both able.   

This smart mattress cover just strikes me as misplaced values akin to the court of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette.

This income inequality thing is real.   And it's not getting better under our present system.   Or maybe I'm just a self-satisfied moralist saying, 'my values are better than your values.'

 
Ralph