I published a novel once, and in it the wife of the ambitious main character remarks, "Every time your income rises, a little more of your conscience has to die." That said, and I stick by it, I have problems with this anecdote as a lesson in the morality of wealth. For if the gentleman had known from the serial number on the M5 -- somewhere in the 1,3xx,xxx I presume -- its year of manufacture; and all the lore surrounding that first metered M; and its failure in the marketplace; and everything else that would make it clear he really knows not only his Leicas, but his photography.... and he was nice to you and bought you a drink, would he then get a pass? Likely so. Either man described -- the boob and the aficionado -- can be someone brutally dedicated to wealth above all considerations; and either could be someone who has by luck, and without exploitation or abuse, become wealthy, and could be a good man, and his expertise in photo matters, even owning so enviable and costly a set of camera and lens, is not a good basis for making the distinction. In short: you can be a camera vulgarian and still be a decent human.... though I grant you, it's hard to imagine.
