The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen - Book Report/Review Example

For A Good Life, There Must Be a Balance.

Ibn Khaldun is one of the first scholars in history to document and explain how human beings need technology and contribution from the government to build a sound economy. Khaldun explains that the rise of civilization is rooted within governments to invest in the economy of the people, technology to be exploited in the maximum, specialization of jobs and foreign trades. All these elements of his study are directed towards increasing the overall output. In lighter economic terms, increasing output means that the supply of goods and services in the economy is relatively enough to meet consumer demand. He attributes that to the best manner of experiencing civilization in the world today. Khaldun also believes that there needs to be a balance in life between good life and working to contribute towards the growth of civilization.

Isbn Khaldun and Thorsten Veblen agree on adverse impacts of trying to attain perfection in the economy. Thorsten discusses what it would become of human beings in the world today if all they demanded were in dire supply. In his book, The Theory of the Leisure Class Veblen uses the economics surrounding the upper class to illustrate how they differ from the conventional form of economics. Veblen discusses many characteristics, common to the upper or the leisure class. All his discussion are aimed at proofing that the fact they have everything that they can afford, the leisure class is not contributing to the economy. Veblen argues from those illustrations that if human beings are provided with all that they need in this life, there is a tendency of reluctance and negative contribution towards the economy. This essay provides discussed examples of what is expected out of enough supply of goods and a real life.

Before establishing that someone is carrying out a right or a wrong with contributing to the economy, it is important to define and create some conditions to help reach a conclusion that a given act is wrong or right. Khalidum, Pg.6 explains that the only basis for judging people that are inconsiderate of conformity to a particular situation is personal criticism. On this subject, it is not okay to base our judgment on the problems on the grounds of opinion. The normative way to judge historical events such as the rise of the leisure class should be based on social organization, which is closely related to civilization. By looking at the thing that can be avoided within civilizations and those that are unavoidable, then we will have a solid line between right and wrong. The above concept is used throughout this essay, particularly when it involves study of individual activities that are questionable (Khalidum, Pg.7)

Veblen, (pg. 2) highlights that the institution of the leisure class was well established in the higher stages of the primitive culture in feudal Europe and feudal Japan. During this period, the concept of social classes in the society was well arranged and respected by everyone despite the type the one was found in. Due to the social class demarcations, individuals belonging to the upper class were assigned to particular jobs that upheld their social stature. They were entirely excluded from industrial activities. Within the upper class, there was established a leisure class. Individuals who belonged to this class either belonged to the government, religious institutions, warfare and particular sport. They are the top cream of the upper class that held the highest position in the economy. Existing customs debarred the leisure class from partaking in industrial and any other form of rigorous works.

Despite their minimal contribution to industrial growth, the leisure class is characterized with unproductive consumption of goods. Use of this kind is a show of high human dignity and power. It is even more honorable when the consumers can obtain highly desirable products and services that most people cannot get. The lower class individuals who partake in hard labor and directly contributing to development are not allowed to enjoy some of the leisure. Examples are the preservation beverages for the noble and the rich individuals. Like things, the luxury and comfort of life belong to the wealthy and noble people. An event that a person is consuming luxury goods is actually out of sufferance that the poor folk decided to give up necessities for the luxurious products and services.

The traditional habits of luxurious consumptions did not cease in the past, but then they have been passed down to the current generation, and they are continuously eating the society. The timely succession of wealth and possession has been the same channel that these habits are spread from generation to generation. In present times, drugs are one of the best examples of good consumed that their consumption does not lead to any form of advantage or growth. Take for example a cocaine addict. The individual will at any moment give in to the addictions despite having the financial ability or not. This may take the lifetime of that person. Cocaine and other hard drugs are not cheap drugs. Hence, they are usually consumed by people of higher income. It is like a form of luxury to these individuals, that they cannot manage to do without. The effects of drugs such a cocaine are vast and far reaching From the economical point of view, drugs inhibit full performance and even affect the quality of work expected from the users. Drugs are becoming each and every day because of the legal war against substance use, but then consumption is also on the increase. It means governments are spending more to stop drugs while drug users are spending more to obtain what is available in the drug market. Let’s assume for example governments and other anti-drug use bodies win the war against drugs. The effects of the victory will be felt on the drug dependent users and later in the whole economy. The government will be obliged to spend on the health of the drug addicts while some of them cannot continue to carry out their economic activities “normally”.

In the present world there exists a new form of necessities that have been developed through technology and science. Social Media and computer devices like mobile phones are such necessities that are highly sought of more than the traditional needs of humankind. Khalidum, (Pg. 852) tries to explain where such synthetic habits originate. According to the social organization of humankind, each and every person is obliged to preserve a place in the society which can be described as a group of individuals. In such an environment, everyone is trying to do something so as to contribute to the general good or comfort of the society. With every person trying to contribute a something to the society in the form of labor, it is realized that there is even extra input of labor that meets the need for producing what the people within that community want. The additional labor input is the channeled toward creating things which are not necessities but then a new form of luxury which provides a higher level of satisfaction. It is at this point that science comes in to fulfill the desires of humanity. Khalidum, (P.g853) indicates that such luxurious development comes with a negative impact that he describes as degeneration. Degeneration is a term uses by Khalidum to describe the act of losing simplicity and developing rudeness to manners. With such luxuries like mobile phones, it is evident that the society is not the sweet old paradise that it was. People have access to everything but not to each other and even to themselves, Ibsn describes this as a point where the efforts of humankind to be civilized attain civilization and then exceed civilization itself. Humankind is making his way to the rise and fall of civilization.

