Theory of the Leisure Class

In his first and best-known book, Veblen defines the social attitudes and values that condone the misuse of wealth and observes the variety of ways in which the resources of modern society are wasted. Chief among these is the practice of conspicuous consumption, a pattern of behavior that more than survives to the present day. With exquisite irony, Veblen discusses the hollowness of our canons of taste and culture and considers the emptiness of those habits of life and thought that many of us like to regard as our strengths.