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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Theory of the Leisure Class + +Author: Thorstein Veblen + +Release Date: August 6, 2008 [EBook #833] +Last Updated: February 7, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THEORY OF THE LEISURE CLASS *** + + + + +Produced by David Reed, and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE THEORY OF THE LEISURE CLASS + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + by Thorstein Veblen + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> Chapter One ~~ Introductory </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> Chapter Two ~~ Pecuniary Emulation </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> Chapter Three ~~ Conspicuous Leisure </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> Chapter Four ~~ Conspicuous Consumption + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> Chapter Five ~~ The Pecuniary Standard of + Living </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> Chapter Six ~~ Pecuniary Canons of Taste + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> Chapter Seven ~~ Dress as an Expression of + the Pecuniary Culture </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> Chapter Eight ~~ Industrial Exemption and + Conservatism </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> Chapter Nine ~~ The Conservation of Archaic + Traits </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> Chapter Ten ~~ Modern Survivals of Prowess + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> Chapter Eleven ~~ The Belief in Luck </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> Chapter Twelve ~~ Devout Observances </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> Chapter Thirteen ~~ Survivals of the + Non-Invidious Interests </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> Chapter Fourteen ~~ The Higher Learning as + an Expression of the Pecuniary Culture</a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + Chapter One ~~ Introductory + </h2> + <p> + The institution of a leisure class is found in its best development at the + higher stages of the barbarian culture; as, for instance, in feudal Europe + or feudal Japan. In such communities the distinction between classes is + very rigorously observed; and the feature of most striking economic + significance in these class differences is the distinction maintained + between the employments proper to the several classes. The upper classes + are by custom exempt or excluded from industrial occupations, and are + reserved for certain employments to which a degree of honour attaches. + Chief among the honourable employments in any feudal community is warfare; + and priestly service is commonly second to warfare. If the barbarian + community is not notably warlike, the priestly office may take the + precedence, with that of the warrior second. But the rule holds with but + slight exceptions that, whether warriors or priests, the upper classes are + exempt from industrial employments, and this exemption is the economic + expression of their superior rank. Brahmin India affords a fair + illustration of the industrial exemption of both these classes. In the + communities belonging to the higher barbarian culture there is a + considerable differentiation of sub-classes within what may be + comprehensively called the leisure class; and there is a corresponding + differentiation of employments between these sub-classes. The leisure + class as a whole comprises the noble and the priestly classes, together + with much of their retinue. The occupations of the class are + correspondingly diversified; but they have the common economic + characteristic of being non-industrial. These non-industrial upper-class + occupations may be roughly comprised under government, warfare, religious + observances, and sports. + </p> + <p> + At an earlier, but not the earliest, stage of barbarism, the leisure class + is found in a less differentiated form. Neither the class distinctions nor + the distinctions between leisure-class occupations are so minute and + intricate. The Polynesian islanders generally show this stage of the + development in good form, with the exception that, owing to the absence of + large game, hunting does not hold the usual place of honour in their + scheme of life. The Icelandic community in the time of the Sagas also + affords a fair instance. In such a community there is a rigorous + distinction between classes and between the occupations peculiar to each + class. Manual labour, industry, whatever has to do directly with the + everyday work of getting a livelihood, is the exclusive occupation of the + inferior class. This inferior class includes slaves and other dependents, + and ordinarily also all the women. If there are several grades of + aristocracy, the women of high rank are commonly exempt from industrial + employment, or at least from the more vulgar kinds of manual labour. The + men of the upper classes are not only exempt, but by prescriptive custom + they are debarred, from all industrial occupations. The range of + employments open to them is rigidly defined. As on the higher plane + already spoken of, these employments are government, warfare, religious + observances, and sports. These four lines of activity govern the scheme of + life of the upper classes, and for the highest rank—the kings or + chieftains—these are the only kinds of activity that custom or the + common sense of the community will allow. Indeed, where the scheme is well + developed even sports are accounted doubtfully legitimate for the members + of the highest rank. To the lower grades of the leisure class certain + other employments are open, but they are employments that are subsidiary + to one or another of these typical leisure-class occupations. Such are, + for instance, the manufacture and care of arms and accoutrements and of + war canoes, the dressing and handling of horses, dogs, and hawks, the + preparation of sacred apparatus, etc. The lower classes are excluded from + these secondary honourable employments, except from such as are plainly of + an industrial character and are only remotely related to the typical + leisure-class occupations. + </p> + <p> + If we go a step back of this exemplary barbarian culture, into the lower + stages of barbarism, we no longer find the leisure class in fully + developed form. But this lower barbarism shows the usages, motives, and + circumstances out of which the institution of a leisure class has arisen, + and indicates the steps of its early growth. Nomadic hunting tribes in + various parts of the world illustrate these more primitive phases of the + differentiation. Any one of the North American hunting tribes may be taken + as a convenient illustration. These tribes can scarcely be said to have a + defined leisure class. There is a differentiation of function, and there + is a distinction between classes on the basis of this difference of + function, but the exemption of the superior class from work has not gone + far enough to make the designation "leisure class" altogether applicable. + The tribes belonging on this economic level have carried the economic + differentiation to the point at which a marked distinction is made between + the occupations of men and women, and this distinction is of an invidious + character. In nearly all these tribes the women are, by prescriptive + custom, held to those employments out of which the industrial occupations + proper develop at the next advance. The men are exempt from these vulgar + employments and are reserved for war, hunting, sports, and devout + observances. A very nice discrimination is ordinarily shown in this + matter. + </p> + <p> + This division of labour coincides with the distinction between the working + and the leisure class as it appears in the higher barbarian culture. As + the diversification and specialisation of employments proceed, the line of + demarcation so drawn comes to divide the industrial from the + non-industrial employments. The man's occupation as it stands at the + earlier barbarian stage is not the original out of which any appreciable + portion of later industry has developed. In the later development it + survives only in employments that are not classed as industrial,—war, + politics, sports, learning, and the priestly office. The only notable + exceptions are a portion of the fishery industry and certain slight + employments that are doubtfully to be classed as industry; such as the + manufacture of arms, toys, and sporting goods. Virtually the whole range + of industrial employments is an outgrowth of what is classed as woman's + work in the primitive barbarian community. + </p> + <p> + The work of the men in the lower barbarian culture is no less + indispensable to the life of the group than the work done by the women. It + may even be that the men's work contributes as much to the food supply and + the other necessary consumption of the group. Indeed, so obvious is this + "productive" character of the men's work that in the conventional economic + writings the hunter's work is taken as the type of primitive industry. But + such is not the barbarian's sense of the matter. In his own eyes he is not + a labourer, and he is not to be classed with the women in this respect; + nor is his effort to be classed with the women's drudgery, as labour or + industry, in such a sense as to admit of its being confounded with the + latter. There is in all barbarian communities a profound sense of the + disparity between man's and woman's work. His work may conduce to the + maintenance of the group, but it is felt that it does so through an + excellence and an efficacy of a kind that cannot without derogation be + compared with the uneventful diligence of the women. + </p> + <p> + At a farther step backward in the cultural scale—among savage groups—the + differentiation of employments is still less elaborate and the invidious + distinction between classes and employments is less consistent and less + rigorous. Unequivocal instances of a primitive savage culture are hard to + find. Few of these groups or communities that are classed as "savage" show + no traces of regression from a more advanced cultural stage. But there are + groups—some of them apparently not the result of retrogression—which + show the traits of primitive savagery with some fidelity. Their culture + differs from that of the barbarian communities in the absence of a leisure + class and the absence, in great measure, of the animus or spiritual + attitude on which the institution of a leisure class rests. These + communities of primitive savages in which there is no hierarchy of + economic classes make up but a small and inconspicuous fraction of the + human race. As good an instance of this phase of culture as may be had is + afforded by the tribes of the Andamans, or by the Todas of the Nilgiri + Hills. The scheme of life of these groups at the time of their earliest + contact with Europeans seems to have been nearly typical, so far as + regards the absence of a leisure class. As a further instance might be + cited the Ainu of Yezo, and, more doubtfully, also some Bushman and Eskimo + groups. Some Pueblo communities are less confidently to be included in the + same class. Most, if not all, of the communities here cited may well be + cases of degeneration from a higher barbarism, rather than bearers of a + culture that has never risen above its present level. If so, they are for + the present purpose to be taken with the allowance, but they may serve + none the less as evidence to the same effect as if they were really + "primitive" populations. + </p> + <p> + These communities that are without a defined leisure class resemble one + another also in certain other features of their social structure and + manner of life. They are small groups and of a simple (archaic) structure; + they are commonly peaceable and sedentary; they are poor; and individual + ownership is not a dominant feature of their economic system. At the same + time it does not follow that these are the smallest of existing + communities, or that their social structure is in all respects the least + differentiated; nor does the class necessarily include all primitive + communities which have no defined system of individual ownership. But it + is to be noted that the class seems to include the most peaceable—perhaps + all the characteristically peaceable—primitive groups of men. + Indeed, the most notable trait common to members of such communities is a + certain amiable inefficiency when confronted with force or fraud. + </p> + <p> + The evidence afforded by the usages and cultural traits of communities at + a low stage of development indicates that the institution of a leisure + class has emerged gradually during the transition from primitive savagery + to barbarism; or more precisely, during the transition from a peaceable to + a consistently warlike habit of life. The conditions apparently necessary + to its emergence in a consistent form are: (1) the community must be of a + predatory habit of life (war or the hunting of large game or both); that + is to say, the men, who constitute the inchoate leisure class in these + cases, must be habituated to the infliction of injury by force and + stratagem; (2) subsistence must be obtainable on sufficiently easy terms + to admit of the exemption of a considerable portion of the community from + steady application to a routine of labour. The institution of leisure + class is the outgrowth of an early discrimination between employments, + according to which some employments are worthy and others unworthy. Under + this ancient distinction the worthy employments are those which may be + classed as exploit; unworthy are those necessary everyday employments into + which no appreciable element of exploit enters. + </p> + <p> + This distinction has but little obvious significance in a modern + industrial community, and it has, therefore, received but slight attention + at the hands of economic writers. When viewed in the light of that modern + common sense which has guided economic discussion, it seems formal and + insubstantial. But it persists with great tenacity as a commonplace + preconception even in modern life, as is shown, for instance, by our + habitual aversion to menial employments. It is a distinction of a personal + kind—of superiority and inferiority. In the earlier stages of + culture, when the personal force of the individual counted more + immediately and obviously in shaping the course of events, the element of + exploit counted for more in the everyday scheme of life. Interest centred + about this fact to a greater degree. Consequently a distinction proceeding + on this ground seemed more imperative and more definitive then than is the + case to-day. As a fact in the sequence of development, therefore, the + distinction is a substantial one and rests on sufficiently valid and + cogent grounds. + </p> + <p> + The ground on which a discrimination between facts is habitually made + changes as the interest from which the facts are habitually viewed + changes. Those features of the facts at hand are salient and substantial + upon which the dominant interest of the time throws its light. Any given + ground of distinction will seem insubstantial to any one who habitually + apprehends the facts in question from a different point of view and values + them for a different purpose. The habit of distinguishing and classifying + the various purposes and directions of activity prevails of necessity + always and everywhere; for it is indispensable in reaching a working + theory or scheme of life. The particular point of view, or the particular + characteristic that is pitched upon as definitive in the classification of + the facts of life depends upon the interest from which a discrimination of + the facts is sought. The grounds of discrimination, and the norm of + procedure in classifying the facts, therefore, progressively change as the + growth of culture proceeds; for the end for which the facts of life are + apprehended changes, and the point of view consequently changes also. So + that what are recognised as the salient and decisive features of a class + of activities or of a social class at one stage of culture will not retain + the same relative importance for the purposes of classification at any + subsequent stage. + </p> + <p> + But the change of standards and points of view is gradual only, and it + seldom results in the subversion or entire suppression of a standpoint + once accepted. A distinction is still habitually made between industrial + and non-industrial occupations; and this modern distinction is a + transmuted form of the barbarian distinction between exploit and drudgery. + Such employments as warfare, politics, public worship, and public + merrymaking, are felt, in the popular apprehension, to differ + intrinsically from the labour that has to do with elaborating the material + means of life. The precise line of demarcation is not the same as it was + in the early barbarian scheme, but the broad distinction has not fallen + into disuse. + </p> + <p> + The tacit, common-sense distinction to-day is, in effect, that any effort + is to be accounted industrial only so far as its ultimate purpose is the + utilisation of non-human things. The coercive utilisation of man by man is + not felt to be an industrial function; but all effort directed to enhance + human life by taking advantage of the non-human environment is classed + together as industrial activity. By the economists who have best retained + and adapted the classical tradition, man's "power over nature" is + currently postulated as the characteristic fact of industrial + productivity. This industrial power over nature is taken to include man's + power over the life of the beasts and over all the elemental forces. A + line is in this way drawn between mankind and brute creation. + </p> + <p> + In other times and among men imbued with a different body of + preconceptions this line is not drawn precisely as we draw it to-day. In + the savage or the barbarian scheme of life it is drawn in a different + place and in another way. In all communities under the barbarian culture + there is an alert and pervading sense of antithesis between two + comprehensive groups of phenomena, in one of which barbarian man includes + himself, and in the other, his victual. There is a felt antithesis between + economic and non-economic phenomena, but it is not conceived in the modern + fashion; it lies not between man and brute creation, but between animate + and inert things. + </p> + <p> + It may be an excess of caution at this day to explain that the barbarian + notion which it is here intended to convey by the term "animate" is not + the same as would be conveyed by the word "living". The term does not + cover all living things, and it does cover a great many others. Such a + striking natural phenomenon as a storm, a disease, a waterfall, are + recognised as "animate"; while fruits and herbs, and even inconspicuous + animals, such as house-flies, maggots, lemmings, sheep, are not ordinarily + apprehended as "animate" except when taken collectively. As here used the + term does not necessarily imply an indwelling soul or spirit. The concept + includes such things as in the apprehension of the animistic savage or + barbarian are formidable by virtue of a real or imputed habit of + initiating action. This category comprises a large number and range of + natural objects and phenomena. Such a distinction between the inert and + the active is still present in the habits of thought of unreflecting + persons, and it still profoundly affects the prevalent theory of human + life and of natural processes; but it does not pervade our daily life to + the extent or with the far-reaching practical