Posted on 02/07/2021 9:18:29 PM PST by tbw2
In the past, people displayed their membership of the upper class with their material accoutrements. But today, luxury goods are more affordable than before. And people are less likely to receive validation for the material items they display. This is a problem for the affluent, who still want to broadcast their high social position. But they have come up with a clever solution. The affluent have decoupled social status from goods, and re-attached it to beliefs.
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Thorstein Veblen’s famous “leisure class” has evolved into the “luxury belief class.” Veblen, an economist and sociologist, made his observations about social class in the late nineteenth century. He compiled his observations in his classic work, The Theory of the Leisure Class. A key idea is that because we can’t be certain of the financial standing of other people, a good way to size up their means is to see whether they can afford to waste money on goods and leisure.
(Excerpt) Read more at quillette.com ...
Thorstein Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class—A Status Update
https://quillette.com/2019/11/16/thorstein-veblens-theory-of-the-leisure-class-a-status-update/
Good ole institutional economics. Conspicuous consumption.
Very useful post.
As an economics major (BA,1972), I studied Veblin. A far lefty, but I gave him credit for having an affair with a fellow professor’s wife whilst teaching at Stanford.
I would say that “class elitism” is another form for most of its’ members of “white privilege/wealth”, now being joined by a new leftist “black elite” (esp. from the sports and entertainment world).
The more money/goods they have, the more they think of themselves as being “very important, knowledgeable about the world’s ills, and how to cure them via a socialist/Marxist set of solutions no matter how destructive and provably non-productive they are”.
In the old world we call them “self-righteous egotistical bastards and blowhards (minus Don Lemon)”.
Veblen was an anti-capitalist statist. This is poison. Drink at your own peril.
The same concept has come up elsewhere: ‘Luxury beliefs’ are the latest status symbol for rich Americans
https://nypost.com/2019/08/17/luxury-beliefs-are-the-latest-status-symbol-for-rich-americans/
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