Law in Contemporary Society

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VeblenIfYouGiveAMouseACookie 10 - 07 Apr 2010 - Main.KalliopeKefallinos
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 Did you ever think capitalism might end because it was too… successful? Veblen offers this possibility.

Specifically, Veblen seems to define capitalism as the creation of conspicuous consumption. The higher classes accumulate profit to devote themselves to conspicuous consumption. Everyone emulates everyone who is higher than them in the social hierarchy. The lower classes emulate the higher classes by consuming as conspicuously as they possibly can. As capitalism progresses and the manifestations of conspicuous consumption grow in number, Veblen seems to say the lower classes may begin to feel like they are getting poorer and poorer comparatively. This feeling might be so strong that capitalism itself is overthrown.

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 I think it's a mistake to apply that kind of normative outlook to evolution - there is no such thing as devolution. Are we "better" now than we were as apes? Evolution is entirely about adaptation to circumstance, not approaching an objective standard. That said, I agree with what your essential point is - Veblen views the leisure class as not adding anything of value. Beyond a sort of spiritual value, the class doesn't produce any tangible goods, and when they do it's at a cost to efficiency.

-- StephenSevero - 06 Apr 2010

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>		You're right, sorry. After class it became clear to me that I've been mistaken in thinking of evolution as some kind of normative progress. (I was conflating evolution with advancement in technology and the sciences.) In everyday life, though, isn't evolution normatively portrayed? Isn't this image meant to invoke a feeling of "look how far we've come"? Anyway, this is more a random aside...

-- KalliopeKefallinos - 06 Apr 2010

 
 
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