Question

What is Thorstein Veblen's argument in The Theory of the Leisure Class?.

Answer 1

Answer:

Veblen argues that the selection of institutions affects the selection of people within society. Institutions change fast, so although only the fittest habits of thought will normally survive, the selection of people cannot keep up. Further, changes which may be good for society as a whole may be bad for certain people. Veblen’s discussion provides a nice picture of a dynamic environment and selection pressures that vary with it.

Despite this dynamism, society is slow to change and conservative. Veblen argues that the leisure class is able to keep society conservative through withdrawing the means of sustenance to the industrial class. As a result, the industrial class does not have the resources to invest in new ideas and habits. Even if they did gain some surplus, that would be wasted on the conspicuous consumption that the leisure class has established as the societal norm.

Answer 2

The argument of Thorstein Veblen in the Theory of the Leisure Class is regarding the impact of the selection of institutions over the selection of people from society as a whole.

Who was Thorstein Veblen?

Thorstein Veblen was a famous sociologist and economist who wrote the book The Theory of the Leisure Class. He wrote about the relationship between the economy, culture, and society.

Argument

The argument by him was because the rapid increase in the speed to institutions with the fittest habits will only be able to survive. This cannot be affected by the selection of people. This means that the selection of institutions is an independent variable while the selection of people is the dependent variable.

Along with the argument, he also argued that the leisure class is able to maintain the society conservations due to which the industrial class does not have many resources to invest in the new ideas and habits.

Learn more about The Theory of the Leisure Class, refer to the link:

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