consequences that are + apparent at earlier stages of culture and belief. + </p> + <p> + To the mind of the barbarian, the elaboration and utilisation of what is + afforded by inert nature is activity on quite a different plane from his + dealings with "animate" things and forces. The line of demarcation may be + vague and shifting, but the broad distinction is sufficiently real and + cogent to influence the barbarian scheme of life. To the class of things + apprehended as animate, the barbarian fancy imputes an unfolding of + activity directed to some end. It is this teleological unfolding of + activity that constitutes any object or phenomenon an "animate" fact. + Wherever the unsophisticated savage or barbarian meets with activity that + is at all obtrusive, he construes it in the only terms that are ready to + hand—the terms immediately given in his consciousness of his own + actions. Activity is, therefore, assimilated to human action, and active + objects are in so far assimilated to the human agent. Phenomena of this + character—especially those whose behaviour is notably formidable or + baffling—have to be met in a different spirit and with proficiency + of a different kind from what is required in dealing with inert things. To + deal successfully with such phenomena is a work of exploit rather than of + industry. It is an assertion of prowess, not of diligence. + </p> + <p> + Under the guidance of this naive discrimination between the inert and the + animate, the activities of the primitive social group tend to fall into + two classes, which would in modern phrase be called exploit and industry. + Industry is effort that goes to create a new thing, with a new purpose + given it by the fashioning hand of its maker out of passive ("brute") + material; while exploit, so far as it results in an outcome useful to the + agent, is the conversion to his own ends of energies previously directed + to some other end by an other agent. We still speak of "brute matter" with + something of the barbarian's realisation of a profound significance in the + term. + </p> + <p> + The distinction between exploit and drudgery coincides with a difference + between the sexes. The sexes differ, not only in stature and muscular + force, but perhaps even more decisively in temperament, and this must + early have given rise to a corresponding division of labour. The general + range of activities that come under the head of exploit falls to the males + as being the stouter, more massive, better capable of a sudden and violent + strain, and more readily inclined to self assertion, active emulation, and + aggression. The difference in mass, in physiological character, and in + temperament may be slight among the members of the primitive group; it + appears, in fact, to be relatively slight and inconsequential in some of + the more archaic communities with which we are acquainted—as for + instance the tribes of the Andamans. But so soon as a differentiation of + function has well begun on the lines marked out by this difference in + physique and animus, the original difference between the sexes will itself + widen. A cumulative process of selective adaptation to the new + distribution of employments will set in, especially if the habitat or the + fauna with which the group is in contact is such as to call for a + considerable exercise of the sturdier virtues. The habitual pursuit of + large game requires more of the manly qualities of massiveness, agility, + and ferocity, and it can therefore scarcely fail to hasten and widen the + differentiation of functions between the sexes. And so soon as the group + comes into hostile contact with other groups, the divergence of function + will take on the developed form of a distinction between exploit and + industry. + </p> + <p> + In such a predatory group of hunters it comes to be the able-bodied men's + office to fight and hunt. The women do what other work there is to do—other + members who are unfit for man's work being for this purpose classed with + women. But the men's hunting and fighting are both of the same general + character. Both are of a predatory nature; the warrior and the hunter + alike reap where they have not strewn. Their aggressive assertion of force + and sagacity differs obviously from the women's assiduous and uneventful + shaping of materials; it is not to be accounted productive labour but + rather an acquisition of substance by seizure. Such being the barbarian + man's work, in its best development and widest divergence from women's + work, any effort that does not involve an assertion of prowess comes to be + unworthy of the man. As the tradition gains consistency, the common sense + of the community erects it into a canon of conduct; so that no employment + and no acquisition is morally possible to the self respecting man at this + cultural stage, except such as proceeds on the basis of prowess—force + or fraud. When the predatory habit of life has been settled upon the group + by long habituation, it becomes the able-bodied man's accredited office in + the social economy to kill, to destroy such competitors in the struggle + for existence as attempt to resist or elude him, to overcome and reduce to + subservience those alien forces that assert themselves refractorily in the + environment. So tenaciously and with such nicety is this theoretical + distinction between exploit and drudgery adhered to that in many hunting + tribes the man must not bring home the game which he has killed, but must + send his woman to perform that baser office. + </p> + <p> + As has already been indicated, the distinction between exploit and + drudgery is an invidious distinction between employments. Those + employments which are to be classed as exploit are worthy, honourable, + noble; other employments, which do not contain this element of exploit, + and especially those which imply subservience or submission, are unworthy, + debasing, ignoble. The concept of dignity, worth, or honour, as applied + either to persons or conduct, is of first-rate consequence in the + development of classes and of class distinctions, and it is therefore + necessary to say something of its derivation and meaning. Its + psychological ground may be indicated in outline as follows. + </p> + <p> + As a matter of selective necessity, man is an agent. He is, in his own + apprehension, a centre of unfolding impulsive activity—"teleological" + activity. He is an agent seeking in every act the accomplishment of some + concrete, objective, impersonal end. By force of his being such an agent + he is possessed of a taste for effective work, and a distaste for futile + effort. He has a sense of the merit of serviceability or efficiency and of + the demerit of futility, waste, or incapacity. This aptitude or propensity + may be called the instinct of workmanship. Wherever the circumstances or + traditions of life lead to an habitual comparison of one person with + another in point of efficiency, the instinct of workmanship works out in + an emulative or invidious comparison of persons. The extent to which this + result follows depends in some considerable degree on the temperament of + the population. In any community where such an invidious comparison of + persons is habitually made, visible success becomes an end sought for its + own utility as a basis of esteem. Esteem is gained and dispraise is + avoided by putting one's efficiency in evidence. The result is that the + instinct of workmanship works out in an emulative demonstration of force. + </p> + <p> + During that primitive phase of social development, when the community is + still habitually peaceable, perhaps sedentary, and without a developed + system of individual ownership, the efficiency of the individual can be + shown chiefly and most consistently in some employment that goes to + further the life of the group. What emulation of an economic kind there is + between the members of such a group will be chiefly emulation in + industrial serviceability. At the same time the incentive to emulation is + not strong, nor is the scope for emulation large. + </p> + <p> + When the community passes from peaceable savagery to a predatory phase of + life, the conditions of emulation change. The opportunity and the + incentive to emulate increase greatly in scope and urgency. The activity + of the men more and more takes on the character of exploit; and an + invidious comparison of one hunter or warrior with another grows + continually easier and more habitual. Tangible evidences of prowess—trophies—find + a place in men's habits of thought as an essential feature of the + paraphernalia of life. Booty, trophies of the chase or of the raid, come + to be prized as evidence of pre-eminent force. Aggression becomes the + accredited form of action, and booty serves as prima facie evidence of + successful aggression. As accepted at this cultural stage, the accredited, + worthy form of self-assertion is contest; and useful articles or services + obtained by seizure or compulsion, serve as a conventional evidence of + successful contest. Therefore, by contrast, the obtaining of goods by + other methods than seizure comes to be accounted unworthy of man in his + best estate. The performance of productive work, or employment in personal + service, falls under the same odium for the same reason. An invidious + distinction in this way arises between exploit and acquisition on the + other hand. Labour acquires a character of irksomeness by virtue of the + indignity imputed to it. + </p> + <p> + With the primitive barbarian, before the simple content of the notion has + been obscured by its own ramifications and by a secondary growth of + cognate ideas, "honourable" seems to connote nothing else than assertion + of superior force. "Honourable" is "formidable"; "worthy" is "prepotent". + A honorific act is in the last analysis little if anything else than a + recognised successful act of aggression; and where aggression means + conflict with men and beasts, the activity which comes to be especially + and primarily honourable is the assertion of the strong hand. The naive, + archaic habit of construing all manifestations of force in terms of + personality or "will power" greatly fortifies this conventional exaltation + of the strong hand. Honorific epithets, in vogue among barbarian tribes as + well as among peoples of a more advance culture, commonly bear the stamp + of this unsophisticated sense of honour. Epithets and titles used in + addressing chieftains, and in the propitiation of kings and gods, very + commonly impute a propensity for overbearing violence and an irresistible + devastating force to the person who is to be propitiated. This holds true + to an extent also in the more civilised communities of the present day. + The predilection shown in heraldic devices for the more rapacious beasts + and birds of prey goes to enforce the same view. + </p> + <p> + Under this common-sense barbarian appreciation of worth or honour, the + taking of life—the killing of formidable competitors, whether brute + or human—is honourable in the highest degree. And this high office + of slaughter, as an expression of the slayer's prepotence, casts a glamour + of worth over every act of slaughter and over all the tools and + accessories of the act. Arms are honourable, and the use of them, even in + seeking the life of the meanest creatures of the fields, becomes a + honorific employment. At the same time, employment in industry becomes + correspondingly odious, and, in the common-sense apprehension, the + handling of the tools and implements of industry falls beneath the dignity + of able-bodied men. Labour becomes irksome. + </p> + <p> + It is here assumed that in the sequence of cultural evolution primitive + groups of men have passed from an initial peaceable stage to a subsequent + stage at which fighting is the avowed and characteristic employment of the + group. But it is not implied that there has been an abrupt transition from + unbroken peace and good-will to a later or higher phase of life in which + the fact of combat occurs for the first time. Neither is it implied that + all peaceful industry disappears on the transition to the predatory phase + of culture. Some fighting, it is safe to say, would be met with at any + early stage of social development. Fights would occur with more or less + frequency through sexual competition. The known habits of primitive + groups, as well as the habits of the anthropoid apes, argue to that + effect, and the evidence from the well-known promptings of human nature + enforces the same view. + </p> + <p> + It may therefore be objected that there can have been no such initial + stage of peaceable life as is here assumed. There is no point in cultural + evolution prior to which fighting does not occur. But the point in + question is not as to the occurrence of combat, occasional or sporadic, or + even more or less frequent and habitual; it is a question as to the + occurrence of an habitual; it is a question as to the occurrence of an + habitual bellicose frame of mind—a prevalent habit of judging facts + and events from the point of view of the fight. The predatory phase of + culture is attained only when the predatory attitude has become the + habitual and accredited spiritual attitude for the members of the group; + when the fight has become the dominant note in the current theory of life; + when the common-sense appreciation of men and things has come to be an + appreciation with a view to combat. + </p> + <p> + The substantial difference between the peaceable and the predatory phase + of culture, therefore, is a spiritual difference, not a mechanical one. + The change in spiritual attitude is the outgrowth of a change in the + material facts of the life of the group, and it comes on gradually as the + material circumstances favourable to a predatory attitude supervene. The + inferior limit of the predatory culture is an industrial limit. Predation + can not become the habitual, conventional resource of any group or any + class until industrial methods have been developed to such a degree of + efficiency as to leave a margin worth fighting for, above the subsistence + of those engaged in getting a living. The transition from peace to + predation therefore depends on the growth of technical knowledge and the + use of tools. A predatory culture is similarly impracticable in early + times, until weapons have been developed to such a point as to make man a + formidable animal. The early development of tools and of weapons is of + course the same fact seen from two different points of view. + </p> + <p> + The life of a given group would be characterised as peaceable so long as + habitual recourse to combat has not brought the fight into the foreground + in men's every day thoughts, as a dominant feature of the life of man. A + group may evidently attain such a predatory attitude with a greater or + less degree of completeness, so that its scheme of life and canons of + conduct may be controlled to a greater or less extent by the predatory + animus. The predatory phase of culture is therefore conceived to come on + gradually, through a cumulative growth of predatory aptitudes habits, and + traditions this growth being due to a change in the circumstances of the + group's life, of such a kind as to develop and conserve those traits of + human nature and those traditions and norms of conduct that make for a + predatory rather than a peaceable life. + </p> + <p> + The evidence for the hypothesis that there has been such a peaceable stage + of primitive culture is in great part drawn from psychology rather than + from ethnology, and cannot be detailed here. It will be recited in part in + a later chapter, in discussing the survival of archaic traits of human + nature under the modern culture. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter Two ~~ Pecuniary Emulation + </h2> + <p> + In the sequence of cultural evolution the emergence of a leisure class + coincides with the beginning of ownership. This is necessarily the case, + for these two institutions result from the same set of economic forces. In + the inchoate phase of their development they are but different aspects of + the same general facts of social structure. + </p> + <p> + It is as elements of social structure—conventional facts—that + leisure and ownership are matters of interest for the purpose in hand. An + habitual neglect of work does not constitute a leisure class; neither does + the mechanical fact of use and consumption constitute ownership. The + present inquiry, therefore, is not concerned with the beginning of + indolence, nor with the beginning of the appropriation of useful articles + to individual consumption. The point in question is the origin and nature + of a conventional leisure class on the one hand and the beginnings of + individual ownership as a conventional right or equitable claim on the + other hand. + </p> + <p> + The early differentiation out of which the distinction between a leisure + and a working class arises is a division maintained between men's and + women's work in the lower stages of barbarism. Likewise the earliest form + of ownership is an ownership of the women by the able bodied men of the + community. The facts may be expressed in more general terms, and truer to + the import of the barbarian theory of life, by saying that it is an + ownership of the woman by the man. + </p> + <p> + There was undoubtedly some appropriation of useful articles before the + custom of appropriating women arose. The usages of existing archaic + communities in which there is no ownership of women is warrant for such a + view. In all communities the members, both male and female, habitually + appropriate to their individual use a variety of useful things; but these + useful things are not thought of as owned by the person who appropriates + and consumes them. The habitual appropriation and consumption of certain + slight personal effects goes on without raising the question of ownership; + that is to say, the question of a conventional, equitable claim to + extraneous things. + </p> + <p> + The ownership of women begins in the lower barbarian stages of culture, + apparently with the seizure of female captives. The original reason for + the seizure and appropriation of women seems to have been their usefulness + as trophies. The practice of seizing women from the enemy as trophies, + gave rise to a form of ownership-marriage, resulting in a household with a + male head. This was followed by an extension of slavery to other captives + and inferiors, besides women, and by an extension of ownership-marriage to + other women than those seized from the enemy. The outcome of emulation + under the circumstances of a predatory life, therefore, has been on the + one hand a form of marriage resting on coercion, and on the other hand the + custom of ownership. The two institutions are not distinguishable in the + initial phase of their development; both arise from the desire of the + successful men to put their prowess in evidence by exhibiting some durable + result of their exploits. Both also minister to that propensity for + mastery which pervades all predatory communities. From the ownership of + women the concept of ownership extends itself to include the products of + their industry, and so there arises the ownership of things as well as of + persons. + </p> + <p> + In this way a consistent system of property in goods is gradually + installed. And although in the latest stages of the development, the + serviceability of goods for consumption has come to be the most obtrusive + element of their value, still, wealth has by no means yet lost its utility + as a honorific evidence of the owner's prepotence. + </p> + <p> + Wherever the institution of private property is found, even in a slightly + developed form, the economic process bears the character of a struggle + between men for the possession of goods. It has been customary in economic + theory, and especially among those economists who adhere with least + faltering to the body of modernised classical doctrines, to construe this + struggle for wealth as being substantially a struggle for subsistence. + Such is, no doubt, its character in large part during the earlier and less + efficient phases of industry. Such is also its character in all cases + where the "niggardliness of nature" is so strict as to afford but a scanty + livelihood to the community in return for strenuous and unremitting + application to the business of getting the means of subsistence. But in + all progressing communities an advance is presently made beyond this early + stage of technological development. Industrial efficiency is presently + carried to such a pitch as to afford something appreciably more than a + bare livelihood to those engaged in the industrial process. It has not + been unusual for economic theory to speak of the further struggle for + wealth on this new industrial basis as a competition for an increase of + the comforts of life,—primarily for an increase of the physical + comforts which the consumption of goods affords. + </p> + <p> + The end of acquisition and accumulation is conventionally held to be the + consumption of the goods accumulated—whether it is consumption + directly by the owner of the goods or by the household attached to him and + for this purpose identified with him in theory. This is at least felt to + be the economically legitimate end of acquisition, which alone it is + incumbent on the theory to take account of. Such consumption may of course + be conceived to serve the consumer's physical wants—his physical + comfort—or his so-called higher wants—spiritual, aesthetic, + intellectual, or what not; the latter class of wants being served + indirectly by an expenditure of goods, after the fashion familiar to all + economic readers. + </p> + <p> + But it is only when taken in a sense far removed from its naive meaning + that consumption of goods can be said to afford the incentive from which + accumulation invariably proceeds. The motive that lies at the root of + ownership is emulation; and the same motive of emulation continues active + in the further development of the institution to which it has given rise + and in the development of all those features of the social structure which + this institution of ownership touches. The possession of wealth confers + honour; it is an invidious distinction. Nothing equally cogent can be said + for the consumption of goods, nor for any other conceivable incentive to + acquisition, and especially not for any incentive to accumulation of + wealth. + </p> + <p> + It is of course not to be overlooked that in a community where nearly all + goods are private property the necessity of earning a livelihood is a + powerful and ever present incentive for the poorer members of the + community. The need of subsistence and of an increase of physical comfort + may for a time be the dominant motive of acquisition for those classes who + are habitually employed at manual labour, whose subsistence is on a + precarious footing, who possess little and ordinarily accumulate little; + but it will appear in the course of the discussion that even in the case + of these impecunious classes the predominance of the motive of physical + want is not so decided as has sometimes been assumed. On the other hand, + so far as regards those members and classes of the community who are + chiefly concerned in the accumulation of wealth, the incentive of + subsistence or of physical comfort never plays a considerable part. + Ownership began and grew into a human institution on grounds unrelated to + the subsistence minimum. The dominant incentive was from the outset the + invidious distinction attaching to wealth, and, save temporarily and by + exception, no other motive has usurped the primacy at any later stage of + the development. + </p> + <p> + Property set out with being booty held as trophies of the successful raid. + So long as the group had departed and so long as it still stood in close + contact with other hostile groups, the utility of things or persons owned + lay chiefly in an invidious comparison between their possessor and the + enemy from whom they were taken. The habit of distinguishing between the + interests of the individual and those of the group to which he belongs is + apparently a later growth. Invidious comparison between the possessor of + the honorific booty and his less successful neighbours within the group + was no doubt present early as an element of the utility of the things + possessed, though this was not at the outset the chief element of their + value. The man's prowess was still primarily the group's prowess, and the + possessor of the booty felt himself to be primarily the keeper of the + honour of his group. This appreciation of exploit from the communal point + of view is met with also at later stages of social growth, especially as + regards the laurels of war. + </p> + <p> + But as soon as the custom of individual ownership begins to gain + consistency, the point of view taken in making the invidious comparison on + which private property rests will begin to change. Indeed, the one change + is but the reflex of the other. The initial phase of ownership, the phase + of acquisition by naive seizure and conversion, begins to pass into the + subsequent stage of an incipient organization of industry on the basis of + private property (in slaves); the horde develops into a more or less + self-sufficing industrial community; possessions then come to be valued + not so much as evidence of successful foray, but rather as evidence of the + prepotence of the possessor of these goods over other individuals within + the community. The invidious comparison now becomes primarily a comparison + of the owner with the other members of the group. Property is still of the + nature of trophy, but, with the cultural advance, it becomes more and more + a trophy of successes scored in the game of ownership carried on between + the members of the group under the quasi-peaceable methods of nomadic + life. + </p> + <p> + Gradually, as industrial activity further displaced predatory activity in + the community's everyday life and in men's habits of thought, accumulated + property more and more replaces trophies of predatory exploit as the + conventional exponent of prepotence and success. With the growth of + settled industry, therefore, the possession of wealth gains in relative + importance and effectiveness as a customary basis of repute and esteem. + Not that esteem ceases to be awarded on the basis of other, more direct + evidence of prowess; not that successful predatory aggression or warlike + exploit ceases to call out the approval and admiration of the crowd, or to + stir the envy of the less successful competitors; but the opportunities + for gaining distinction by means of this direct manifestation of superior + force grow less available both in scope and frequency. At the same time + opportunities for industrial aggression, and for the accumulation of + property, increase in scope and availability. And it is even more to the + point that property now becomes the most easily recognised evidence of a + reputable degree of success as distinguished from heroic or signal + achievement. It therefore becomes the conventional basis of esteem. Its + possession in some amount becomes necessary in order to any reputable + standing in the community. It becomes indispensable to accumulate, to + acquire property, in order to retain one's good name. When accumulated + goods have in this way once become the accepted badge of efficiency, the + possession of wealth presently assumes the character of an independent and + definitive basis of esteem. The possession of goods, whether acquired + aggressively by one's own exertion or passively by transmission through + inheritance from others, becomes a conventional basis of reputability. The + possession of wealth, which was at the outset valued simply as an evidence + of efficiency, becomes, in popular apprehension, itself a meritorious act. + Wealth is now itself intrinsically honourable and confers honour on its + possessor. By a further refinement, wealth acquired passively by + transmission from ancestors or other antecedents presently becomes even + more honorific than wealth acquired by the possessor's own effort; but + this distinction belongs at a later stage in the evolution of the + pecuniary culture and will be spoken of in its place. + </p> + <p> + Prowess and exploit may still remain the basis of award of the highest + popular esteem, although the possession of wealth has become the basis of + common place reputability and of a blameless social standing. The + predatory instinct and the consequent approbation of predatory efficiency + are deeply ingrained in the habits of thought of those peoples who have + passed under the discipline of a protracted predatory culture. According + to popular award, the highest honours within human reach may, even yet, be + those gained by an unfolding of extraordinary predatory efficiency in war, + or by a quasi-predatory efficiency in statecraft; but for the purposes of + a commonplace decent standing in the community these means of repute have + been replaced by the acquisition and accumulation of goods. In order to + stand well in the eyes of the community, it is necessary to come up to a + certain, somewhat indefinite, conventional standard of wealth; just as in + the earlier predatory stage it is necessary for the barbarian man to come + up to the tribe's standard of physical endurance, cunning, and skill at + arms. A certain standard of wealth in the one case, and of prowess in the + other, is a necessary condition of reputability, and anything in excess of + this normal amount is meritorious. + </p> + <p> + Those members of the community who fall short of this, somewhat + indefinite, normal degree of prowess or of property suffer in the esteem + of their fellow-men; and consequently they suffer also in their own + esteem, since the usual basis of self-respect is the respect accorded by + one's neighbours. Only individuals with an aberrant temperament can in the + long run retain their self-esteem in the face of the disesteem of their + fellows. Apparent exceptions to the rule are met with, especially among + people with strong religious convictions. But these apparent exceptions + are scarcely real exceptions, since such persons commonly fall back on the + putative approbation of some supernatural witness of their deeds. + </p> + <p> + So soon as the possession of property becomes the basis of popular esteem, + therefore, it becomes also a requisite to the complacency which we call + self-respect. In any community where goods are held in severalty it is + necessary, in order to his own peace of mind, that an individual should + possess as large a portion of goods as others with whom he is accustomed + to class himself; and it is extremely gratifying to possess something more + than others. But as fast as a person makes new acquisitions, and becomes + accustomed to the resulting new standard of wealth, the new standard + forthwith ceases to afford appreciably greater satisfaction than the + earlier standard did. The tendency in any case is constantly to make the + present pecuniary standard the point of departure for a fresh increase of + wealth; and this in turn gives rise to a new standard of sufficiency and a + new pecuniary classification of one's self as compared with one's + neighbours. So far as concerns the present question, the end sought by + accumulation is to rank high in comparison with the rest of the community + in point of pecuniary strength. So long as the comparison is distinctly + unfavourable to himself, the normal, average individual will live in + chronic dissatisfaction with his present lot; and when he has reached what + may be called the normal pecuniary standard of the community, or of his + class in the community, this chronic dissatisfaction will give place to a + restless straining to place a wider and ever-widening pecuniary interval + between himself and this average standard. The invidious comparison can + never become so favourable to the individual making it that he would not + gladly rate himself still higher relatively to his competitors in the + struggle for pecuniary reputability. + </p> + <p> + In the nature of the case, the desire for wealth can scarcely be satiated + in any individual instance, and evidently a satiation of the average or + general desire for wealth is out of the question. However widely, or + equally, or "fairly", it may be distributed, no general increase of the + community's wealth can make any approach to satiating this need, the + ground of which is the desire of every one to excel every one else in the + accumulation of goods. If, as is sometimes assumed, the incentive to + accumulation were the want of subsistence or of physical comfort, then the + aggregate economic wants of a community might conceivably be satisfied at + some point in the advance of industrial efficiency; but since the struggle + is substantially a race for reputability on the basis of an invidious + comparison, no approach to a definitive attainment is possible. + </p> + <p> + What has just been said must not be taken to mean that there are no other + incentives to acquisition and accumulation than this desire to excel in + pecuniary standing and so gain the esteem and envy of one's fellow-men. + The desire for added comfort and security from want is present as a motive + at every stage of the process of accumulation in a modern industrial + community; although the standard of sufficiency in these respects is in + turn greatly affected by the habit of pecuniary emulation. To a great + extent this emulation shapes the methods and selects the objects of + expenditure for personal comfort and decent livelihood. + </p> + <p> + Besides this, the power conferred by wealth also affords a motive to + accumulation. That propensity for purposeful activity and that repugnance + to all futility of effort which belong to man by virtue of his character + as an agent do not desert him when he emerges from the naive communal + culture where the dominant note of life is the unanalysed and + undifferentiated solidarity of the individual with the group with which + his life is bound up. When he enters upon the predatory stage, where + self-seeking in the narrower sense becomes the dominant note, this + propensity goes with him still, as the pervasive trait that shapes his + scheme of life. The propensity for achievement and the repugnance to + futility remain the underlying economic motive. The propensity changes + only in the form of its expression and in the proximate objects to which + it directs the man's activity. Under the regime of individual ownership + the most available means of visibly achieving a purpose is that afforded + by the acquisition and accumulation of goods; and as the self-regarding + antithesis between man and man reaches fuller consciousness, the + propensity for achievement—the instinct of workmanship—tends + more and more to shape itself into a straining to excel others in + pecuniary achievement. Relative success, tested by an invidious pecuniary + comparison with other men, becomes the conventional end of action. The + currently accepted legitimate end of effort becomes the achievement of a + favourable comparison with other men; and therefore the repugnance to + futility to a good extent coalesces with the incentive of emulation. It + acts to accentuate the struggle for pecuniary reputability by visiting + with a sharper disapproval all shortcoming and all evidence of shortcoming + in point of pecuniary success. Purposeful effort comes to mean, primarily, + effort directed to or resulting in a more creditable showing of + accumulated wealth. Among the motives which lead men to accumulate wealth, + the primacy, both in scope and intensity, therefore, continues to belong + to this motive of pecuniary emulation. + </p> + <p> + In making use of the term "invidious", it may perhaps be unnecessary to + remark, there is no intention to extol or depreciate, or to commend or + deplore any of the phenomena which the word is used to characterise. The + term is used in a technical sense as describing a comparison of persons + with a view to rating and grading them in respect of relative worth or + value—in an aesthetic or moral sense—and so awarding and + defining the relative degrees of complacency with which they may + legitimately be contemplated by themselves and by others. An invidious + comparison is a process of valuation of persons in respect of worth. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter Three ~~ Conspicuous Leisure + </h2> + <p> + If its working were not disturbed by other economic forces or other + features of the emulative process, the immediate effect of such a + pecuniary struggle as has just been described in outline would be to make + men industrious and frugal. This result actually follows, in some measure, + so far as regards the lower classes, whose ordinary means of acquiring + goods is productive labour. This is more especially true of the labouring + classes in a sedentary community which is at an agricultural stage of + industry, in which there is a considerable subdivision of industry, and + whose laws and customs secure to these classes a more or less definite + share of the product of their industry. These lower classes can in any + case not avoid labour, and the imputation of labour is therefore not + greatly derogatory to them, at least not within their class. Rather, since + labour is their recognised and accepted mode of life, they take some + emulative pride in a reputation for efficiency in their work, this being + often the only line of emulation that is open to them. For those for whom + acquisition and emulation is possible only within the field of productive + efficiency and thrift, the struggle for pecuniary reputability will in + some measure work out in an increase of diligence and parsimony. But + certain secondary features of the emulative process, yet to be spoken of, + come in to very materially circumscribe and modify emulation in these + directions among the pecuniary inferior classes as well as among the + superior class. + </p> + <p> + But it is otherwise with the superior pecuniary class, with which we are + here immediately concerned. For this class also the incentive to diligence + and thrift is not absent; but its action is so greatly qualified by the + secondary demands of pecuniary emulation, that any inclination in this + direction is practically overborne and any incentive to diligence tends to + be of no effect. The most imperative of these secondary demands of + emulation, as well as the one of widest scope, is the requirement of + abstention from productive work. This is true in an especial degree for + the barbarian stage of culture. During the predatory culture labour comes + to be associated in men's habits of thought with weakness and subjection + to a master. It is therefore a mark of inferiority, and therefore comes to + be accounted unworthy of man in his best estate. By virtue of this + tradition labour is felt to be debasing, and this tradition has never died + out. On the contrary, with the advance of social differentiation it has + acquired the axiomatic force due to ancient and unquestioned prescription. + </p> + <p> + In order to gain and to hold the esteem of men it is not sufficient merely + to possess wealth or power. The wealth or power must be put in evidence, + for esteem is awarded only on evidence. And not only does the evidence of + wealth serve to impress