Is Kim Kardashian’s Car Collection Excessive?

I was reading an online article the other day on the Huffington Post about Kim Kardashian’s purchase of a Ferrari 458 Italia. Most of the comments left by the readers were negative. One individual commented that she could feed a third world country all of her cars. Another stated that she should donate the money from her cars to needy families. The general consensus was that it’s outrageous for one person to spend such a large amount of money on a car.

To me, that doesn’t seem justified at all. Once taxes are paid, everyone is entitled to spend their money as they see fit. There are many non-celebrities who drive pretty nice cars such as Infiniti’s, Land Rovers and BMW. These individuals aren’t “expected” to donate their car to any causes so why is Kim Kardashian expected to? How would you feel if someone expected you to give up your house or car because others may deem it as extravagant?

A Closer Look At Kim’s Cars

First of all, let’s take a close look at all of Miss Kardashian’s cars. She owns a Ferrari 458 Italia estimated to cost around $325,000, a 2010 Range Rover worth HSE worth approximately $56,000 and a Rolls Royce Phantom estimated to cost $355,000. Total sum of the value of these cars is $736,000. Also keep in mind that this total amount is actually a very lowball figure. Chances are that her cars aren’t the base models but the high end ones. Her cars have also been customized and modified which adds to the total value but for the sake of this article, let’s assume that the total value of her cars is around $736k. She may or may not still own a Bentley Continental GT. I am not sure if she still has it so I will leave it out of the calculation. Is that a lot of money? Sure it is. However, when you consider the fact that Kim’s net worth is 35 million, the total value of her cars is less than 1 percent of her overall wealth. How many people can say that?

The Have’s and The Have Not’s

The premise of a capitalist country is that there will always be the “haves” and the “have nots”. It may not sound fair but that is the reality of it. America is a capitalist country; not a socialist or communist one. Individuals like Kim who spend these kinds of figures on exotic cars are actually giving the U.S economy a hand. Some commenters posted that Kim isn’t talented and therefore doesn’t deserve her riches or nice cars. Who said you had to be talented to be rich? What does being talented have to do with making a lot of money? Talent isn’t needed most of the time and that’s perfectly fine. It’s also important to keep in mind that not all celebrities choose to drive extravagant cars; many also drive the Toyota Prius in Los Angeles.

Money Makes The World Go Round

All in all, it just sounds like sour grapes to me. $736k spent on cars is a lot of money to inject back into the U.S economy. That $736,000 may very well account for American jobs, support auto manufacturers and the car dealerships where her vehicles were purchased from. In turn, Americans who have that money trickled down to them have more money themselves in order to spend. Spending money on cars is not a bad thing after all; money makes the world go round.