"Idle Class" Listening to book notes

Author of "The Idle Class", Solstein. Bond. Veblen.

The idle class refers to the society that is detached from the work of servitude, although it seems to be very busy, but the activities they engage in are non-servitude, such as politics, war, religious beliefs, sports competitions, etc., not directly engaged in production, with the nature of merit and honor. The leisure class originated in a period of barbarism and is typically characterized by pride in plunder, status and money comparison.

Human work is divided into two types: labor and merit, and the idle class is specialized in meritorious work, with a predatory nature, initially hunting, war and other violent plunder, and later developed into a discriminatory money comparison system.

The leisure class proves itself by showing off its leisure, not only by not being directly involved in productive labour, but also by having private servants who are also not directly engaged in production and who serve them exclusively.

Women of the leisure class are seen as instruments of agency leisure, they are not allowed to do any meaningful work, but can only prove the nobility of the family through a life of idleness and pampering. The more incompetent they are in all practical activities, the more they can show the nobility of the family.

The aesthetics of society are deeply affected by the standard of money, only the expensive is beautiful, and any art with a low price cannot be considered beautiful. The reason why imitations are disgusting is not that they are objectively unbeautiful, but because of their low price. High-end goods must be expensive, only expensive is beautiful, cheap goods themselves are low and vulgar.

In addition to works of art, even flowers or animals, which are natural things that are not born beautiful or ugly, are strictly graded by monetary standards, such as those flowers that can be seen everywhere, even if they are beautiful, they have no chance to become valuable varieties. Any work of art that is not expensive cannot be considered beautiful.

The most fundamental motivation for people to pursue money is to compare themselves with each other. Everyone went to great lengths to get a high ranking in the Fortune Rankings. No matter how the total wealth of society grows, no matter how fairly the wealth is distributed, it cannot fundamentally enhance the happiness of everyone. What everyone actually wants is more than what others get. This is perhaps one of the greatest paradoxes of modern society.

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