Although I share Singer's disgust at ostentatious displays of wealth, I think the morality of such activities is, to say the least, complicated. Leaving aside the corruption issue, is a rich and ostentatious man like, say, Larry Ellison to be condemned as compared to a Bill Gates? I think we all like Gates more, and believe he contributes more to the welfare of society, but is that a moral matter? An Ellison, after all, is providing jobs to many people as he throws his wealth around. Renaissance princes created much of great and lasting beauty when they hired Michelangelo, Raphael, and the like, at great contemporary expense, or built lovely buildings. Did St. Francis, who came from a similar background as those princes, do more good for the world?