CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION
It turns out our need to flaunt our wealth is based on nothing more than animal instinct. Even those who try to claim God has "blessed" them in this life are simply catering to the same animal need to conspicuously boasts of their success.
One of the most disturbing trends in American society today is our addiction to "stuff". More than ever before our way of life seems dedicated to the belief that "He who dies with the most toys wins". We shouldn't be surprised to know that this activity is nothing new. In 1899 Thorstein Veblen discussed this activity he called conspicuous consumption in his first book titled The Theory of the Leisure Class.
Thorstein Veblen was an American-Norwegian academic who was born in Cato, Wisconsin in 1857. He studied economics at Carleton College but rejected the Neo-classical ideas of John Bates Clark. After earning his undergrad degree he studied under a pragmatist philosopher at Johns Hopkins and continued on to earn a Ph.D. in Moral Philosophy at Yale in 1884.
Veblen is considered the founder of the Institutionalist school of thought, a perspective that had a large following throughout the 1920's. Institutionalist thought and Thorstein Veblen have made many significant contributions to Economics in the last century.
Conspicuous Consumption is defined as the act of consuming expensive, or showy goods, that are also referred to as "luxury" goods. In this model, higher priced items offer a type of status benefit and are therefore, more desirable. It is, however, important to understand that it is not "the price of an object that affects utility directly, or that individuals seek to pay high prices for the sheer pleasure of being overcharged. Rather, [Veblen] proposed that individuals crave status, and that status is enhanced by material displays of wealth" (Bagwell 350). In this manner, conspicuous consumption, or the practice of consuming items for the enhancement of one's relative position, alters the typical models of supply and demand by making demand for certain items a function of price.
As Veblen outlined conspicuous consumption in The Theory of the Leisure Class, he divided this consumption behavior up into two distinct types. The first type of conspicuous consumption is referred to as invidious comparison and the second, more prevalent type is known are pecuniary emulation.
Invidious Comparison is a type of conspicuous consumption that occurs when a member of the upper class conspicuously consumes, or makes some type of purchase or investment for its status implications, in order to further distinguish themselves from the upper and lower classes. This type of consumption is done to get an individual further ahead than they already are. In addition to actually getting ahead, this type of investment may be made in order to stay ahead. As Bagwell and Bernheim state, "Members of higher classes voluntarily incur costs to differentiate themselves from members of lower classes (invidious comparison), knowing that these costs must be large enough to discourage imitation" (350). It is for this reason that some individuals may participate in invidious comparison behavior.
The second type of conspicuous consumption is much more common than Invidious comparison for a number of reasons. Pecuniary Emulation is defined by Veblen as the tendency of lower class individuals to conspicuously consume or imitate the spending habits of members of the upper class in order to appear to be a member of the upper class.
To clarify the differences between the two types of conspicuous consumption, invidious consumption is done by members of the upper class to further signal their high status while pecuniary emulation occurs when member of the lower classes attempt to appear to have a higher status than they actually do.
Information pulled from:
http://wiki.dickinson.edu/index.php/Conspicuous_Consumption_and_Game_Theory
There are a couple of things to note within Veblen's theory.
The first is that Veblen's definition of Upper or Leisure class consists of those individuals who have enough wealth that they no long have to work for a living. That doesn't include individuals who chose to work even though they have enough wealth to retire - since it is a matter of principle to the Leisure class that work is undignified or beneath them.
You should also note that even if you are successful enough (by the world's standard) to reach the Leisure class, you will find that there are levels of success and importance within the Leisure class (of course these levels are defined by the Leisure class as you might guess) and those who achieved success on their own happen to be at the lowest level.
The other thing to note regarding Veblen's theory is that his basis for developing his theory regarding human's conspicuous consumption is Darwin's theory of natural selection or survival of the fittest. Veblen saw that the human species mirrored the behavior of all other animal species in that there is an instinctive competition within the species to differentiate the strong from the weak. The stronger (or more capable) animal is more desirable since they tend to assure the survival and continuation of the species.
Over time human society has changed the way they measure the success of an individual. For the majority of cultures around the world wealth has become the mark of the successful among the human species. However since it is impossible to know how much a person is worth just by looking at them, it becomes necessary to outwardly and openly display ones wealth through the conspicuous consumption of expensive goods.
So if you ever wondered why a couple with no children needs a 10,000 square foot house with 9 bathrooms - the answer is - they don't. However if they are controlled by their animal instincts they feel they need a house that size so that they are able to conspicuously show their high rank among the human species.
The last thing of note from Veblen's study was that he did find that in some small instances there were individuals who's religious beliefs allowed them to alter this model in their own lives. I would guess it might have something to do with the fact that God's ways are not man's ways, and that those who are in Christ are truly new creatures. I have no doubt that there is a small handful of true believers within each church that actually get this.
What I really find interesting is that the majority of Christians today have simply decided to claim that their conspicuous consumption is their way of showing God's blessings in their life for being such wonderful Christians. Even though the Bible makes it extremely clear that God doesn't "bless" people here on Earth.
If I read Matthew 6 correctly I am pretty sure Jesus would explain that their desire to show off their "blessings" to others is so that they can receive the praise of others - not God. I have a feeling Jesus would also share that those who seek and receive the praise of men should not expect to also receive praise in heaven.
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