Class Action July 2007 Book of the Month!

When Thorstein Veblen penned The Theory of the Leisure Class in 1899 his ideas possessed a distinct insolubility within dominant economic and socio-political discourse. His countervailing arguments may have seemed rather radical at the time, but have proven lucid and relevant over the course of the century. Classical economics, as propagated by the majority of 19th century economists, explicitly presented humans as rational actors operating in respective economic environments. Veblen launched his arguments on a dramatically different trajectory. According to this academic rogue, it was inaccurate and arrogant to base an economic definition of the human race on rationality; individuals rarely purchase a good based solely on its utility. Classical economics ignores any social, historical, familial, or structural/institutional factors inherent in any one individual’s consumption pattern. Upon aggregation of these implicit factors it is clear that human consumption is not based entirely on rational, utility-maximizing decision-making. Veblen asserted the importance of recognizing this irrational trend, and showcased the high-income “leisure class” as his evidence. In this bold departure from classical economic thought Veblen critiques the “conspicuous” leisure and consumption of the turn-of-the century wealthy.

Where can one begin a comprehensive exploration of irrational economic behavior inspired by class divisions? Veblen draws the starting line at the earliest collectivization of human society, and the concomitant emergence of labor divisions. Following Veblen’s reasoning, the rise of intensive agriculture in early tribal organizations produced large surpluses of resources that allowed flexibilities in a previously rigid societal structure. That is to say, a tribal society with a food surplus was able to support a minority non-farming population. While most primitive humans farmed and gathered the food that cultivated modern society, others were afforded the opportunity to conduct war and hunt animals. This class of citizen generally produced little for their tribal society, as war was intermittent and often inconclusive, and hunting represented only a small percentage of food production. Despite their overall inefficiency, soldiering and hunting supposedly required greater skill than field laboring with the majority of the population, lending the practitioners of these tasks an air of exclusivity and nobility. Thus was conceived a formative system of class and reputation based upon labor divisions wherein the non-farming population collected the most substantial rewards. While originally this translated to rank and land entitlements, the scale of wealth distribution has in modern times become pecuniary in nature. In his signature satirical fashion, Veblen draws correlations between the modern-day businessman and the aforementioned primitive tribal elite. A contemporary expression of this age-old occupational hierarchy is present in the manual labor/white-collar dichotomy in which goods production and income distribution are inversely related. The modern businessman seemingly contributes very little tangible production to our economic system, production being an obligation of the laborer, yet receives compensation far greater than the blue-collar employee.

Accompanying the divisions of labor in primitive human society were incipient emulations of reputability by those of the lower class. The select rights and disproportionate awards bestowed upon non-laboring citizens allowed them to exhibit, in tangible fashion, their distinct status. Living a life of excess became the most commonly adopted means of communicating social status. This trend produced one of society’s earliest trickle-down effects; lower social classes began to spend more of their income on emulating those in the leisure class. This of course prompted consumption reactions from upper-class citizens seeking to preserve their distinction as society’s elite. What ensued over the course of the century was a competition of overindulgence. Rare goods were acquired to showcase accumulation of wealth, while certain hobbies were mastered for the purpose of displaying the luxury of free time. Veblen described these expenditures of wealth and time as conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure, respectively. It is this distinction from the average standard that humans strive to achieve, an inherent aversion to being recognized as common. The desire for distinction has rapidly worked its way into American mainstream, manifesting itself in the proliferation of designer products and name brand shopping. Consumerism is easily diagnosed in a society chalk full of symptoms; the rapidly growing luxury market, unreasonably large vehicles, and an increasing reliance on credit all indicate Americans are spending on superfluous goods, beyond their means. The incentive for this senseless spending is not economic, utility being far from maximized, but rather social in nature. Veblen observed that image conscious consumers had abandoned rational economic behavior for the pursuit of social status, corrupting and retarding human progress in the process. In an effort to avoid invidious comparisons Americans have become consumed with consumption, perpetually readjusting the parameters of luxury and leisure.

View previous Class Action Book of the Month selections...

June Book of the Month: Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons

May Book of the Month: Death in the Haymarket

April Book of the Month: Food Politics

March Book of the Month: Psychology and Economic Injustice

February Book of the Month : What's My Name, Fool?

December Book of the Month: Dead Heat: Global Justice and Global Warming

November Book of the Month: Awol

October Book of the Month: Class Passing

September Book and Video of the Month: Beyond Silenced Voices and Declining By Degrees

August Books of the Month: Human Cargo and Gathering the Sun

July Book of the Month: The Overworked American by Juliet Schor

June Book of the Month: More Money Than God by Steven R. Leder

May Book of the Month: Global Class by Jeff Faux

April Books of the Month: Classified and Strapped

March Book of the Month: Welfare Brat, A Memoir by Mary Childers

February Book of the Month: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

January Book of the Month: Invisible Privilege: A Memoir about Race, Class, and Gender by Paula Rothenberg

View last year's Book of the Month selections...

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