Preview

Conspicuous Consumption But It's Not Crazy Summary

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
939 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Conspicuous Consumption But It's Not Crazy Summary
As each and every social class, there are differences inside each one, same goes to the high class. There will be wealthy who are conspicuous consumers and wealthy who are frugal with their money. A personal experience of mine is that my finance professor who is wealthy also is very frugal with his money. That goes to show that not all wealthy are conspicuous consumers. Veblen argues that the wealthy are known to be conspicuous consumers and that the wealthy mostly invest in superfluous goods. Veblen defines "conspicuous consumption" as "consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentlemen of leisure" (Veblen 4). In his New York Times editorial "Conspicuous Consumption? Yes, but It's Not Crazy", Robert H. Frank emphasizes that the wealthy are not conspicuous consumers, and they likewise are frugal with their money just as the other classes. Frank explains that the wealthy are money conscious for the …show more content…
Yes, but It's Not Crazy" might appeal to a wide variety of readers since it can educate the reader from its accessible yet informative style, it is to a certain extent effective because it has a number of logical fallacies and displays a large amount of lack of …show more content…
To be specific, he challenges Veblen in "The Theory of the Leisure Class", by using the 21st-century perspective and by saying that the wealthy don't crave to spend mindlessly on luxury goods. Veblen's article argues that the wealthy are conspicuous consumers, however, Frank argues Veblen by saying that they are in fact money conscious. Frank states "If they were merely chasing Veblen goods, the rich would be easily exploited by the purveyors of luxury items." (Frank 2). It is, in fact, true what Frank is saying seeing otherwise that the wealthy would be losing a great quantity of money or become bankrupt. The wealthy instead obtain goods that are valuable to them or goods they actually

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    This statement puts a valid defense to luxuries. For example: the television was once owned by the wealthy or fortunate. It was considered a luxury to own a television. Many people looked forward toward achieving the goal of purchasing something that not many people had or were able to afford. This concept or ideology is supported by (Mieses) in the article who says that "luxury is highly dependent on time and place."…

    • 1078 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Thorstein Veblem- An economist who wrote “Theory of the Leisure Class”. He condemned and criticized conspicuous consumerism where status is displayed and conveyed through consumption.…

    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In our society an apple, has dual meanings; a luscious fruit and a powerful brand of technologies. The fruit is consumed for nourishment while the brand is consumed for an array of endless individual technological objectives. However, in our American consumer culture, we are constantly influenced by the need to hyper-consume. The hyper-consumption mentality can be justly explained by Karl Marx’s application of Commodity Fetishism,which is; “participants in commodity production and exchange experience and come to understand their social relations as relations between the products of their labor— relations between things, rather than relations between people.”(Hudson & Hudson 2003). Apple through its innovative products has built an unprecedented…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Frank Too Big Too Ignore

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Robert Frank, a professer at Cornell University, published an article for the New York Times on October 16, 2010. The title of the article was "Income Inequality: Too Big to Ignore". In "Income Inequality: Too Big to Ignore", Frank argues that there are differences in the social classes of the American people and that it is having a negative effect on our economy's growth. Frank explains that middle class citizens are in a struggle to maintain a good financial position. Meanwhile, the upper class citizens are spending copious amounts of money which makes it increasingly more difficult for the middle class to meet their basic needs. He says that the middle class are looking toward upper class citizens, comparing their posesions as well as their financial positions which makes the middle class feel financially unstable.…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Authors Tom Stanley and William Danko set out to investigate on how people get wealthy across America, they found something odd. Many people who live in upscale neighborhoods and drive luxurious cars do not have extreme wealth. The allusion of wealth happens a lot and many people are unaware of the true meaning of wealth. Many people who have great wealth do not live in upscale neighborhoods. This book examines ways to become wealthy and how wealth is not what you spend but what you accumulate.…

    • 1039 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Take present-day celebrities such as Kim Kardashian for instance. She lives in a lavish house rumored to have cost upwards of twenty million dollars, has an estimated worth of around $45M, and has her own boutique shop and clothing line (Bio), It is clearly evident that Kim Kardashian does not need to necessarily live such an extravagant lifestyle in order to survive and be content. It is safe to say that majority of her possessions are of sentimental value or help to prove her high societal status. Eigner states his “desire to grab for the gaudy bubble that has been largely sated” and that is “is an attitude I share with the very wealthy”. The rich, however, know they are well-off and have anything they could ever wish for right at their fingertips. In addition, celebrities and other famous people such as Kim Kardashian hold onto so many expensive items that realistically have no practical…

    • 979 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    First impressions stick with a person for a long time and appearances do matter. When it comes to living in America, everyone wants to live the American Dream. Everyone wants a big house, luxurious cars and a white picket fence around your property. In Christine Page’s paper A History of Conspicuous Consumption, she talks about conspicuous consumption and how it refers to the ostentatious display of wealth for the purpose of acquiring or maintaining status or prestige. The thought process is you have to show how worthy and successful you are by buying expensive things. If you are rich buy a new 2016 BMW M6 class or a new Rolex to show off your success as well as your status with the elites. The thought process, “Look at all my stuff, I am successful!”…