one's importance on others and to keep their sense + of his importance alive and alert, but it is of scarcely less use in + building up and preserving one's self-complacency. In all but the lowest + stages of culture the normally constituted man is comforted and upheld in + his self-respect by "decent surroundings" and by exemption from "menial + offices". Enforced departure from his habitual standard of decency, either + in the paraphernalia of life or in the kind and amount of his everyday + activity, is felt to be a slight upon his human dignity, even apart from + all conscious consideration of the approval or disapproval of his fellows. + </p> + <p> + The archaic theoretical distinction between the base and the honourable in + the manner of a man's life retains very much of its ancient force even + today. So much so that there are few of the better class who are not + possessed of an instinctive repugnance for the vulgar forms of labour. We + have a realising sense of ceremonial uncleanness attaching in an especial + degree to the occupations which are associated in our habits of thought + with menial service. It is felt by all persons of refined taste that a + spiritual contamination is inseparable from certain offices that are + conventionally required of servants. Vulgar surroundings, mean (that is to + say, inexpensive) habitations, and vulgarly productive occupations are + unhesitatingly condemned and avoided. They are incompatible with life on a + satisfactory spiritual plane __ with "high thinking". From the days of the + Greek philosophers to the present, a degree of leisure and of exemption + from contact with such industrial processes as serve the immediate + everyday purposes of human life has ever been recognised by thoughtful men + as a prerequisite to a worthy or beautiful, or even a blameless, human + life. In itself and in its consequences the life of leisure is beautiful + and ennobling in all civilised men's eyes. + </p> + <p> + This direct, subjective value of leisure and of other evidences of wealth + is no doubt in great part secondary and derivative. It is in part a reflex + of the utility of leisure as a means of gaining the respect of others, and + in part it is the result of a mental substitution. The performance of + labour has been accepted as a conventional evidence of inferior force; + therefore it comes itself, by a mental short-cut, to be regarded as + intrinsically base. + </p> + <p> + During the predatory stage proper, and especially during the earlier + stages of the quasi-peaceable development of industry that follows the + predatory stage, a life of leisure is the readiest and most conclusive + evidence of pecuniary strength, and therefore of superior force; provided + always that the gentleman of leisure can live in manifest ease and + comfort. At this stage wealth consists chiefly of slaves, and the benefits + accruing from the possession of riches and power take the form chiefly of + personal service and the immediate products of personal service. + Conspicuous abstention from labour therefore becomes the conventional mark + of superior pecuniary achievement and the conventional index of + reputability; and conversely, since application to productive labour is a + mark of poverty and subjection, it becomes inconsistent with a reputable + standing in the community. Habits of industry and thrift, therefore, are + not uniformly furthered by a prevailing pecuniary emulation. On the + contrary, this kind of emulation indirectly discountenances participation + in productive labour. Labour would unavoidably become dishonourable, as + being an evidence indecorous under the ancient tradition handed down from + an earlier cultural stage. The ancient tradition of the predatory culture + is that productive effort is to be shunned as being unworthy of + able-bodied men, and this tradition is reinforced rather than set aside in + the passage from the predatory to the quasi-peaceable manner of life. + </p> + <p> + Even if the institution of a leisure class had not come in with the first + emergence of individual ownership, by force of the dishonour attaching to + productive employment, it would in any case have come in as one of the + early consequences of ownership. And it is to be remarked that while the + leisure class existed in theory from the beginning of predatory culture, + the institution takes on a new and fuller meaning with the transition from + the predatory to the next succeeding pecuniary stage of culture. It is + from this time forth a "leisure class" in fact as well as in theory. From + this point dates the institution of the leisure class in its consummate + form. + </p> + <p> + During the predatory stage proper the distinction between the leisure and + the labouring class is in some degree a ceremonial distinction only. The + able bodied men jealously stand aloof from whatever is in their + apprehension, menial drudgery; but their activity in fact contributes + appreciably to the sustenance of the group. The subsequent stage of + quasi-peaceable industry is usually characterised by an established + chattel slavery, herds of cattle, and a servile class of herdsmen and + shepherds; industry has advanced so far that the community is no longer + dependent for its livelihood on the chase or on any other form of activity + that can fairly be classed as exploit. From this point on, the + characteristic feature of leisure class life is a conspicuous exemption + from all useful employment. + </p> + <p> + The normal and characteristic occupations of the class in this mature + phase of its life history are in form very much the same as in its earlier + days. These occupations are government, war, sports, and devout + observances. Persons unduly given to difficult theoretical niceties may + hold that these occupations are still incidentally and indirectly + "productive"; but it is to be noted as decisive of the question in hand + that the ordinary and ostensible motive of the leisure class in engaging + in these occupations is assuredly not an increase of wealth by productive + effort. At this as at any other cultural stage, government and war are, at + least in part, carried on for the pecuniary gain of those who engage in + them; but it is gain obtained by the honourable method of seizure and + conversion. These occupations are of the nature of predatory, not of + productive, employment. Something similar may be said of the chase, but + with a difference. As the community passes out of the hunting stage + proper, hunting gradually becomes differentiated into two distinct + employments. On the one hand it is a trade, carried on chiefly for gain; + and from this the element of exploit is virtually absent, or it is at any + rate not present in a sufficient degree to clear the pursuit of the + imputation of gainful industry. On the other hand, the chase is also a + sport—an exercise of the predatory impulse simply. As such it does + not afford any appreciable pecuniary incentive, but it contains a more or + less obvious element of exploit. It is this latter development of the + chase—purged of all imputation of handicraft—that alone is + meritorious and fairly belongs in the scheme of life of the developed + leisure class. + </p> + <p> + Abstention from labour is not only a honorific or meritorious act, but it + presently comes to be a requisite of decency. The insistence on property + as the basis of reputability is very naive and very imperious during the + early stages of the accumulation of wealth. Abstention from labour is the + convenient evidence of wealth and is therefore the conventional mark of + social standing; and this insistence on the meritoriousness of wealth + leads to a more strenuous insistence on leisure. Nota notae est nota rei + ipsius. According to well established laws of human nature, prescription + presently seizes upon this conventional evidence of wealth and fixes it in + men's habits of thought as something that is in itself substantially + meritorious and ennobling; while productive labour at the same time and by + a like process becomes in a double sense intrinsically unworthy. + Prescription ends by making labour not only disreputable in the eyes of + the community, but morally impossible to the noble, freeborn man, and + incompatible with a worthy life. + </p> + <p> + This tabu on labour has a further consequence in the industrial + differentiation of classes. As the population increases in density and the + predatory group grows into a settled industrial community, the constituted + authorities and the customs governing ownership gain in scope and + consistency. It then presently becomes impracticable to accumulate wealth + by simple seizure, and, in logical consistency, acquisition by industry is + equally impossible for high minded and impecunious men. The alternative + open to them is beggary or privation. Wherever the canon of conspicuous + leisure has a chance undisturbed to work out its tendency, there will + therefore emerge a secondary, and in a sense spurious, leisure class—abjectly + poor and living in a precarious life of want and discomfort, but morally + unable to stoop to gainful pursuits. The decayed gentleman and the lady + who has seen better days are by no means unfamiliar phenomena even now. + This pervading sense of the indignity of the slightest manual labour is + familiar to all civilized peoples, as well as to peoples of a less + advanced pecuniary culture. In persons of a delicate sensibility who have + long been habituated to gentle manners, the sense of the shamefulness of + manual labour may become so strong that, at a critical juncture, it will + even set aside the instinct of self-preservation. So, for instance, we are + told of certain Polynesian chiefs, who, under the stress of good form, + preferred to starve rather than carry their food to their mouths with + their own hands. It is true, this conduct may have been due, at least in + part, to an excessive sanctity or tabu attaching to the chief's person. + The tabu would have been communicated by the contact of his hands, and so + would have made anything touched by him unfit for human food. But the tabu + is itself a derivative of the unworthiness or moral incompatibility of + labour; so that even when construed in this sense the conduct of the + Polynesian chiefs is truer to the canon of honorific leisure than would at + first appear. A better illustration, or at least a more unmistakable one, + is afforded by a certain king of France, who is said to have lost his life + through an excess of moral stamina in the observance of good form. In the + absence of the functionary whose office it was to shift his master's seat, + the king sat uncomplaining before the fire and suffered his royal person + to be toasted beyond recovery. But in so doing he saved his Most Christian + Majesty from menial contamination. Summum crede nefas animam praeferre + pudori, Et propter vitam vivendi perdere causas. + </p> + <p> + It has already been remarked that the term "leisure", as here used, does + not connote indolence or quiescence. What it connotes is non-productive + consumption of time. Time is consumed non-productively (1) from a sense of + the unworthiness of productive work, and (2) as an evidence of pecuniary + ability to afford a life of idleness. But the whole of the life of the + gentleman of leisure is not spent before the eyes of the spectators who + are to be impressed with that spectacle of honorific leisure which in the + ideal scheme makes up his life. For some part of the time his life is + perforce withdrawn from the public eye, and of this portion which is spent + in private the gentleman of leisure should, for the sake of his good name, + be able to give a convincing account. He should find some means of putting + in evidence the leisure that is not spent in the sight of the spectators. + This can be done only indirectly, through the exhibition of some tangible, + lasting results of the leisure so spent—in a manner analogous to the + familiar exhibition of tangible, lasting products of the labour performed + for the gentleman of leisure by handicraftsmen and servants in his employ. + </p> + <p> + The lasting evidence of productive labour is its material product—commonly + some article of consumption. In the case of exploit it is similarly + possible and usual to procure some tangible result that may serve for + exhibition in the way of trophy or booty. At a later phase of the + development it is customary to assume some badge of insignia of honour + that will serve as a conventionally accepted mark of exploit, and which at + the same time indicates the quantity or degree of exploit of which it is + the symbol. As the population increases in density, and as human relations + grow more complex and numerous, all the details of life undergo a process + of elaboration and selection; and in this process of elaboration the use + of trophies develops into a system of rank, titles, degrees and insignia, + typical examples of which are heraldic devices, medals, and honorary + decorations. + </p> + <p> + As seen from the economic point of view, leisure, considered as an + employment, is closely allied in kind with the life of exploit; and the + achievements which characterise a life of leisure, and which remain as its + decorous criteria, have much in common with the trophies of exploit. But + leisure in the narrower sense, as distinct from exploit and from any + ostensibly productive employment of effort on objects which are of no + intrinsic use, does not commonly leave a material product. The criteria of + a past performance of leisure therefore commonly take the form of + "immaterial" goods. Such immaterial evidences of past leisure are + quasi-scholarly or quasi-artistic accomplishments and a knowledge of + processes and incidents which do not conduce directly to the furtherance + of human life. So, for instance, in our time there is the knowledge of the + dead languages and the occult sciences; of correct spelling; of syntax and + prosody; of the various forms of domestic music and other household art; + of the latest properties of dress, furniture, and equipage; of games, + sports, and fancy-bred animals, such as dogs and race-horses. In all these + branches of knowledge the initial motive from which their acquisition + proceeded at the outset, and through which they first came into vogue, may + have been something quite different from the wish to show that one's time + had not been spent in industrial employment; but unless these + accomplishments had approved themselves as serviceable evidence of an + unproductive expenditure of time, they would not have survived and held + their place as conventional accomplishments of the leisure class. + </p> + <p> + These accomplishments may, in some sense, be classed as branches of + learning. Beside and beyond these there is a further range of social facts + which shade off from the region of learning into that of physical habit + and dexterity. Such are what is known as manners and breeding, polite + usage, decorum, and formal and ceremonial observances generally. This + class of facts are even more immediately and obtrusively presented to the + observation, and they therefore more widely and more imperatively insisted + on as required evidences of a reputable degree of leisure. It is worth + while to remark that all that class of ceremonial observances which are + classed under the general head of manners hold a more important place in + the esteem of men during the stage of culture at which conspicuous leisure + has the greatest vogue as a mark of reputability, than at later stages of + the cultural development. The barbarian of the quasi-peaceable stage of + industry is notoriously a more high-bred gentleman, in all that concerns + decorum, than any but the very exquisite among the men of a later age. + Indeed, it is well known, or at least it is currently believed, that + manners have progressively deteriorated as society has receded from the + patriarchal stage. Many a gentleman of the old school has been provoked to + remark regretfully upon the under-bred manners and bearing of even the + better classes in the modern industrial communities; and the decay of the + ceremonial code—or as it is otherwise called, the vulgarisation of + life—among the industrial classes proper has become one of the chief + enormities of latter-day civilisation in the eyes of all persons of + delicate sensibilities. The decay which the code has suffered at the hands + of a busy people testifies—all depreciation apart—to the fact + that decorum is a product and an exponent of leisure class life and + thrives in full measure only under a regime of status. + </p> + <p> + The origin, or better the derivation, of manners is no doubt, to be sought + elsewhere than in a conscious effort on the part of the well-mannered to + show that much time has been spent in acquiring them. The proximate end of + innovation and elaboration has been the higher effectiveness of the new + departure in point of beauty or of expressiveness. In great part the + ceremonial code of decorous usages owes its beginning and its growth to + the desire to conciliate or to show good-will, as anthropologists and + sociologists are in the habit of assuming, and this initial motive is + rarely if ever absent from the conduct of well-mannered persons at any + stage of the later development. Manners, we are told, are in part an + elaboration of gesture, and in part they are symbolical and + conventionalised survivals representing former acts of dominance or of + personal service or of personal contact. In large part they are an + expression of the relation of status,—a symbolic pantomime of + mastery on the one hand and of subservience on the other. Wherever at the + present time the predatory habit of mind, and the consequent attitude of + mastery and of subservience, gives its character to the accredited scheme + of life, there the importance of all punctilios of conduct is extreme, and + the assiduity with which the ceremonial observance of rank and titles is + attended to approaches closely to the ideal set by the barbarian of the + quasi-peaceable nomadic culture. Some of the Continental countries afford + good illustrations of this spiritual survival. In these communities the + archaic ideal is similarly approached as regards the esteem accorded to + manners as a fact of intrinsic worth. + </p> + <p> + Decorum set out with being symbol and pantomime and with having utility + only as an exponent of the facts and qualities symbolised; but it + presently suffered the transmutation which commonly passes over symbolical + facts in human intercourse. Manners presently came, in popular + apprehension, to be possessed of a substantial utility in themselves; they + acquired a sacramental character, in great measure independent of the + facts which they originally prefigured. Deviations from the code of + decorum have become intrinsically odious to all men, and good breeding is, + in everyday apprehension, not simply an adventitious mark of human + excellence, but an integral feature of the worthy human soul. There are + few things that so touch us with instinctive revulsion as a breach of + decorum; and so far have we progressed in the direction of imputing + intrinsic utility to the ceremonial observances of etiquette that few of + us, if any, can dissociate an offence against etiquette from a sense of + the substantial unworthiness of the offender. A breach of faith may be + condoned, but a breach of decorum can not. "Manners maketh man." + </p> + <p> + None the less, while manners have this intrinsic utility, in the + apprehension of the performer and the beholder alike, this sense of the + intrinsic rightness of decorum is only the proximate ground of the vogue + of manners and breeding. Their ulterior, economic ground is to be sought + in the honorific character of that leisure or non-productive employment of + time and effort without which good manners are not acquired. The knowledge + and habit of good form come only by long-continued use. Refined tastes, + manners, habits of life are a useful evidence of gentility, because good + breeding requires time, application and expense, and can therefore not be + compassed by those whose time and energy are taken up with work. A + knowledge of good form is prima facie evidence that that portion of the + well-bred person's life which is not spent under the observation of the + spectator has been worthily spent in acquiring accomplishments that are of + no lucrative effect. In the last analysis the value of manners lies in the + fact that they are the voucher of a life of leisure. Therefore, + conversely, since leisure is the conventional means of pecuniary repute, + the acquisition of some proficiency in decorum is incumbent on all who + aspire to a modicum of pecuniary decency. + </p> + <p> + So much of the honourable life of leisure as is not spent in the sight of + spectators can serve the purposes of reputability only in so far as it + leaves a tangible, visible result that can be put in evidence and can be + measured and compared with products of the same class exhibited by + competing aspirants for repute. Some such effect, in the way of leisurely + manners and carriage, etc., follows from simple persistent abstention from + work, even where the subject does not take thought of the matter and + studiously acquire an air of leisurely opulence and mastery. Especially + does it seem to be true that a life of leisure in this way persisted in + through several generations will leave a persistent, ascertainable effect + in the conformation of the person, and still more in his habitual bearing + and demeanour. But all the suggestions of a cumulative life of leisure, + and all the proficiency in decorum that comes by the way of passive + habituation, may be further improved upon by taking thought and + assiduously acquiring the marks of honourable leisure, and then carrying + the exhibition of these adventitious marks of exemption from employment + out in a strenuous and systematic discipline. Plainly, this is a point at + which a diligent application of effort and expenditure may materially + further the attainment of a decent proficiency in the leisure-class + properties. Conversely, the greater the degree of proficiency and the more + patent the evidence of a high degree of habituation to observances which + serve no lucrative or other directly useful purpose, the greater the + consumption of time and substance impliedly involved in their acquisition, + and the greater the resultant good repute. Hence under the competitive + struggle for proficiency in good manners, it comes about that much pains + in taken with the cultivation of habits of decorum; and hence the details + of decorum develop into a comprehensive discipline, conformity to which is + required of all who would be held blameless in point of repute. And hence, + on the other hand, this conspicuous leisure of which decorum is a + ramification grows gradually into a laborious drill in deportment and an + education in taste and discrimination as to what articles of consumption + are decorous and what are the decorous methods of consuming them. + </p> + <p> + In this connection it is worthy of notice that the possibility of + producing pathological and other idiosyncrasies of person and manner by + shrewd mimicry and a systematic drill have been turned to account in the + deliberate production of a cultured class—often with a very happy + effect. In this way, by the process vulgarly known as snobbery, a + syncopated evolution of gentle birth and breeding is achieved in the case + of a goodly number of families and lines of descent. This syncopated + gentle birth gives results which, in point of serviceability as a + leisure-class factor in the population, are in no wise substantially + inferior to others who may have had a longer but less arduous training in + the pecuniary properties. + </p> + <p> + There are, moreover, measureable degrees of conformity to the latest + accredited code of the punctilios as regards decorous means and methods of + consumption. Differences between one person and another in the degree of + conformity to the ideal in these respects can be compared, and persons may + be graded and scheduled with some accuracy and effect according to a + progressive scale of manners and breeding. The award of reputability in + this regard is commonly made in good faith, on the ground of conformity to + accepted canons of taste in the matters concerned, and without conscious + regard to the pecuniary standing or the degree of leisure practised by any + given candidate for reputability; but the canons of taste according to + which the award is made are constantly under the surveillance of the law + of conspicuous leisure, and are indeed constantly undergoing change and + revision to bring them into closer conformity with its requirements. So + that while the proximate ground of discrimination may be of another kind, + still the pervading principle and abiding test of good breeding is the + requirement of a substantial and patent waste of time. There may be some + considerable range of variation in detail within the scope of this + principle, but they are variations of form and expression, not of + substance. + </p> + <p> + Much of the courtesy of everyday intercourse is of course a direct + expression of consideration and kindly good-will, and this element of + conduct has for the most part no need of being traced back to any + underlying ground of reputability to explain either its presence or the + approval with which it is regarded; but the same is not true of the code + of properties. These latter are expressions of status. It is of course + sufficiently plain, to any one who cares to see, that our bearing towards + menials and other pecuniary dependent inferiors is the bearing of the + superior member in a relation of status, though its manifestation is often + greatly modified and softened from the original expression of crude + dominance. Similarly, our bearing towards superiors, and in great measure + towards equals, expresses a more or less conventionalised attitude of + subservience. Witness the masterful presence of the high-minded gentleman + or lady, which testifies to so much of dominance and independence of + economic circumstances, and which at the same time appeals with such + convincing force to our sense of what is right and gracious. It is among + this highest leisure class, who have no superiors and few peers, that + decorum finds its fullest and maturest expression; and it is this highest + class also that gives decorum that definite formulation which serves as a + canon of conduct for the classes beneath. And there also the code is most + obviously a code of status and shows most plainly its incompatibility with + all vulgarly productive work. A divine assurance and an imperious + complaisance, as of one habituated to require subservience and to take no + thought for the morrow, is the birthright and the criterion of the + gentleman at his best; and it is in popular apprehension even more than + that, for this demeanour is accepted as an intrinsic attribute of superior + worth, before which the base-born commoner delights to stoop and yield. + </p> + <p> + As has been indicated in an earlier chapter, there is reason to believe + that the institution of ownership has begun with the ownership of persons, + primarily women. The incentives to acquiring such property have apparently + been: (1) a propensity for dominance and coercion; (2) the utility of + these persons as evidence of the prowess of the owner; (3) the utility of + their services. + </p> + <p> + Personal service holds a peculiar place in the economic development. + During the stage of quasi-peaceable industry, and especially during the + earlier development of industry within the limits of this general stage, + the utility of their services seems commonly to be the dominant motive to + the acquisition of property in persons. Servants are valued for their + services. But the dominance of this motive is not due to a decline in the + absolute importance of the other two utilities possessed by servants. It + is rather that the altered circumstance of life accentuate the utility of + servants for this last-named purpose. Women and other slaves are highly + valued, both as an evidence of wealth and as a means of accumulating + wealth. Together with cattle, if the tribe is a pastoral one, they are the + usual form of investment for a profit. To such an extent may female + slavery give its character to the economic life under the quasi-peaceable + culture that the women even comes to serve as a unit of value among + peoples occupying this cultural stage—as for instance in Homeric + times. Where this is the case there need be little question but that the + basis of the industrial system is chattel slavery and that the women are + commonly slaves. The great, pervading human relation in such a system is + that of master and servant. The accepted evidence of wealth is the + possession of many women, and presently also of other slaves engaged in + attendance on their master's person and in producing goods for him. + </p> + <p> + A division of labour presently sets in, whereby personal service and + attendance on the master becomes the special office of a portion of the + servants, while those who are wholly employed in industrial occupations + proper are removed more and more from all immediate relation to the person + of their owner. At the same time those servants whose office is personal + service, including domestic duties, come gradually to be exempted from + productive industry carried on for gain. + </p> + <p> + This process of progressive exemption from the common run of industrial + employment will commonly begin with the exemption of the wife, or the + chief wife. After the community has advanced to settled habits of life, + wife-capture from hostile tribes becomes impracticable as a customary + source of supply. Where this cultural advance has been achieved, the chief + wife is ordinarily of gentle blood, and the fact of her being so will + hasten her exemption from vulgar employment. The manner in which the + concept of gentle blood originates, as well as the place which it occupies + in the development of marriage, cannot be discussed in this place. For the + purpose in hand it will be sufficient to say that gentle blood is blood + which has been ennobled by protracted contact with accumulated wealth or + unbroken prerogative. The women with these antecedents is preferred in + marriage, both for the sake of a resulting alliance with her powerful + relatives and because a superior worth is felt to inhere in blood which + has been associated with many goods and great power. She will still be her + husband's chattel, as she was her father's chattel before her purchase, + but she is at the same time of her father's gentle blood; and hence there + is a moral incongruity in her occupying herself with the debasing + employments of her fellow-servants. However completely she may be subject + to her master, and however inferior to the male members of the social + stratum in which her birth has placed her, the principle that gentility is + transmissible will act to place her above the common slave; and so soon as + this principle has acquired a prescriptive authority it will act to invest + her in some measure with that prerogative of leisure which is the chief + mark of gentility. Furthered by this principle of transmissible gentility + the wife's exemption gains in scope, if the wealth of her owner permits + it, until it includes exemption from debasing menial service as well as + from handicraft. As the industrial development goes on and property + becomes massed in relatively fewer hands, the conventional standard of + wealth of the upper class rises. The same tendency to exemption from + handicraft, and in the course of time from menial domestic employments, + will then assert itself as regards the other wives, if such there are, and + also as regards other servants in immediate attendance upon the person of + their master. The exemption comes more tardily the remoter the relation in + which the servant stands to the person of the master. + </p> + <p> + If the pecuniary situation of the master permits it, the development of a + special class of personal or body servants is also furthered by the very + grave importance which comes to attach to this personal service. The + master's person, being the embodiment of worth and honour, is of the most + serious consequence. Both for his reputable standing in the community and + for his self-respect, it is a matter of moment that he should have at his + call efficient specialised servants, whose attendance upon his person is + not diverted from this their chief office by any by-occupation. These + specialised servants are useful more for show than for service actually + performed. In so far as they are not kept for exhibition simply, they + afford gratification to their master chiefly in allowing scope to his + propensity for dominance. It is true, the care of the continually + increasing household apparatus may require added labour; but since the + apparatus is commonly increased in order to serve as a means of good + repute rather than as a means of comfort, this qualification is not of + great weight. All these lines of utility are better served by a larger + number of more highly specialised servants. There results, therefore, a + constantly increasing differentiation and multiplication of domestic and + body servants, along with a concomitant progressive exemption of such + servants from productive labour. By virtue of their serving as evidence of + ability to pay, the office of such domestics regularly tends to include + continually fewer duties, and their service tends in the end to become + nominal only. This is especially true of those servants who are in most + immediate and obvious attendance upon their master. So that the utility of + these comes to consist, in great part, in their conspicuous exemption from + productive labour and in the evidence which this exemption affords of + their master's wealth and power. + </p> + <p> + After some considerable advance has been made in the practice of employing + a special corps of servants for the performance of a conspicuous leisure + in this manner, men begin to be preferred above women for services that + bring them obtrusively into view. Men, especially lusty, personable + fellows, such as footmen and other menials should be, are obviously more + powerful and more expensive than women. They are better fitted for this + work, as showing a larger waste of time and of human energy. Hence it + comes about that in the economy of the leisure class the busy housewife of + the early patriarchal days, with her retinue of hard-working handmaidens, + presently gives place to the lady and the lackey. + </p> + <p> + In all grades and walks of life, and at any stage of the economic + development, the leisure of the lady and of the lackey differs from the + leisure of the gentleman in his own right in that it is an occupation of + an ostensibly laborious kind. It takes the form, in large measure, of a + painstaking attention to the service of the master, or to the maintenance + and elaboration of the household paraphernalia; so that it is leisure only + in the sense that little or no productive work is performed by this class, + not in the sense that all appearance of labour is avoided by them. The + duties performed by the lady, or by the household or domestic servants, + are frequently arduous enough, and they are also frequently directed to + ends which are considered extremely necessary to the comfort of the entire + household. So far as these services conduce to the physical efficiency or + comfort of the master or the rest of the household, they are to be + accounted productive work. Only the residue of employment left after + deduction of this effective work is to be classed as a performance of + leisure. + </p> + <p> + But much of the services classed as household cares in modern everyday + life, and many of the "utilities" required for a comfortable existence by + civilised man, are of a ceremonial character. They are, therefore, + properly to be classed as a performance of leisure in the sense in which + the term is here used. They may be none the less imperatively necessary + from the point of view of decent existence: they may be none the less + requisite for personal comfort even, although they may be chiefly or + wholly of a ceremonial character. But in so far as they partake of this + character they are imperative and requisite because we have been taught to + require them under pain of ceremonial uncleanness or unworthiness. We feel + discomfort in their absence, but not because their absence results + directly in physical discomfort; nor would a taste not trained to + discriminate between the conventionally good and the conventionally bad + take offence at their omission. In so far as this is true the labour spent + in these services is to be classed as leisure; and when performed by + others than the economically free and self-directed head of the + establishment, they are to be classed as vicarious leisure. + </p> + <p> + The vicarious leisure performed by housewives and menials, under the head + of household cares, may frequently develop into drudgery, especially where + the competition for reputability is close and strenuous. This is + frequently the case in modern life. Where this happens, the domestic + service which comprises the duties of this servant class might aptly be + designated as wasted effort, rather than as vicarious leisure. But the + latter term has the advantage of indicating the line of derivation of + these domestic offices, as well as of neatly suggesting the substantial + economic ground of their utility; for these occupations are chiefly useful + as a method of imputing pecuniary reputability to the master or to the + household on the ground that a given amount of time and effort is + conspicuously wasted in that behalf. + </p> + <p> + In this way, then, there arises a subsidiary or derivative leisure class, + whose office is the performance of a vicarious leisure for the behoof of + the reputability of the primary or legitimate leisure class. This + vicarious leisure class is distinguished from the leisure class proper by + a characteristic feature of its habitual mode of life. The leisure of the + master class is, at least ostensibly, an indulgence of a proclivity for + the avoidance of labour and is presumed to enhance the master's own + well-being and fulness of life; but the leisure of the servant class + exempt from productive labour is in some sort a performance exacted from + them, and is not normally or primarily directed to their own comfort. The + leisure of the servant is not his own leisure. So far as he is a servant + in the full sense, and not at the same time a member of a lower order of + the leisure class proper, his leisure normally passes under the guise of + specialised service directed to the furtherance of his master's fulness of + life. Evidence of this relation of subservience is obviously present in + the servant's carriage and manner of life. The like is often true of the + wife throughout the protracted economic stage during which she is still + primarily a servant—that is to say, so long as the household with a + male head remains in force. In order to satisfy the requirements of the + leisure class scheme of life, the servant should show not only an attitude + of subservience, but also the effects of special training and practice in + subservience. The servant or wife should not only perform certain offices + and show a servile disposition, but it is quite as imperative that they + should show an acquired facility in the tactics of subservience—a + trained conformity to the canons of effectual and conspicuous + subservience. Even today it is this aptitude and acquired skill in the + formal manifestation of the servile relation that constitutes the chief + element of utility in our highly paid servants, as well as one of the + chief ornaments of the well-bred housewife. + </p> + <p> + The first requisite of a good servant is that he should conspicuously know + his place. It is not enough that he knows how to effect certain desired + mechanical results; he must above all, know how to effect these results in + due form. Domestic service might be said to be a spiritual rather than a + mechanical function. Gradually there grows up an elaborate system of good + form, specifically regulating the manner in which this vicarious leisure + of the servant class is to be performed. Any departure from these canons + of form is to be depreciated, not so much because it evinces a shortcoming + in mechanical efficiency, or even that it shows an absence of the servile + attitude and temperament, but because, in the last analysis, it shows the + absence of special training. Special training in personal service costs + time and effort, and where it is obviously present in a high degree, it + argues that the servant who possesses it, neither is nor has been + habitually engaged in any productive occupation. It is prima facie + evidence of a vicarious leisure extending far back in the past. So that + trained service has utility, not only as gratifying the master's + instinctive liking for good and skilful workmanship and his propensity for + conspicuous dominance over those whose lives are subservient to his own, + but it has utility also as putting in evidence a much larger consumption + of human service than would be shown by the mere present conspicuous + leisure performed by an untrained person. It is a serious grievance if a + gentleman's butler or footman performs his duties about his master's table + or carriage in such unformed style as to suggest that his habitual + occupation may be ploughing or sheepherding. Such bungling work would + imply inability on the master's part to procure the service of specially + trained servants; that is to say, it would imply inability to pay for the + consumption of time, effort, and instruction required to fit a trained + servant for special service under the exacting code of forms. If the + performance of the servant argues lack of means on the part of his master, + it defeats its chief substantial end; for the chief use of servants is the + evidence they afford of the master's ability to pay. + </p> + <p> + What has just been said might be taken to imply that the offence of an + under-trained servant lies in a direct suggestion of inexpensiveness or of + usefulness. Such, of course, is not the case. The connection is much less + immediate. What happens here is what happens generally. Whatever approves + itself to us on any ground at the outset, presently comes to appeal to us + as a gratifying thing in itself; it comes to rest in our habits of though + as substantially right. But in order that any specific canon of deportment + shall maintain itself in favour, it must continue to have the support of, + or at least not be incompatible with, the habit or aptitude which + constitutes the norm of its development. The need of vicarious leisure, or + conspicuous consumption of service, is a dominant incentive to the keeping + of servants. So long as this remains true it may be set down without much + discussion that any such departure from accepted usage as would suggest an + abridged apprenticeship in service would presently be found insufferable. + The requirement of an expensive vicarious leisure acts indirectly, + selectively, by guiding the formation of our taste,—of our sense of + what is right in these matters,—and so weeds out unconformable + departures by withholding approval of them. + </p> + <p> + As the standard of wealth recognized by common consent advances, the + possession and exploitation of servants as a means of showing superfluity + undergoes a refinement. The possession and maintenance of slaves employed + in the production of goods argues wealth and prowess, but the maintenance + of servants who produce nothing argues still higher wealth and position. + Under this principle there arises a class of servants, the more numerous + the better, whose sole office is fatuously to wait upon the person of + their owner, and so to put in evidence his ability unproductively to + consume a large amount of service. There supervenes a division of labour + among the servants or dependents whose life is spent in maintaining the + honour of the gentleman of leisure. So that, while one group produces + goods for him, another group, usually headed by the wife, or chief, + consumes for him in conspicuous leisure; thereby putting in evidence his + ability to sustain large pecuniary damage without impairing his superior + opulence. + </p> + <p> + This somewhat idealized and diagrammatic outline of the development and + nature of domestic service comes nearest being true for that cultural + stage which was here been named the "quasi-peaceable" stage of industry. + At this stage personal service first rises to the position of an economic + institution, and it is at this stage that it occupies the largest place in + the community's scheme of life. In the cultural sequence, the + quasi-peaceable stage follows the predatory stage proper, the two being + successive phases of barbarian life. Its characteristic feature is a + formal observance of peace and order, at the same time that life at this + stage still has too much of coercion and class antagonism to be called + peaceable in the full sense of the word. For many purposes, and from + another point of view than the economic one, it might as well be named the + stage of status. The method of human relation during this stage, and the + spiritual attitude of men at this level of culture, is well summed up + under the term. But as a descriptive term to characterise the prevailing + methods of industry, as well as to indicate the trend of industrial + development at this point in economic evolution, the term + "quasi-peaceable" seems preferable. So far as concerns the communities of + the Western culture, this phase of economic development probably lies in + the past; except for a numerically small though very conspicuous fraction + of the community in whom the habits of thought peculiar to the barbarian + culture have suffered but a relatively slight disintegration. + </p> + <p> + Personal service is still an element of great economic importance, + especially as regards the distribution and consumption of goods; but its + relative importance even in this direction is no doubt less than it once + was. The best development of this vicarious leisure lies in the past + rather than in the present; and its best expression in the present is to + be found in the scheme of life of the upper leisure class. To this class + the modern culture owes much in the way of the conservation of traditions, + usages, and habits of thought which belong on a more archaic cultural + plane, so far as regards their widest acceptance and their most effective + development. + </p> + <p> + In the modern industrial communities the mechanical contrivances available + for the comfort and convenience of everyday life are highly developed. So + much so that body servants, or, indeed, domestic servants of any kind, + would now scarcely be employed by anybody except on the ground of a canon + of reputability carried over by tradition from earlier usage. The only + exception would be servants employed to attend on the persons of the + infirm and the feeble-minded. But such servants properly come under the + head of trained nurses rather than under that of domestic servants, and + they are, therefore, an apparent rather than a real exception to the rule. + </p> + <p> + The proximate reason for keeping domestic servants, for instance, in the + moderately well-to-do household of to-day, is (ostensibly) that the + members of the household are unable without discomfort to compass the work + required by such a modern establishment. And the reason for their being + unable to accomplish it is (1) that they have too many "social duties", + and (2) that the work to be done is too severe and that there is too much + of it. These two reasons may be restated as follows: (1) Under the + mandatory code of decency, the time and effort of the members of such a + household are required to be ostensibly all spent in a performance of + conspicuous leisure, in the way of calls, drives, clubs, sewing-circles, + sports, charity organisations, and other like social functions. Those + persons whose time and energy are employed in these matters privately avow + that all these observances, as well as the incidental attention to dress + and other conspicuous consumption, are very irksome but altogether + unavoidable. (2) Under the requirement of conspicuous consumption of + goods, the apparatus of living has grown so elaborate and cumbrous, in the + way of dwellings, furniture, bric-a-brac, wardrobe and meals, that the + consumers of these things cannot make way with them in the required manner + without help. Personal contact with the hired persons whose aid is called + in to fulfil the routine of decency is commonly distasteful to the + occupants of the house, but their presence is endured and paid for, in + order to delegate to them a share in this onerous consumption of household + goods. The presence of domestic servants, and of the special class of body + servants in an eminent degree, is a concession of physical comfort to the + moral need of pecuniary decency. + </p> + <p> + The largest manifestation of vicarious leisure in modern life is made up + of what are called domestic duties. These duties are fast becoming a + species of services performed, not so much for the individual behoof of + the head of the household as for the reputability of the household taken + as a corporate unit—a group of which the housewife is a member on a + footing of ostensible equality. As fast as the household for which they + are performed departs from its archaic basis of ownership-marriage, these + household duties of course tend to fall out of the category of vicarious + leisure in the original sense; except so far as they are performed by + hired servants. That is to say, since vicarious leisure is possible only + on a basis of status or of hired service, the disappearance of the + relation of status from human intercourse at any point carries with it the + disappearance of vicarious leisure so far as regards that much of life. + But it is to be added, in qualification of this qualification, that so + long as the household subsists, even with a divided head, this class of + non-productive labour performed for the sake of the household reputability + must still be classed as vicarious leisure, although in a slightly altered + sense. It is now leisure performed for the quasi-personal corporate + household, instead of, as formerly, for the proprietary head of the + household. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter Four ~~ Conspicuous Consumption + </h2> + <p> + In what has been said of the evolution of the vicarious leisure class and + its differentiation from the general body of the working classes, + reference has been made to a further division of labour,—that + between the different servant classes. One portion of the servant class, + chiefly those persons whose occupation is vicarious leisure, come to + undertake a new, subsidiary range of duties—the vicarious + consumption of goods. The most obvious form in which this consumption + occurs is seen in the wearing of liveries and the occupation of spacious + servants' quarters. Another, scarcely less obtrusive or less effective + form of vicarious consumption, and a much more widely prevalent one, is + the consumption of food, clothing, dwelling, and furniture by the lady and + the rest of the domestic establishment. + </p> + <p> + But already at a point in economic evolution far antedating the emergence + of the lady, specialised consumption of goods as an evidence of pecuniary + strength had begun to work out in a more or less elaborate system. The + beginning of a differentiation in consumption even antedates the + appearance of anything that can fairly be called pecuniary strength. It is + traceable back to the initial phase of predatory culture, and there is + even a suggestion that an incipient differentiation in this respect lies + back of the beginnings of the predatory life. This most primitive + differentiation in the consumption of goods is like the later + differentiation with which we are all so intimately familiar, in that it + is largely of a ceremonial character, but unlike the latter it does not + rest on a difference in accumulated wealth. The utility of consumption as + an evidence of wealth is to be classed as a derivative growth. It is an + adaption to a new end, by a selective process, of a distinction previously + existing and well established in men's habits of thought. + </p> + <p> + In the earlier phases of the predatory culture the only economic + differentiation is a broad distinction between an honourable superior + class made up of the able-bodied men on the one side, and a base inferior + class of labouring women on the other. According to the ideal scheme of + life in force at the time it is the office of the men to consume what the + women produce. Such consumption as falls to the women is merely incidental + to their work; it is a means to their continued labour, and not a + consumption directed to their own comfort and fulness of life. + Unproductive consumption of goods is honourable, primarily as a mark of + prowess and a perquisite of human dignity; secondarily it becomes + substantially honourable to itself, especially the consumption of the more + desirable things. The consumption of choice articles of food, and + frequently also of rare articles of adornment, becomes tabu to the women + and children; and if there is a base (servile) class of men, the tabu + holds also for them. With a further advance in culture this tabu may + change into simple custom of a more or less rigorous character; but + whatever be the theoretical basis of the distinction which is maintained, + whether it be a tabu or a larger conventionality, the features of the + conventional scheme of consumption do not change easily. When the + quasi-peaceable stage of industry is reached, with its fundamental + institution of chattel slavery, the general principle, more or less + rigorously applied, is that the base, industrious class should consume + only what may be necessary to their subsistence. In the nature of things, + luxuries and the comforts of life belong to the leisure class. Under the + tabu, certain victuals, and more particularly certain beverages, are + strictly reserved for the use of the superior class. + </p> + <p> + The ceremonial differentiation of the dietary is best seen in the use of + intoxicating beverages and narcotics. If these articles of consumption are + costly, they are felt to be noble and honorific. Therefore the base + classes, primarily the women, practice an enforced continence with respect + to these stimulants, except in countries where they are obtainable at a + very low cost. From archaic times down through all the length of the + patriarchal regime it has been the office of the women to prepare and + administer these luxuries, and it has been the perquisite of the men of + gentle birth and breeding to consume them. Drunkenness and the other + pathological consequences of the free use of stimulants therefore tend in + their turn to become honorific, as being a mark, at the second remove, of + the superior status of those who are able to afford the indulgence. + Infirmities induced by over-indulgence are among some peoples freely + recognised as manly attributes. It has even happened that the name for + certain diseased conditions of the body arising from such an origin has + passed into everyday speech as a synonym for "noble" or "gentle". It is + only at a relatively early stage of culture that the symptoms of expensive + vice are conventionally accepted as marks of a superior status, and so + tend to become virtues and command the deference of the community; but the + reputability that attaches to certain expensive vices long retains so much + of its force as to appreciably lesson the disapprobation visited upon the + men of the wealthy or noble class for any excessive indulgence. The same + invidious distinction adds force to the current disapproval of any + indulgence of this kind on the part of women, minors, and inferiors. This + invidious traditional distinction has not lost its force even among the + more advanced peoples of today. Where the example set by the leisure class + retains its imperative force in the regulation of the conventionalities, + it is observable that the women still in great measure practise the same + traditional continence with regard to stimulants. + </p> + <p> + This characterisation of the greater continence in the use of stimulants + practised by the women of the reputable classes may seem an excessive + refinement of logic at the expense of common sense. But facts within easy + reach of any one who cares to know them go to say that the greater + abstinence of women is in some part due to an imperative conventionality; + and this conventionality is, in a general way, strongest where the + patriarchal tradition—the tradition that the woman is a chattel—has + retained its hold in greatest vigour. In a sense which has been greatly + qualified in scope and rigour, but which has by no means lost its meaning + even yet, this tradition says that the woman, being a chattel, should + consume only what is necessary to her sustenance,—except so far as + her further consumption contributes to the comfort or the good repute of + her master. The consumption of luxuries, in the true sense, is a + consumption directed to the comfort of the consumer himself, and is, + therefore, a mark of the master. Any such consumption by others can take + place only on a basis of sufferance. In communities where the popular + habits of thought have been profoundly shaped by the patriarchal tradition + we may accordingly look for survivals of the tabu on luxuries at least to + the extent of a conventional deprecation of their use by the unfree and + dependent class. This is more particularly true as regards certain + luxuries, the use of which by the dependent class would detract sensibly + from the comfort or pleasure of their masters, or which are held to be of + doubtful legitimacy on other grounds. In the apprehension of the great + conservative middle class of Western civilisation the use of these various + stimulants is obnoxious to at least one, if not both, of these objections; + and it is a fact too significant to be passed over that it is precisely + among these middle classes of the Germanic culture, with their strong + surviving sense of the patriarchal proprieties, that the women are to the + greatest extent subject to a qualified tabu on narcotics and alcoholic + beverages. With many qualifications—with more qualifications as the + patriarchal tradition has gradually weakened—the general rule is + felt to be right and binding that women should consume only for the + benefit of their masters. The objection of course presents itself that + expenditure on women's dress and household paraphernalia is an obvious + exception to this rule; but it