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In Iran, the people revolted. In Metro Vancouver, the people merely shake their heads.

The ordinary people of Iran this year took to the streets en masse to protest the way the children of the wealthy were showing off their outrageous toys and decadent lifestyle in the streets and on social media.

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Iran erupted in countrywide protests over rich millennials who fail to keep their privilege in check, including on showy, indulgent social media sites such as Instagram’s therichkidsoftehran. When Maseratis roar through the busy streets of Tehran, pedestrians often unleash curses on the drivers.

In Metro Vancouver — which has been dubbed the supercar capital of the world — people are more inclined to simply frown, smirk or whisper their displeasure at the way drivers, many of them students, are flaunting their family’s apparently bottomless riches by tooling around in flashy supercars.

In a city that is becoming increasingly unequal in regards to housing, leisure lifestyle, education and other spheres, scholars are beginning to explore whether the flaunting of high-status toys like sports cars is contributing to the stress and unhappiness of those who have to witness it.