It was a demonstration of capacity to charity which signalled superior wealth accumulation capacity. Same thing as showing off your house or boat, or company stock price or collection of vintage ball gags, or whatever weird shit rich people are into. I’m guessing the acquisition of difficult to acquire things was a smaller field to fight on than it is today.
It was a demonstration of capacity to charity which signalled superior wealth accumulation capacity. Same thing as showing off your house or boat, or company stock price or collection of vintage ball gags, or whatever weird shit rich people are into. I’m guessing the acquisition of difficult to acquire things was a smaller field to fight on than it is today.