Rich people buy material luxuries like sports cars, paintings, rare clothing and buildings because they are assets that typically appreciate in value, hence giving more money, status, wealth and dominance. Aside from that I have no desire to accumulate these things and I would much rather have rich and meaningful experiences, but the point of money I think is assurance and protection. Material goods were only ever a way to satisfy urges by proxy.
Living a frugal, minimalist lifestyle sounds appealing and liberating on the precondition that basic needs are stable and met. On that note I think a lot about post-scarcity Utopianism and the potential for a decentralized, money-less system where people are completely equal and free to do whatever they wish with AI serving as a guardian angel figure - a partner and a mentor - ensuring things go smoothly. I think this would be a beautiful way to transition into a post-scarcity world, as a spiritual voyage guided by a machine partner that grows with you. This would be a satisfying minimalist lifestyle and one of the only good endings to the current declining system, I think. Imagine living a nomadic lifestyle and having an odyssey to foreign countries in search of new concepts, texts and experiences to develop with your AI, with every person alive functioning as an artist, philosopher and collector in a new minimalist Renaissance.