Apart from individuals, the state is one organ in the society that is affected by luxury. Its nature of an eternal life that runs from generation to generation is the source of its vulnerability. In his writings, Ibsn has always been against government spending that is not directed towards the betterment of citizens. Individuals who work for the government are usually exploited as puppets to procure the government control all other sources of power and wealth. With time they fall for their desires to amass lots of money and gain power, leading to a conflict of interest between them and the government. Because of the threat that they face of losing property, they need more money and power to secure what they already own. The only source to sustain those needs is from the government revenue. It is at this point that states increase tax rates to meet their dire needs. The cycle goes on and on until the people cannot sustain the tax revenues. It is a practical example of what happens when there is a lot at the disposal of the state. By management and fall into personal desires of those in the ruling class, a supply of resources becomes a new problem.

Another problematic case of over-supply in current times is the flooding oil productions in the world. For a long time now in history, the oil industry is becoming a nightmare to the producers and not the consumers as the laws of supply and demand dictate. Its effects are not just felt in the oil sector itself but also in several sectors of the economy. In a perfect economic scenario, oil is a perfect product that is subject to the laws of demand and supply. Oil is a primary source of energy, in particular for manufacturing industries and homesteads. In this era where industrial evolution is at its peak, demand for oil is also growing at a high rate, but then so is the supply of oil.

A shallow look into the oil industry scenario may not reveal why such an important sector of the economy is getting out of hand in the eyes of the best economists. One thing that is for certain is that this industry is has been used as warfare between different oil producing countries. The simple economics that has been manipulated to fuel this war is that when there is an oversupply of a product in the market, market forces will change its price level to a lower value. When there are several suppliers of a particular commodity, the bargaining power of the consumer increases hence the ability to dictate the price at which to buy the product. Within the oil producing countries of which a majority of these countries originate from the East, there has been a growing state of rivalry among allied countries which is historical and diplomatic to a given extent. Because most of the oil producing depend on the industry to a great extent, the industry reveals the best spot to jeopardize development in such nation. Intention oversupply of oil into the market will drown your rivals by destabilizing the market price of the product.

Oil producing countries, especially in Latino America, are experiencing the economic problems like inflation. At the end of the day, the citizen of such countries is the one to suffer through increased interest rates and even increases in taxes so as to fuel the running of such countries. In other nations where the reduction in oil prices as actually increased the growth rate of GDP; its negative impacts are yet to be realized. In the general sense of world economics, there is a considerable decrease in the debt interest rates hence an increase in borrowing. The generous lenders are now flowing in ready to dish out finances to the willing borrowers. In the end, there will be an increase in corporate debt which renders the economy vulnerable.

The agricultural sector in any part of the world is a critical area because it entails supply of food to the people. Food is an essential commodity. It is ironical, yet understandable why such an important area of the economy and life, in general, is experiencing constant turmoil. Khaldin, Pg.458 highlights that in a society where there are development and higher population characteristics of civilization, prices for necessities such as food are considerably lower as compared to regions which are uncivilized. Most areas in the world are evidently civilized, with a growing economy and an increase in population.

The agriculture sector is one area that is characterized with the oversupply of its products at a given point in time. Agriculture is affected by weather and climate patterns. In one season a given crop is produced in abundance and another season the plant is scarcely available in the market for production. Overproduction of an agricultural product leads to a decrease in the monetary value of the commodity in the market. Hence, producers will earn less while the consumers will enjoy more products at lower price. In the instance where the farmers are supplying almost the equal amount to what the economy is demanding, the suppliers will intentionally raise the cost of the product in question so as to recover the cost of production in times of oversupply. This way, there is a balance between the suppliers and the consumers. Nobody gains or losses at the end.

In the illustration of how a good life can make people lazy, just like in the earlier case of the Leisure class nobles of feudal Europe and feudal Japan, Veblen describes the life of an a typical American ‘new woman'. His description are not any different with what is ongoing in the relationships between men and women in a civilized typical society. The 'new women' are the superior in the family because she has attained the highest level of education, actually the best as compared to that of her husband. Because of this superiority, the man is obliged to give her the best loving, be faithful, come home early, help prepare the meals and even watch her sleep but then the new woman is never satisfied by such loving. The new woman is permitted to consume in a luxurious manner and even barred from carrying out activities that the husband deems unfit for her.

Let’s compare the above scenario with a woman who does not depend on a man in the current civilized world. Such women own the extra sense of workmanship. Compared to men and women, women have the strongest pulse to live an independent life hence they will be forced to venture into the industrial world. From the two cases, it can be concluded that the dependent woman will not find the need to employ her skills because she got all she needs, in any event, it is provided for her. But in the second case, the independent woman will have to work to achieve a good life.