    • 277 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Deluxe: How luxury lost its luster, by Dana Thomas, brings a hard hitting, raw look at the world of luxury and the mass demand of luxury that has occurred. The book was published by the Penguin Group in 2007. Luxury is defined by Thomas as truly special, and was only available to the aristocratic world of wealth and old money in western culture. Luxury signified an experience and lifestyle that denotes royalty, fame, and fortune. However, with large companies owning the former family-owned luxury producing businesses, profits are the main goal not the production of luxury. Thomas reveals the unfortunate demise and rise of traditional luxury companies. Wherever she looked, it seemed as though everyone owned some kind of luxury product. She asked herself, when did brands such as Chanel, Gucci, and Prada become so widely used and available to anyone anywhere? Thus, the beginning of her research into the world of luxury and her book, Deluxe: How luxury lost its luster.…

    • 2162 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zygmunt Bauman

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This theory by Veblen can show the divide in consumer society because some people are able to buy items considered as ‘luxury’ items such as cars, homes, and clothes and would therefore be the people considered to be main contributors in consumer society. In Veblen’s theory it would mean some people become excluded due to their failure to consume items thought of as a sign of wealth. This results in people not looking as if they are a valued member of society and can be seen as being worthless in society. Veblen’s book The Theory of the Leisure Class, was published about how people such as the newly rich, successful industrialists and their families often would purchase items for the main reason of making a positive impression to others rather than a specific purpose, (Making Social Lives, p, 31).. In contrast in the area of Linwood, many see a new development as a ‘positive-sum game, where due to ‘mutual exploitation’ everyone involved benefits and all are winners’ (learning companion, 2009, p19). The two views are very different with peoples preference on a where to consume creating…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Conspicuous Consumption - the free and public spending of great wealth in order to impress others…

    • 1374 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Millionaire Next Door

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This book focuses on the fact that you must earn your wealth and not inherit wealth. I always believed most millionaires became wealthy by inheriting their wealth one way or another. But the truth is that 80% of millionaires earned their wealth by working hard and only 20% inherited their wealth. When people actually earn the wealth they accumulate, they never want to let that go. That means most millionaires live well below their means. In general, millionaires are frugal. Not only do they self-identify as frugal, they actually live the life. They take extraordinary steps to save money. They don’t live lavish lifestyles. They’re willing to pay for quality, but not for image. The people that end up losing their wealth are the ones who spend to look cool. These are the people that buy the massive SUVs just to show off. They spend money just so other people know they have money, and this is how they end up…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rich Wont Tell You

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Within that study, she mentions a certain interview with a woman who generated a wealth of over $50 million with her husband working through finance. As the woman talked about her income and spendings she was rather uncomfortable. Mentioning that, “There’s nobody who knows how much we spend. You’re the only person I ever said those numbers to out loud.” (Sherman 3). This was seen throughout the interviews, as how the interviewees were quite uncomfortable with sharing their earnings yet still went on with the process. So why is it, that we tend to assume that rich people are snobby and show offs who don’t live regular lives. In the book Real Communication: An Introduction, it most likely comes from how we were raised at home or the type of people we are surrounded by as we grew up. Having a biased perception and making us believe these stereotypes towards rich people which then generate this hate towards them. This can be known as a selective perception, meaning that there is a certain idea that an individual believes in and ignores the other aspects of a situation. Therefore, those who assume that all rich people are snobby or spoiled, tend to forget that some rich people went through multiple obstacles in order to be as successful as they are. After mentioning the challenges of…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is interesting to examine these phenomena through the lens of Veblen’s theory, which can highlight the differences between the traditional leisure class’s ways of engaging in conspicuous consumption and that in the realm of hip hop and rap. In Veblen’s theory, it is asserted that it didn’t suffice for elites to only be powerful and wealthy; they felt compelled to display their wealth to indicate and confirm…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Since the US is considered the wealthiest country in the world and one of the highest gross domestic products. Only 5% of the american think that is a serious problem. The population is extravagant in its consumption of the world resources. It boasts more billionaires than any other countries. The US has families who have insufficient income and resources to afford the basic necessities such as decent housing or sufficient food or basic services like child care or doctors. About 12% of American do not have enough to eat or suffered other material hardships. That amounts to 37 million people who live below the poverty line in other words 1 in 8 American. 12 million of the children live with the families with income below the federal level.…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is also useful to consider how each economic class manages their money. The upper class and a large part of the middle class are knowledgeable about their wealth. Even for people in the upper and middle class who are not very knowledgeable with their wealth, they are often able to hire personal accountants and investment planners. Often is the case with individuals who are economically knowledgeable or are paying for personal wealth services, that any expendable income is invested into capital assets that earn an additional income. Stephen Moore found that the upper class spends an average of $28,272 per year on nonessential items (Moore 34). The middle class spends $15,843 per year and the lower class $11,247 per year (Moore 34). While…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays