Girls on Boats

Stan Abrams at China Hearsay wrote a tongue-and-cheek article about conspicuous consumption in China: justifying yatch ownership. This is an awesome post because it has pictures of hot swimsuit girls on boats.

The post is about a China Daily article about how boat-ownership can be considered a business expense. Stan’s common-sense point is basically how stupid and hypocritical can people be to think that yacht ownership is anything other than an ostentatious display of wealth. Furthermore, how can people have the balls to claim a boat as a business expense.

I used to spend every weekend at a Western built-and-managed marina near Suzhou because my previous company used the facilities to host corporate off-sites for customers. At the marina, we got to see the local richy-rich guys drive up in Porsche SUVs, wearing popped-collars, a purse on one arm, and really nice eye-candy on the other arm. They would spend a few hours on their boats in the harbor. However, they often would not take the boats out, because the Marina never bothered to properly dredge the channel out to the lake (this is related to a large problem with lack of private waterway rules and regulations in China). So they would sit around in the hot hot sun, next to the humid lake, doing…nothing.

I completely understand Stan’s feelings about the super-rich boat owners. Now, to play Devil’s advocate:
1. What else are rich people going to spend money on? Another mistress? A Ferrari for the children? Another apartment to buy and leave empty until ready to flip? My point is that buying a boat at least produces jobs and lays the groundwork for recreational boating in China. As more Chinese achieve “middle class” status (assuming that really happens), this will help boating become more accessible to “the masses”. I think that there are far worse things for “The Rich” to do than buy a boat. (i.e. more golf courses)

2. Hot women on boats are cool. I would do this (if I was rich, and not married to a hot woman already).

Suzhou Covner's on a boat