I think " flex culture" is toxic for young people, especially college students. The obsession with Canada goose coats, air pods latest Apple product and the latest sneakers. 
and for what? So you can impress people you don’t even like or get validation from strangers on social media? Most students that flex the most have next to nothing in the bank or have daddy’s credit card. Overall it keeps you poor.
Is it that prevalent though?
Or perhaps at some colleges only, where displaying material wealth matters?
Why do you think that if a person is wearing “X” that they are trying to impress you? Maybe they received a gift, maybe they saved up over the summer to buy something that they wanted for themselves?
Could this possibly be a “you” problem?
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I clicked on this because I thought it was something like flex time–keeping your own hours–and I wondered why that would be toxic. Shows what I know.
I agree that conspicuous consumption of all kinds has a negative effect. Compounding this among college students is the fact that it’s unlikely they really earned enough money to look really rich, so they are either overextending themselves or just flaunting the socioeconomic class they were born into.
Is it really common in college? In my experience, universities are big enough that you can choose a culture. If some people think it’s cool to show off their parents’ money, you can find another group who does not.
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My D just graduated college and couldn’t care less about “Canada goose coats, air pods latest Apple product and the latest sneakers.”, nor could any of her friends/classmates. She just laughed when I asked.
Maybe it’s a school/location/major thing. Midwest large public college engineers probably aren’t prime instigators/victims of whatever this is.
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That’s what I’d expect. I’m sure some college students do care about looking fashionable, but you’re likely to find a lot more people who don’t than you’ll find in most other environments.
College students are young enough to have dreams and unfulfilled potential and not a lot of their own money. Later on, the dreams get a little dinged (hopefully not crushed) and the potential gets tested by reality. To compensate, you start to make more money and can buy “stuff” if that’s your thing. So if “flex culture” is real, I would expect it to be at a low point in college.
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To each his own. I don’t judge poor people who wear brands, my younger brother and I were two of those because our mom didn’t want us to stand out in a rather wealthy environment. I don’t think it’s toxic looking back, it was just her way of adapting to her environment. Poor students with iPhones is well known.
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Conspicuous consumption is not a new concept.
BTW, when I read the title of the thread, i thought you were talking about the men and women who gravitate to gym mirrors and “flex their pecs.” That’s getting out of control too. 
My question is why do people care or judge what others choose to own, use or wear? Why is wearing Canada goose better or worse than LL Bean or NorthFace? Or an Apple better or worse vs a Samsung vs a Google product?
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I didn’t even know what a Canada Goose coat was. I thought OP meant a goose down jacket.
Apparently, I am not a victim of “flex culture.”
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