Talk

Thorstein Veblen

MeFi had an entry about Veblen and his book Theory of Conspicous Consumption.

Veblen's thesis is that the lower class does not strive to over throw the upper class (as Marx postulated). He claims the lower class members want to be members of the upper class. This view resonates with my own similar views. Almost every one wants to be better than what they are today. Scores of young software professional hitched their wagon on to the shooting .com star. Unfortunately it was a falling star. The only ones who complained during the hey day of the boom were people who hadn't got into the right start up at the right time.