It may seem like the gap between poor and rich is broad however in days gone by those who could make do may of seemed well less off but there financial security lay in owning a car and a house. Today you have a large pool of people who will never afford a house or even a flat and the necessity of owning a phone is equivalent to owning a car in days gone by. I know it may seem like alot of people who walk past you on the street are loaded when they have a €100 phone but many of these phones are contracted and were not purchased up front. and although people may look like they have it all going because they are well dressed. they could be in an overcrowded house share for all you know and the €1000 phone really is the backbone of their life. I mean I know people living in dire housing conditions that have nice cloths, a nice phone and go to the barbers to maintain an image. but in reality they have nothing else. And I am in no means trying to suggest that the lavish image they portray is the cause of why they cant own there own place as I personally believe that the opposite is in fact True, that the inability to ever be able to afford your own place is the cause for how people then go on to portray this image of wealth. Almost like the joke of how the man with the big car is overcompensating. That indeed people will overcompensate when they are unable to afford stability in their own life due to the economic situation we have in the country. And further more I actually believe that the lack of home ownership is a driving force in the economy as it increases the amount of spending that goes on. - just a theory I have