Veblen Flashcards
What are Robber Barons?
They are monopolists that controlled core industries and acquire large amounts of wealth without caring about how it affected people of society.
What are robber barons a characteristic of?
The rise of big business
According to Veblen, what characterized inequality?
The extreme exploitation of the working class by the upper class and the extreme consumption habits of the upper class
What were the two classes?
The predatory class and the industrious class
What is the definition of the predatory class?
Those who exploited the community by taking their wealth
What is the definition of the industrious class?
Those who engaged in the production of wealth by producing useful goods
Why are things organized the way they are in society?
Customs and mores
What is the definition of customs?
A form of social behavior that is well established in society and becomes tradition
What is the definition of mores?
Moral social norms
According to Veblen, what influences the conception of society?
Labor activity because it produces a particular way of thinking and perception of themselves, others, and the world. Labor activity also affects their “habits of mind”.
What are the habits of mind?
Nonreflective ways of thinking and feeling that are the outcome of productive activities that, over time, shape cultural norms.
What are the characterisitics of habits of mind?
1.) Occurs without rational reflection
2.) They form the basis of commonsense in people
3.) They are resistant to change even if the labor activity that created it disappears because they become passed down
What was the difference between earlier predatory classes and modern society’s predatory class?
Early predatory classes at least gave back to society in some way but the predatory class of modern society take and with no regard of the wellbeing of society
How is class communicated in modern society?
Through conspicuous consumption and class is symbolically formulated.
What is the definition of conspicuous consumption?
Is a form of conspicuous waste that involves the publicly visible nonproductive use of wealth in order to gain social status
