I'd thought about this a bit more. I'd say that the crux of the article is that there is a value beyond status competition in buying luxuries--call it an aesthetic value, or good taste, or whatever. The MMM corollary though would be that those values are subjective, and if you pick up a MMM mindset you start to recoil from these nice but unnecessary hobby items and put more value on high-quality products that meet your actual needs. Something about imagining MMM face-punching you makes nice toys less attractive :).
Hmm, I was raised to believe that "good taste" consisted of two things: making sure to not spend time, money, or effort trying to impress people whose opinions don't matter, and seeing to it that the people who do matter to you are treated well and not gratuitously subjected to things they find offensive.
Think about it: most of the things that people describe as "tasteless" are either ostentatious brand advertisements or conspicuous consumption, or something designed to deliberately offend.
Aesthetic goals can actually be accomplished quite cheaply if you're willing to put in effort.