The Performative Nonsense of “Money Screams, Wealth Whispers”
There’s a particular kind of internet pretentiousness that thrives on making people feel inferior. One of its favorite phrases? “Money screams, wealth whispers.” This is usually delivered by someone claiming that real wealth is quiet, understated, and refined, while new or lesser money is loud, tacky, and desperate for attention.
We already know this is classist, elitist, and even racist – it’s common knowledge. The problem? it’s also just embarrassing. Because the people obsessing over “quiet luxury” and “old money elegance” are the only ones actually screaming.
The Hypocrisy of ‘Quiet Luxury’
A common argument in favour of this phrase is that truly wealthy people don’t wear obvious luxury brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Dior, etc. because they don’t need to “prove” anything. Instead, they supposedly wear “understated” brands like Loro Piana or Brunello Cucinelli.
But… Loro Piana has stores on the exact same high-end shopping streets as Gucci. Their sweaters cost just as much, if not more. The only difference? Branding. And the people parroting this rhetoric don’t even seem to realize how performative it is. It’s not about avoiding luxury – it’s just about consuming in a way that feels exclusive to those in the know.
If someone is shaming people for wearing Gucci while praising someone else for wearing a $5,000 Loro Piana cashmere sweater, they’re not critiquing materialism – they’re just reinforcing class gatekeeping.
‘Billionaires Don’t Wear XYZ’ – Who Cares?
Then there’s those that love pointing out how billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs wore the same “plain” outfits every day. Or how Warren Buffett still eats McDonald’s. As if this somehow proves that real wealth isn’t about excess.
First of all – who cares? How does pointing out that a billionaire wears a gray t-shirt help anyone? More importantly, the argument falls apart when you look at how the ultra-wealthy actually spend their money.
Sure, a billionaire might wear a $20 t-shirt. But they also own:
• Multi-million-dollar yachts.
• Private jets that cost more to maintain than most. people’s lifetime earnings.
• Mansions in locations you’ve never even heard of.
• Art collections worth more than an entire neighborhood.
There is nothing quiet about this. The idea that wealth is quiet is ridiculous. Just because you don’t recognize their flex doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
The Old Money vs. New Money Fallacy
One of the biggest underlying messages in “money screams, wealth whispers” is the idea that old money is somehow superior to new money. That those who inherited wealth have a sense of refinement that self-made millionaires lack.
But let’s be real – old money is often just blood money. Generational wealth is rarely built on good morals. It comes from colonialism, exploitation, monopolies, and deeply unethical business practices. People love to praise old-money families for being “discreet,” but that’s because if people knew how they really got their wealth, they’d want to burn it all down.
Besides, even within the wealthy class, there’s always another level. What you consider “quiet wealth” is just “money screams” to someone even richer than them. A person with $10 million might laugh at someone flaunting Gucci, but a billionaire might see the $10-million person’s yacht as a tacky status symbol. The cycle never ends.
The Pretentiousness of It All
Ultimately, this entire conversation is just so pretentious.
The irony is that the people preaching about “true wealth” being quiet are the loudest ones in the room. They make videos, write think pieces, and dedicate entire TikTok accounts to telling people what real rich people do.
Meanwhile, actual wealthy people are out there buying:
• $50,000 Gucci monogram sweaters.
• $500,000 Richard Mille watches.
• $500 million superyachts from the same companies that sell to “new money” buyers.
• Probably aren’t making accounts telling others what rich people do
What exactly is quiet about any of that?
Wealth Whispers Because It Has To
Wealth doesn’t “whisper” because of some noble sense of discretion. It whispers because if people really understood how it was accumulated, they’d be outraged. They’re already outraged by Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos for example, and they are literally the richest people on planet earth… and they literally and genuinely are the opposite of ‘wealth whispers’ .
So next time you hear the “money screams, wealth whispers,” just remember – it’s all performative nonsense. The only people screaming about wealth are the ones desperate to prove they belong in the room.
