Productive Work and the Accumulation of Wealth

What are the consequences for our everyday definitions of success of the following quote from Veblen: "Purposeful effort comes to mean, primarily, effort directed to or resulting in a more creditable showing of accumulated wealth"

I begin my answer of this question by conveying my assumptions that my understanding of human perception of productivity is different from Veblen. In order to agree with Veblen, I would have to assume that people are basically narcissistic and are in need of getting attention and acclaim for their lifestyle. Since I do not believe that Veblen's underlying premise is correct, I can only surmise that his view of society would lead to the conclusion that people would not care about saving money and would spend money at all costs to "keep up with the Joneses." However, Veblen might also suggest that the accumulation of wealth could be displayed at a later time, like retirement, with everybody knowing all the details of someone's whereabouts.

What are the benefits that result from working? The result is a sustained lifestyle for themselves and their families comprised of mainly food and shelter. Any remaining income that remains after these necessary expenditures are made could be used for things that bring readily accessible gratification to the person possessing the money. However, people cannot help but think about their plans for the future. From personal interactions with people who are no longer in school but are in the work force, the common goal among them is to eventually retire. This does not mean that these people dislike what they do, but it does reflect an idea that the individual should usher in a later stage of life that involves freed-up time to engage in additional leisurely activities. "'Leisure'... does not connote indolence or quiescence," (Veblen 33). I use the word "additional" in the previous sentence, because I think one can make time to engage in activities that are not productive in one's spare time. While people can use their wages (or borrowed money) to flaunt how successful they are in experiencing what it means to accumulate wealth through the purchase of any sort of widget, I do not think this is a primary motivation on the part of people. I believe it would be more advantageous to have people save their money for the long-term goal of retirement than to spend an entire paycheck on things that can only bring short-term gratification. While some might try to say that retirement could be a sign of wealth that could be flaunted, I believe that there are many (such as myself) who would prefer to retire without disclosing their friends and former co-workers every detail of their actions. This is the reason that I, up to now, do not have Facebook. I prefer the face-to-face interactions that I have with people while in an environment of academia. Using Veblen's model to make predictions, I would think that those who save their money for retirement would use it for the intended purpose but with a big announcement to everyone they know what they plan to do while retired and then give frequent updates once retired on how the new way of life is going.

Veblen, Thorstein. Ed. Martha Banton The Theory of the Leisure Class. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print.

-- Brad Sica