Rediscover: The Theory of the Leisure Class

Why does someone buy a car or house they can't afford? Why would working class shoppers purchase luxury consumer goods at the expense of necessities like food or medicine? The answer, according to Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), is social status--or the emulation of it. From tribal societies to feudalism and into the modern day, social stratification has determined the division of labor. The middle and lower classes do work that directly benefits society, such as farming or manufacturing, while the upper (or leisure) class engages in conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure with no benefit to society. Despite this uselessness, the leisure class enjoys a higher social status, and, according to Veblen, lower classes pursue that high status at the expense of their own interests or even happiness. In capitalism, Veblen saw tribal and medieval social structures transplanted to the modern era, where the owners of the means of production replaced lords of the manor or warfaring tribesmen. The phrase "Veblen good" has come to mean an item that is desirable solely because it is expensive, such as luxury cars or overpriced champagne. The Theory of the Leisure Class is available from Penguin Classics ($16). --Tobias Mutter
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