How A Gen Z Internet Joke Illustrates A Spiritual Truth.

In the decade of the 1980s, made hazy with Aquanet and Polo cologne, we had a little phenomenon known as “Yuppie” culture. The words of the fictional character Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street provided a rallying cry for Yuppie ideology: “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works.” This was a sub-culture awash with wealth signaling in the form of expensive BMWs, Rolex watches and conspicuous consumption all being de rigueur.

Of course this sort of wealth signaling lives a robust life today, magnified, as are most things, by social media. The flourishing of technology has given rise to a phenomenon known as “Luxury LARPing”. When used alone, the term LARP is an acronym for the practice of Live Action Role Playing. Traditionally this term was applied to avid and costumed participation in games involving medieval characters or things such as elaborate battle reenactments. It was an endeavor reserved for creative, niche hobbyists.

Today LARPing has morphed into the practice of creating elaborate, wealth signaling social media content that pretends an extreme luxury lifestyle. For those that are interested, it is possible to purchase courses from Youtube and Tik Tok creators on how to master the art of “Luxury LARPing”. There are rules and standards of practice involved, but surprisingly creation of this content has nothing to do with reflecting actual income.

Instead Luxury LARPing is about feigning a persona that is surrounded by the trappings of immense wealth. Luxury cars and private jets are rented for a day or two. Then, armed with only an iphone, a creator can photograph themselves living lavishly in a thousand different postures and poses that can be posted as social media content for months to come. There is an art to creating this dupe lifestyle with counterfeit shoes, clothing and jewelry. It is even common practice to purchase a day pass to a high priced fitness club for example, and to document this visit with hundreds of photos that can depict a fictional commitment to a consistent and expensive exercise routine. Why pump iron when you can post pics?

But just as the movie Wall Street questioned the value of greed and served as a blistering social critique of the Yuppie ethos, so too has Luxury LARPing morphed into the realm of social critique and satire. This entire internet genre evolved into “Ironic Luxury LARPing” for a brief, delirious period of time.

Purveyors of this irony driven content donned borrowed, temporary, counterfeit or rented trappings of wealth and scoffed in the faces of influencers and anyone else that had gone into calamitous debt by actually purchasing these luxury goods. Essentially they were saying, “Look at how insubstantial and meaningless your status symbol is, when anyone can depict the prestige of wealth for so little.”

In so doing, these ironic luxury LARP content creators called into question the essential objective of material status symbols and luxury goods. They were giving voice to a point that was raised over 2000 years ago in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. In this foundational text describing yogic philosophy, Patanjali explains the importance of the practice of aparigraha or “non-greed”.

As the fifth and final ethical restraint or “Yama” described in Patanjali’s text, aparigraha is the yogic practice of taking only what is necessary, letting go of excess, and unbinding oneself from the constant craving for material things or specific outcomes.

Aparigraha rejects the idea of communicating identity through material objects. The practice encourages living modestly, avoiding accumulation of possessions and releasing attachment to material goods. Ultimately aparigraha exposes greed as a futile endeavor that leads to discontent and despair.

By letting go of covetous feelings for status symbols, a person can foster contentment with the present moment and gain peace in the knowledge that one already has enough. There is freedom to be had in traveling through this world unencumbered by the burden of the need to impress others by showcasing tangible possessions.

Essentially, the practice of aparigraha turns that infamous Gordon Gekko quote on its head and replaces the word greed with gratitude. “Gratitude, for lack of a better word, is good. Gratitude is right, gratitude works.”

Luxury LARPing reveals something remarkable that aparigraha has been asserting all along. We don’t actually covet watches, handbags, or private jets. We covet the identities we imagine these things confer. The Rolex or the Birkin portray success. The private jet portrays significance. The object itself is almost incidental. What we truly desire is the story attached to the item.

It is unknown whether these “ironic luxury LARPers” are actually students of ancient yogic philosophy. But whether it was written on parchment in a 2000 year old text describing the path to enlightenment, or pushed out onto the internet as algorithm driven content, the message is the same. Certain truths are universal and timeless. The attempt to construct an identity through material possessions and symbols of wealth is a fruitless endeavor. Replacing greed with gratitude is a pathway to an enriched life.

Perhaps that is why the content around ironic luxury LARPing resonates with so many people. This genre does more than mock influencers or their relentless purchasing. On a larger scale it is exposing a bargain that humanity has been making for centuries: the belief that enough of the “right” possessions can manufacture a more valuable self.

Yogic tradition asks a radical question about who we are as individuals. If identity cannot be purchased or worn, who are we without the costume? That is the question aparigraha has been inviting us to consider for more than two thousand years.