will appear in the sequel that this + exception is much more obvious than substantial. During the earlier stages + of economic development, consumption of goods without stint, especially + consumption of the better grades of goods,—ideally all consumption + in excess of the subsistence minimum,—pertains normally to the + leisure class. This restriction tends to disappear, at least formally, + after the later peaceable stage has been reached, with private ownership + of goods and an industrial system based on wage labour or on the petty + household economy. But during the earlier quasi-peaceable stage, when so + many of the traditions through which the institution of a leisure class + has affected the economic life of later times were taking form and + consistency, this principle has had the force of a conventional law. It + has served as the norm to which consumption has tended to conform, and any + appreciable departure from it is to be regarded as an aberrant form, sure + to be eliminated sooner or later in the further course of development. + </p> + <p> + The quasi-peaceable gentleman of leisure, then, not only consumes of the + staff of life beyond the minimum required for subsistence and physical + efficiency, but his consumption also undergoes a specialisation as regards + the quality of the goods consumed. He consumes freely and of the best, in + food, drink, narcotics, shelter, services, ornaments, apparel, weapons and + accoutrements, amusements, amulets, and idols or divinities. In the + process of gradual amelioration which takes place in the articles of his + consumption, the motive principle and proximate aim of innovation is no + doubt the higher efficiency of the improved and more elaborate products + for personal comfort and well-being. But that does not remain the sole + purpose of their consumption. The canon of reputability is at hand and + seizes upon such innovations as are, according to its standard, fit to + survive. Since the consumption of these more excellent goods is an + evidence of wealth, it becomes honorific; and conversely, the failure to + consume in due quantity and quality becomes a mark of inferiority and + demerit. + </p> + <p> + This growth of punctilious discrimination as to qualitative excellence in + eating, drinking, etc. presently affects not only the manner of life, but + also the training and intellectual activity of the gentleman of leisure. + He is no longer simply the successful, aggressive male,—the man of + strength, resource, and intrepidity. In order to avoid stultification he + must also cultivate his tastes, for it now becomes incumbent on him to + discriminate with some nicety between the noble and the ignoble in + consumable goods. He becomes a connoisseur in creditable viands of various + degrees of merit, in manly beverages and trinkets, in seemly apparel and + architecture, in weapons, games, dancers, and the narcotics. This + cultivation of aesthetic faculty requires time and application, and the + demands made upon the gentleman in this direction therefore tend to change + his life of leisure into a more or less arduous application to the + business of learning how to live a life of ostensible leisure in a + becoming way. Closely related to the requirement that the gentleman must + consume freely and of the right kind of goods, there is the requirement + that he must know how to consume them in a seemly manner. His life of + leisure must be conducted in due form. Hence arise good manners in the way + pointed out in an earlier chapter. High-bred manners and ways of living + are items of conformity to the norm of conspicuous leisure and conspicuous + consumption. + </p> + <p> + Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to + the gentleman of leisure. As wealth accumulates on his hands, his own + unaided effort will not avail to sufficiently put his opulence in evidence + by this method. The aid of friends and competitors is therefore brought in + by resorting to the giving of valuable presents and expensive feasts and + entertainments. Presents and feasts had probably another origin than that + of naive ostentation, but they required their utility for this purpose + very early, and they have retained that character to the present; so that + their utility in this respect has now long been the substantial ground on + which these usages rest. Costly entertainments, such as the potlatch or + the ball, are peculiarly adapted to serve this end. The competitor with + whom the entertainer wishes to institute a comparison is, by this method, + made to serve as a means to the end. He consumes vicariously for his host + at the same time that he is witness to the consumption of that excess of + good things which his host is unable to dispose of single-handed, and he + is also made to witness his host's facility in etiquette. + </p> + <p> + In the giving of costly entertainments other motives, of more genial kind, + are of course also present. The custom of festive gatherings probably + originated in motives of conviviality and religion; these motives are also + present in the later development, but they do not continue to be the sole + motives. The latter-day leisure-class festivities and entertainments may + continue in some slight degree to serve the religious need and in a higher + degree the needs of recreation and conviviality, but they also serve an + invidious purpose; and they serve it none the less effectually for having + a colorable non-invidious ground in these more avowable motives. But the + economic effect of these social amenities is not therefore lessened, + either in the vicarious consumption of goods or in the exhibition of + difficult and costly achievements in etiquette. + </p> + <p> + As wealth accumulates, the leisure class develops further in function and + structure, and there arises a differentiation within the class. There is a + more or less elaborate system of rank and grades. This differentiation is + furthered by the inheritance of wealth and the consequent inheritance of + gentility. With the inheritance of gentility goes the inheritance of + obligatory leisure; and gentility of a sufficient potency to entail a life + of leisure may be inherited without the complement of wealth required to + maintain a dignified leisure. Gentle blood may be transmitted without + goods enough to afford a reputably free consumption at one's ease. Hence + results a class of impecunious gentlemen of leisure, incidentally referred + to already. These half-caste gentlemen of leisure fall into a system of + hierarchical gradations. Those who stand near the higher and the highest + grades of the wealthy leisure class, in point of birth, or in point of + wealth, or both, outrank the remoter-born and the pecuniarily weaker. + These lower grades, especially the impecunious, or marginal, gentlemen of + leisure, affiliate themselves by a system of dependence or fealty to the + great ones; by so doing they gain an increment of repute, or of the means + with which to lead a life of leisure, from their patron. They become his + courtiers or retainers, servants; and being fed and countenanced by their + patron they are indices of his rank and vicarious consumer of his + superfluous wealth. Many of these affiliated gentlemen of leisure are at + the same time lesser men of substance in their own right; so that some of + them are scarcely at all, others only partially, to be rated as vicarious + consumers. So many of them, however, as make up the retainer and + hangers-on of the patron may be classed as vicarious consumer without + qualification. Many of these again, and also many of the other aristocracy + of less degree, have in turn attached to their persons a more or less + comprehensive group of vicarious consumer in the persons of their wives + and children, their servants, retainers, etc. + </p> + <p> + Throughout this graduated scheme of vicarious leisure and vicarious + consumption the rule holds that these offices must be performed in some + such manner, or under some such circumstance or insignia, as shall point + plainly to the master to whom this leisure or consumption pertains, and to + whom therefore the resulting increment of good repute of right inures. The + consumption and leisure executed by these persons for their master or + patron represents an investment on his part with a view to an increase of + good fame. As regards feasts and largesses this is obvious enough, and the + imputation of repute to the host or patron here takes place immediately, + on the ground of common notoriety. Where leisure and consumption is + performed vicariously by henchmen and retainers, imputation of the + resulting repute to the patron is effected by their residing near his + person so that it may be plain to all men from what source they draw. As + the group whose good esteem is to be secured in this way grows larger, + more patent means are required to indicate the imputation of merit for the + leisure performed, and to this end uniforms, badges, and liveries come + into vogue. The wearing of uniforms or liveries implies a considerable + degree of dependence, and may even be said to be a mark of servitude, real + or ostensible. The wearers of uniforms and liveries may be roughly divided + into two classes-the free and the servile, or the noble and the ignoble. + The services performed by them are likewise divisible into noble and + ignoble. Of course the distinction is not observed with strict consistency + in practice; the less debasing of the base services and the less honorific + of the noble functions are not infrequently merged in the same person. But + the general distinction is not on that account to be overlooked. What may + add some perplexity is the fact that this fundamental distinction between + noble and ignoble, which rests on the nature of the ostensible service + performed, is traversed by a secondary distinction into honorific and + humiliating, resting on the rank of the person for whom the service is + performed or whose livery is worn. So, those offices which are by right + the proper employment of the leisure class are noble; such as government, + fighting, hunting, the care of arms and accoutrements, and the like—in + short, those which may be classed as ostensibly predatory employments. On + the other hand, those employments which properly fall to the industrious + class are ignoble; such as handicraft or other productive labor, menial + services and the like. But a base service performed for a person of very + high degree may become a very honorific office; as for instance the office + of a Maid of Honor or of a Lady in Waiting to the Queen, or the King's + Master of the Horse or his Keeper of the Hounds. The two offices last + named suggest a principle of some general bearing. Whenever, as in these + cases, the menial service in question has to do directly with the primary + leisure employments of fighting and hunting, it easily acquires a + reflected honorific character. In this way great honor may come to attach + to an employment which in its own nature belongs to the baser sort. In the + later development of peaceable industry, the usage of employing an idle + corps of uniformed men-at-arms gradually lapses. Vicarious consumption by + dependents bearing the insignia of their patron or master narrows down to + a corps of liveried menials. In a heightened degree, therefore, the livery + comes to be a badge of servitude, or rather servility. Something of a + honorific character always attached to the livery of the armed retainer, + but this honorific character disappears when the livery becomes the + exclusive badge of the menial. The livery becomes obnoxious to nearly all + who are required to wear it. We are yet so little removed from a state of + effective slavery as still to be fully sensitive to the sting of any + imputation of servility. This antipathy asserts itself even in the case of + the liveries or uniforms which some corporations prescribe as the + distinctive dress of their employees. In this country the aversion even + goes the length of discrediting—in a mild and uncertain way—those + government employments, military and civil, which require the wearing of a + livery or uniform. + </p> + <p> + With the disappearance of servitude, the number of vicarious consumers + attached to any one gentleman tends, on the whole, to decrease. The like + is of course true, and perhaps in a still higher degree, of the number of + dependents who perform vicarious leisure for him. In a general way, though + not wholly nor consistently, these two groups coincide. The dependent who + was first delegated for these duties was the wife, or the chief wife; and, + as would be expected, in the later development of the institution, when + the number of persons by whom these duties are customarily performed + gradually narrows, the wife remains the last. In the higher grades of + society a large volume of both these kinds of service is required; and + here the wife is of course still assisted in the work by a more or less + numerous corps of menials. But as we descend the social scale, the point + is presently reached where the duties of vicarious leisure and consumption + devolve upon the wife alone. In the communities of the Western culture, + this point is at present found among the lower middle class. + </p> + <p> + And here occurs a curious inversion. It is a fact of common observance + that in this lower middle class there is no pretense of leisure on the + part of the head of the household. Through force of circumstances it has + fallen into disuse. But the middle-class wife still carries on the + business of vicarious leisure, for the good name of the household and its + master. In descending the social scale in any modern industrial community, + the primary fact-the conspicuous leisure of the master of the + household-disappears at a relatively high point. The head of the + middle-class household has been reduced by economic circumstances to turn + his hand to gaining a livelihood by occupations which often partake + largely of the character of industry, as in the case of the ordinary + business man of today. But the derivative fact-the vicarious leisure and + consumption rendered by the wife, and the auxiliary vicarious performance + of leisure by menials-remains in vogue as a conventionality which the + demands of reputability will not suffer to be slighted. It is by no means + an uncommon spectacle to find a man applying himself to work with the + utmost assiduity, in order that his wife may in due form render for him + that degree of vicarious leisure which the common sense of the time + demands. + </p> + <p> + The leisure rendered by the wife in such cases is, of course, not a simple + manifestation of idleness or indolence. It almost invariably occurs + disguised under some form of work or household duties or social amenities, + which prove on analysis to serve little or no ulterior end beyond showing + that she does not occupy herself with anything that is gainful or that is + of substantial use. As has already been noticed under the head of manners, + the greater part of the customary round of domestic cares to which the + middle-class housewife gives her time and effort is of this character. Not + that the results of her attention to household matters, of a decorative + and mundificatory character, are not pleasing to the sense of men trained + in middle-class proprieties; but the taste to which these effects of + household adornment and tidiness appeal is a taste which has been formed + under the selective guidance of a canon of propriety that demands just + these evidences of wasted effort. The effects are pleasing to us chiefly + because we have been taught to find them pleasing. There goes into these + domestic duties much solicitude for a proper combination of form and + color, and for other ends that are to be classed as aesthetic in the + proper sense of the term; and it is not denied that effects having some + substantial aesthetic value are sometimes attained. Pretty much all that + is here insisted on is that, as regards these amenities of life, the + housewife's efforts are under the guidance of traditions that have been + shaped by the law of conspicuously wasteful expenditure of time and + substance. If beauty or comfort is achieved-and it is a more or less + fortuitous circumstance if they are-they must be achieved by means and + methods that commend themselves to the great economic law of wasted + effort. The more reputable, "presentable" portion of middle-class + household paraphernalia are, on the one hand, items of conspicuous + consumption, and on the other hand, apparatus for putting in evidence the + vicarious leisure rendered by the housewife. + </p> + <p> + The requirement of vicarious consumption at the hands of the wife + continues in force even at a lower point in the pecuniary scale than the + requirement of vicarious leisure. At a point below which little if any + pretense of wasted effort, in ceremonial cleanness and the like, is + observable, and where there is assuredly no conscious attempt at + ostensible leisure, decency still requires the wife to consume some goods + conspicuously for the reputability of the household and its head. So that, + as the latter-day outcome of this evolution of an archaic institution, the + wife, who was at the outset the drudge and chattel of the man, both in + fact and in theory—the producer of goods for him to consume—has + become the ceremonial consumer of goods which he produces. But she still + quite unmistakably remains his chattel in theory; for the habitual + rendering of vicarious leisure and consumption is the abiding mark of the + unfree servant. + </p> + <p> + This vicarious consumption practiced by the household of the middle and + lower classes can not be counted as a direct expression of the + leisure-class scheme of life, since the household of this pecuniary grade + does not belong within the leisure class. It is rather that the + leisure-class scheme of life here comes to an expression at the second + remove. The leisure class stands at the head of the social structure in + point of reputability; and its manner of life and its standards of worth + therefore afford the norm of reputability for the community. The + observance of these standards, in some degree of approximation, becomes + incumbent upon all classes lower in the scale. In modern civilized + communities the lines of demarcation between social classes have grown + vague and transient, and wherever this happens the norm of reputability + imposed by the upper class extends its coercive influence with but slight + hindrance down through the social structure to the lowest strata. The + result is that the members of each stratum accept as their ideal of + decency the scheme of life in vogue in the next higher stratum, and bend + their energies to live up to that ideal. On pain of forfeiting their good + name and their self-respect in case of failure, they must conform to the + accepted code, at least in appearance. The basis on which good repute in + any highly organized industrial community ultimately rests is pecuniary + strength; and the means of showing pecuniary strength, and so of gaining + or retaining a good name, are leisure and a conspicuous consumption of + goods. Accordingly, both of these methods are in vogue as far down the + scale as it remains possible; and in the lower strata in which the two + methods are employed, both offices are in great part delegated to the wife + and children of the household. Lower still, where any degree of leisure, + even ostensible, has become impracticable for the wife, the conspicuous + consumption of goods remains and is carried on by the wife and children. + The man of the household also can do something in this direction, and + indeed, he commonly does; but with a still lower