Hedonism and its opposite

This morning I came across three articles which highlight excessive wealth.

A rare life-size and life-time bronze cast, from 1961, of Alberto Giacometti's L'Homme Qui Marche I, better known as "Walking Man," improbably became the most expensive work of art ever to sell at auction today, selling for £65,001,250 ($104,327,006).
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/108752/giacometti-sculpture-becomes-most-expensive-work-ever-to-sell-at-auction

Dita Von Teese admits she gets carried away when it comes to buying clothes for her shows but says they are worth it as they look so stunning.
...My accountant once said he couldn't understand how I spent $70,000 (€50,000) on a single dress,...
Read more: http://www.breakingnews.ie/entertainment/von-teese-spent-70000-on-dress-444765.html#ixzz0eYeH7oxB

“In a year that proved to have no shortage of story lines, I believe very strongly that performance is the ultimate narrative,” the chief, Lloyd C. Blankfein, said in the companywide message. He then celebrated the bank’s record profits in 2009 and discussed its plans to pay bonuses to its employees.
Left unanswered now, as then, is the question that all of Wall Street has been chewing on for months: How much will Mr. Blankfein be paid for his remarkable — and controversial — success in running Goldman?
Anxious executives at rival banks are awaiting the news with a mixture of envy and alarm. Guesses range from nothing to $100 million.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/business/04goldman.html?hp

By contrast, Issi Liebler wrote a Jpost article entitled The impending haredi implosion which discusses a segment of society that doesn't view the pursuit of wealth as its main goal.

Haredim are an important component of our society. They represent an attractive contrast to the excessive pursuit of wealth that has become the hallmark of our hedonistic secular society. Family ties and the loving manner in which they provide for the needy in their ranks are models many of us could emulate.
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=167763