The Theory of the Leisure Class

In 1899, an economist by the name of Thorstein Veblen wrote a paper entitled The Theory of the Leisure Class.  Within this publication, he coined the term "conspicuous consumption".  Conspicuous consumption is the idea of buying things as a symbol of one's earning power, a signal to others that you've attained a certain level of wealth.  Not only do Americans practice this theory, but, according to MP Dunleavey, we've escalated this into an even more aggressive form - "competitive consumption".  This is the desire to have things that not only display your purchasing power, but your ability to outstrip whatever your neighbor acquired - we know it commonly as "keeping up with the Jones'".

The Theory of the Leisure Class
Conspicuous Consumption

A couple additional great quotes from MP Dunleavey's book Money CAN Buy Happiness...

"...the number of storage units nationwide increased from about 22,000 in the early nineties to nearly double that ten years later"

"The average size of an American home has grown from 1,500 square feet in the 1970's to over 2,400 square feet today"

Indications are everywhere in American society that people spend more on "stuff" just to fill homes and storage units so as to attempt to represent the wealth they have achieved.  Yet, at the end of each year, folks are always asking themselves the question "where did all the money go".  Meanwhile, they are surrounded by discarded and broken items all around them that may have brought joy to them very briefly when they first bought it, but now is simply taking up space while their savings accounts are a bit smaller because of the unsound purchases they have made over the year.