What Is The Leisure Class

George Carlin further expands on communism when he mentions that a part of the “American Dream” is the tradition to be able to purchase goods/products, in which he states, “Consumption, that’s the new national pass time, forget baseball, its consumption. The only true lasting American value that’s left, buying things! Buying things! People spending money they don’t have on things they don’t need”. Karl Marx’s theory about communism indicates that society is exploited by consumption when capitalists take advantage of such circumstances as a means to further their markets, for instance, “The bourgeoisie has through its exploitation of the world market given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country” (Marx, 16).

Capitalism, in its ideal form, is an economic system meant to give consumers the opportunity to become producers of a product and sell goods to consumers without much government involvement. In practice, Marx, Weber, and Durkheim can attest to this economic system’s ability to benefit an opportunistic minority, while it disadvantages the majority, especially the working and lower class. These three classical theorists have varying views in what way capitalism ensnares the poor and how to break the recurring cycle, but all three theorists believe that capitalism benefits few and subjects the majority to a dependence on consumerism and the endless cycle of materialism and a lack of money. In “Fight Club”, the Narrator finds that his identity

Capitalism prevents us from valuing ourselves, which is why we aren’t happy. In Brave New World, it is obvious that capitalistic ideals drive the society, in which their sole purpose is to consume, as they believe that “[one] can’t consume much if [one sits] still and [reads] books” (Brave New World 50). The desire to produce, consume, and earn money at the end of it all makes us stray from the activities that bring people the most pleasure. We are so caught up in making money and getting ourselves higher on the never-ending hierarchy that the idea of leisure and happiness is forgotten. Though the technology that supports capitalism is thought to be highly developed and is a result of our most intellectual advances, the reality is that we are becoming reliant on technology in order to make us happy;

of old world normalities. Citizens are divided into different social classes and are to conform to

During the 19th century, Europe underwent political and economic change resulting in a shift from craft production to factory work. This was a time known as the Industrial Revolution, in which class division and wage labor were the most foregrounded aspects of society (Poynton). Karl Marx’s theories during this time gave way to new perspectives and different ways of viewing oneself in class positions. Comparisons between social and political structures in the 19th century and the 21st century expose the similarities that have yet to be modified. Marxist theory proved to offer a framework for society to undergo evolutionary change that would put an end to the capitalist mode of production that developed during the Industrial Revolution in Europe (Connelley). Marxism greatly outlines the struggle between different classes and groups belonging to the political world and how this class struggle affects the means of production. Broadly speaking, capitalism is a structure of political inequality and once overcome will lead to communism, inevitably weakening the boundary between classes. Although beneficial for the workers who want to live as free men, the upper class will be placed on that same wavelength. The greater political structure will form into a realm that will abolish the exploitation and oppression of workers, thus placing power in the hands of those who do not benefit from the unequal distribution of wealth. It involves a combination of political and economic factors

When introducing consumption practices in Chapter 4, Berdahl links desirous capital with higher social status; however, the definition of desirous capital changed under the socialist system. Beginning in 1952, the collectivization of agriculture forced the landowning elite from power and instituted an economic system “based on a logic of centralized planning, the aim of which was to maximize the redistributive power of the state” (115). This system gave rise to a second economy in which underground trade and gift-giving compensated for the lack of goods available from the state. In more specific terms, consumption practices — a form of economic activity — focused on hoarding rare commodities and earning access to goods. Given this economic environment, new identities and inequalities developed: “Not only was there often a strategic element in social life, but social relations themselves became an important form of capital. Connections replaced property as an indictor of social status” (122). Here Berdahl emphasizes the shift from physical capital to social capital as desirous. With the accumulation of social capital needed in the second economy, a new elite formed consisting of people such as J.R. and Barbara Becker (126-132). Returning to the argument of this paper, this shift in economic practice — which created new identities

A community bound by social class is often referred to as a slaving society. The people at the bottom of this system are indebted to those above with nowhere else to turn. The man who is bound to another of a higher class is most likely to be exploited, for in an aristocratic society one has only the aristocrats to turn to for justice. Unfortunately, a man needs justice most when he is mistreated by the aristocracy.

and brought to the forefront the question of freedom and necessity. Whereby luxury had been

Veblen argued that consuming was not a way to sustain but a way to show division between classes (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2013, p.55). His theories about conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure are all too often reflected in society today. The article How the Other Fifth Lives in The New York Times reveals exactly what Veblen observed years ago. According to the article the top 5% of Americans holding not only most of the economic wealth but how they also control this wealth. With the controlling of economic wealth, the top 5% also control the political arenas. This in turn causes a bigger division between the classes. As the top are becoming richer and more powerful the bottom classes are becoming poorer. To portray power and economic

Born in America to Norwegian immigrants, Veblen was an outsider and nonconformist with unusual behavior and unconventional views; he rejected neoclassical economics, Marxism, pragmatist philosophy and laissez-faire economics. However, these goods derive most of their value from the level of reliability with which they serve to distinguish their owners as members of the favored group.To accomplish the goal of signaling high standing, positional goods must be available only to those within a desired group. For example, where the desired group is the wealthy, exclusivity is easily accomplished through setting a high price. Economist Thorstein Veblen is famous for his study of how economic activity is influenced by social contexts. Veblen introduced the term "conspicuous consumption" to describe his observations of how goods can be used to indicate social position.

The idea of social status is one that assumes a pivotal role in Middle Age European culture. Social status was, in essence, a tool used by society to differentiate and label the population into their appropriate classes. Therefore, the elite would mingle with other members of their class, and the poor would associate themselves with other poor people. Social status had almost a sacred aura surrounding it. Obtainable only by rite of birth, it was not given out nor obtained overnight. Everyone respected the caste system and one’s position in it, and because of the respect for social status, the nobles received the respect of other noblemen, middle class merchants, peasants, and anyone

For the American upper class to exist institutionally, as Domhoff asserts, it cannot do so solely based upon the definition outlined thus far, a collection of exclusionary families that intermarry, possess wealth and have the same worldview, it must also exist as a set of interrelated social institutions that support its structure. These

Through out the history of the world, people have been placed into categories based on their wealth, and all of the worldly possessions that we have. These classes of society can

According to Karl Marx in the Economic and Philosophic Manuscript of 1844, “the only wheels which political economy sets in motion are greed and the war amongst the greedy - competition.” A capitalist society, defined by the systems of competition and private ownership, is divided into two classes - the “property owners” and the “propertyless workers” (701). In this system, workers suffer from exploitation and alienation, while capitalists grow wealthier and more powerful.

Capitalism allows a culture to develop into a complex modern structure with levels of status acquired through the mere possession and consumption of goods. Goods are valuable because of their uses, connotative symbols, and when demand for them exceeds the supply. By working within a capitalist system, any consumer can earn the ability, through currency, to attain any good they have the funds and time to find and purchase from a producer. When Weber speaks of Protestant work ethic, he is referencing this ability of anybody to work hard to acquire anything they have the means to attain. Veblen speaks about the competition between social strata which drives conspicuous consumption. People are naturally competitive, and to view another person as socially superior is to experience a desire to achieve their level of status and level of consumption. Protestant work ethic and conspicuous consumption both connote types of social status, but at different costs and representing different moral symbols in the context of social position.