The point is that people would have a nice hidden garden even if nobody visited it (a riad a closed, cloistered garden, like DSK’s); but would they drive a very expensive sportscar in NYC if nobody watched them?
(it is beyond Veblen, status, etc., but about modernistic v/s natural objects)

I wonder how many people would drive sports cars if nobody watched them.

For the weak, envy (professional, financial, etc.) is the root cause of unhappiness. As it is impossible to transform it into indifference the only cure is to turn it into admiration.

Most people think that democracy is the result of people wishing to take control through voting; nobody considers that democracy can just be the side effect of people liking to vote in elections.