descent into the levels + of indigence—along the margin of the slums—the man, and + presently also the children, virtually cease to consume valuable goods for + appearances, and the woman remains virtually the sole exponent of the + household's pecuniary decency. No class of society, not even the most + abjectly poor, forgoes all customary conspicuous consumption. The last + items of this category of consumption are not given up except under stress + of the direst necessity. Very much of squalor and discomfort will be + endured before the last trinket or the last pretense of pecuniary decency + is put away. There is no class and no country that has yielded so abjectly + before the pressure of physical want as to deny themselves all + gratification of this higher or spiritual need. + </p> + <p> + From the foregoing survey of the growth of conspicuous leisure and + consumption, it appears that the utility of both alike for the purposes of + reputability lies in the element of waste that is common to both. In the + one case it is a waste of time and effort, in the other it is a waste of + goods. Both are methods of demonstrating the possession of wealth, and the + two are conventionally accepted as equivalents. The choice between them is + a question of advertising expediency simply, except so far as it may be + affected by other standards of propriety, springing from a different + source. On grounds of expediency the preference may be given to the one or + the other at different stages of the economic development. The question + is, which of the two methods will most effectively reach the persons whose + convictions it is desired to affect. Usage has answered this question in + different ways under different circumstances. + </p> + <p> + So long as the community or social group is small enough and compact + enough to be effectually reached by common notoriety alone that is to say, + so long as the human environment to which the individual is required to + adapt himself in respect of reputability is comprised within his sphere of + personal acquaintance and neighborhood gossip—so long the one method + is about as effective as the other. Each will therefore serve about + equally well during the earlier stages of social growth. But when the + differentiation has gone farther and it becomes necessary to reach a wider + human environment, consumption begins to hold over leisure as an ordinary + means of decency. This is especially true during the later, peaceable + economic stage. The means of communication and the mobility of the + population now expose the individual to the observation of many persons + who have no other means of judging of his reputability than the display of + goods (and perhaps of breeding) which he is able to make while he is under + their direct observation. + </p> + <p> + The modern organization of industry works in the same direction also by + another line. The exigencies of the modern industrial system frequently + place individuals and households in juxtaposition between whom there is + little contact in any other sense than that of juxtaposition. One's + neighbors, mechanically speaking, often are socially not one's neighbors, + or even acquaintances; and still their transient good opinion has a high + degree of utility. The only practicable means of impressing one's + pecuniary ability on these unsympathetic observers of one's everyday life + is an unremitting demonstration of ability to pay. In the modern community + there is also a more frequent attendance at large gatherings of people to + whom one's everyday life is unknown; in such places as churches, theaters, + ballrooms, hotels, parks, shops, and the like. In order to impress these + transient observers, and to retain one's self-complacency under their + observation, the signature of one's pecuniary strength should be written + in characters which he who runs may read. It is evident, therefore, that + the present trend of the development is in the direction of heightening + the utility of conspicuous consumption as compared with leisure. + </p> + <p> + It is also noticeable that the serviceability of consumption as a means of + repute, as well as the insistence on it as an element of decency, is at + its best in those portions of the community where the human contact of the + individual is widest and the mobility of the population is greatest. + Conspicuous consumption claims a relatively larger portion of the income + of the urban than of the rural population, and the claim is also more + imperative. The result is that, in order to keep up a decent appearance, + the former habitually live hand-to-mouth to a greater extent than the + latter. So it comes, for instance, that the American farmer and his wife + and daughters are notoriously less modish in their dress, as well as less + urbane in their manners, than the city artisan's family with an equal + income. It is not that the city population is by nature much more eager + for the peculiar complacency that comes of a conspicuous consumption, nor + has the rural population less regard for pecuniary decency. But the + provocation to this line of evidence, as well as its transient + effectiveness, is more decided in the city. This method is therefore more + readily resorted to, and in the struggle to outdo one another the city + population push their normal standard of conspicuous consumption to a + higher point, with the result that a relatively greater expenditure in + this direction is required to indicate a given degree of pecuniary decency + in the city. The requirement of conformity to this higher conventional + standard becomes mandatory. The standard of decency is higher, class for + class, and this requirement of decent appearance must be lived up to on + pain of losing caste. + </p> + <p> + Consumption becomes a larger element in the standard of living in the city + than in the country. Among the country population its place is to some + extent taken by savings and home comforts known through the medium of + neighborhood gossip sufficiently to serve the like general purpose of + Pecuniary repute. These home comforts and the leisure indulged in—where + the indulgence is found—are of course also in great part to be + classed as items of conspicuous consumption; and much the same is to be + said of the savings. The smaller amount of the savings laid by by the + artisan class is no doubt due, in some measure, to the fact that in the + case of the artisan the savings are a less effective means of + advertisement, relative to the environment in which he is placed, than are + the savings of the people living on farms and in the small villages. Among + the latter, everybody's affairs, especially everybody's pecuniary status, + are known to everybody else. Considered by itself simply—taken in + the first degree—this added provocation to which the artisan and the + urban laboring classes are exposed may not very seriously decrease the + amount of savings; but in its cumulative action, through raising the + standard of decent expenditure, its deterrent effect on the tendency to + save cannot but be very great. + </p> + <p> + A felicitous illustration of the manner in which this canon of + reputability works out its results is seen in the practice of + dram-drinking, "treating," and smoking in public places, which is + customary among the laborers and handicraftsmen of the towns, and among + the lower middle class of the urban population generally Journeymen + printers may be named as a class among whom this form of conspicuous + consumption has a great vogue, and among whom it carries with it certain + well-marked consequences that are often deprecated. The peculiar habits of + the class in this respect are commonly set down to some kind of an + ill-defined moral deficiency with which this class is credited, or to a + morally deleterious influence which their occupation is supposed to exert, + in some unascertainable way, upon the men employed in it. The state of the + case for the men who work in the composition and press rooms of the common + run of printing-houses may be summed up as follows. Skill acquired in any + printing-house or any city is easily turned to account in almost any other + house or city; that is to say, the inertia due to special training is + slight. Also, this occupation requires more than the average of + intelligence and general information, and the men employed in it are + therefore ordinarily more ready than many others to take advantage of any + slight variation in the demand for their labor from one place to another. + The inertia due to the home feeling is consequently also slight. At the + same time the wages in the trade are high enough to make movement from + place to place relatively easy. The result is a great mobility of the + labor employed in printing; perhaps greater than in any other equally + well-defined and considerable body of workmen. These men are constantly + thrown in contact with new groups of acquaintances, with whom the + relations established are transient or ephemeral, but whose good opinion + is valued none the less for the time being. The human proclivity to + ostentation, reenforced by sentiments of good-fellowship, leads them to + spend freely in those directions which will best serve these needs. Here + as elsewhere prescription seizes upon the custom as soon as it gains a + vogue, and incorporates it in the accredited standard of decency. The next + step is to make this standard of decency the point of departure for a new + move in advance in the same direction—for there is no merit in + simple spiritless conformity to a standard of dissipation that is lived up + to as a matter of course by everyone in the trade. + </p> + <p> + The greater prevalence of dissipation among printers than among the + average of workmen is accordingly attributable, at least in some measure, + to the greater ease of movement and the more transient character of + acquaintance and human contact in this trade. But the substantial ground + of this high requirement in dissipation is in the last analysis no other + than that same propensity for a manifestation of dominance and pecuniary + decency which makes the French peasant-proprietor parsimonious and frugal, + and induces the American millionaire to found colleges, hospitals and + museums. If the canon of conspicuous consumption were not offset to a + considerable extent by other features of human nature, alien to it, any + saving should logically be impossible for a population situated as the + artisan and laboring classes of the cities are at present, however high + their wages or their income might be. + </p> + <p> + But there are other standards of repute and other, more or less + imperative, canons of conduct, besides wealth and its manifestation, and + some of these come in to accentuate or to qualify the broad, fundamental + canon of conspicuous waste. Under the simple test of effectiveness for + advertising, we should expect to find leisure and the conspicuous + consumption of goods dividing the field of pecuniary emulation pretty + evenly between them at the outset. Leisure might then be expected + gradually to yield ground and tend to obsolescence as the economic + development goes forward, and the community increases in size; while the + conspicuous consumption of goods should gradually gain in importance, both + absolutely and relatively, until it had absorbed all the available + product, leaving nothing over beyond a bare livelihood. But the actual + course of development has been somewhat different from this ideal scheme. + Leisure held the first place at the start, and came to hold a rank very + much above wasteful consumption of goods, both as a direct exponent of + wealth and as an element in the standard of decency, during the + quasi-peaceable culture. From that point onward, consumption has gained + ground, until, at present, it unquestionably holds the primacy, though it + is still far from absorbing the entire margin of production above the + subsistence minimum. + </p> + <p> + The early ascendency of leisure as a means of reputability is traceable to + the archaic distinction between noble and ignoble employments. Leisure is + honorable and becomes imperative partly because it shows exemption from + ignoble labor. The archaic differentiation into noble and ignoble classes + is based on an invidious distinction between employments as honorific or + debasing; and this traditional distinction grows into an imperative canon + of decency during the early quasi-peaceable stage. Its ascendency is + furthered by the fact that leisure is still fully as effective an evidence + of wealth as consumption. Indeed, so effective is it in the relatively + small and stable human environment to which the individual is exposed at + that cultural stage, that, with the aid of the archaic tradition which + deprecates all productive labor, it gives rise to a large impecunious + leisure class, and it even tends to limit the production of the + community's industry to the subsistence minimum. This extreme inhibition + of industry is avoided because slave labor, working under a compulsion + more vigorous than that of reputability, is forced to turn out a product + in excess of the subsistence minimum of the working class. The subsequent + relative decline in the use of conspicuous leisure as a basis of repute is + due partly to an increasing relative effectiveness of consumption as an + evidence of wealth; but in part it is traceable to another force, alien, + and in some degree antagonistic, to the usage of conspicuous waste. + </p> + <p> + This alien factor is the instinct of workmanship. Other circumstances + permitting, that instinct disposes men to look with favor upon productive + efficiency and on whatever is of human use. It disposes them to deprecate + waste of substance or effort. The instinct of workmanship is present in + all men, and asserts itself even under very adverse circumstances. So that + however wasteful a given expenditure may be in reality, it must at least + have some colorable excuse in the way of an ostensible purpose. The manner + in which, under special circumstances, the instinct eventuates in a taste + for exploit and an invidious discrimination between noble and ignoble + classes has been indicated in an earlier chapter. In so far as it comes + into conflict with the law of conspicuous waste, the instinct of + workmanship expresses itself not so much in insistence on substantial + usefulness as in an abiding sense of the odiousness and aesthetic + impossibility of what is obviously futile. Being of the nature of an + instinctive affection, its guidance touches chiefly and immediately the + obvious and apparent violations of its requirements. It is only less + promptly and with less constraining force that it reaches such substantial + violations of its requirements as are appreciated only upon reflection. + </p> + <p> + So long as all labor continues to be performed exclusively or usually by + slaves, the baseness of all productive effort is too constantly and + deterrently present in the mind of men to allow the instinct of + workmanship seriously to take effect in the direction of industrial + usefulness; but when the quasi-peaceable stage (with slavery and status) + passes into the peaceable stage of industry (with wage labor and cash + payment) the instinct comes more effectively into play. It then begins + aggressively to shape men's views of what is meritorious, and asserts + itself at least as an auxiliary canon of self-complacency. All extraneous + considerations apart, those persons (adult) are but a vanishing minority + today who harbor no inclination to the accomplishment of some end, or who + are not impelled of their own motion to shape some object or fact or + relation for human use. The propensity may in large measure be overborne + by the more immediately constraining incentive to a reputable leisure and + an avoidance of indecorous usefulness, and it may therefore work itself + out in make-believe only; as for instance in "social duties," and in + quasi-artistic or quasi-scholarly accomplishments, in the care and + decoration of the house, in sewing-circle activity or dress reform, in + proficiency at dress, cards, yachting, golf, and various sports. But the + fact that it may under stress of circumstances eventuate in inanities no + more disproves the presence of the instinct than the reality of the + brooding instinct is disproved by inducing a hen to sit on a nestful of + china eggs. + </p> + <p> + This latter-day uneasy reaching-out for some form of purposeful activity + that shall at the same time not be indecorously productive of either + individual or collective gain marks a difference of attitude between the + modern leisure class and that of the quasi-peaceable stage. At the earlier + stage, as was said above, the all-dominating institution of slavery and + status acted resistlessly to discountenance exertion directed to other + than naively predatory ends. It was still possible to find some habitual + employment for the inclination to action in the way of forcible aggression + or repression directed against hostile groups or against the subject + classes within the group; and this served to relieve the pressure and draw + off the energy of the leisure class without a resort to actually useful, + or even ostensibly useful employments. The practice of hunting also served + the same purpose in some degree. When the community developed into a + peaceful industrial organization, and when fuller occupation of the land + had reduced the opportunities for the hunt to an inconsiderable residue, + the pressure of energy seeking purposeful employment was left to find an + outlet in some other direction. The ignominy which attaches to useful + effort also entered upon a less acute phase with the disappearance of + compulsory labor; and the instinct of workmanship then came to assert + itself with more persistence and consistency. + </p> + <p> + The line of least resistance has changed in some measure, and the energy + which formerly found a vent in predatory activity, now in part takes the + direction of some ostensibly useful end. Ostensibly purposeless leisure + has come to be deprecated, especially among that large portion of the + leisure class whose plebeian origin acts to set them at variance with the + tradition of the otium cum dignitate. But that canon of reputability which + discountenances all employment that is of the nature of productive effort + is still at hand, and will permit nothing beyond the most transient vogue + to any employment that is substantially useful or productive. The + consequence is that a change has been wrought in the conspicuous leisure + practiced by the leisure class; not so much in substance as in form. A + reconciliation between the two conflicting requirements is effected by a + resort to make-believe. Many and intricate polite observances and social + duties of a ceremonial nature are developed; many organizations are + founded, with some specious object of amelioration embodied in their + official style and title; there is much coming and going, and a deal of + talk, to the end that the talkers may not have occasion to reflect on what + is the effectual economic value of their traffic. And along with the + make-believe of purposeful employment, and woven inextricably into its + texture, there is commonly, if not invariably, a more or less appreciable + element of purposeful effort directed to some serious end. + </p> + <p> + In the narrower sphere of vicarious leisure a similar change has gone + forward. Instead of simply passing her time in visible idleness, as in the + best days of the patriarchal regime, the housewife of the advanced + peaceable stage applies herself assiduously to household cares. The + salient features of this development of domestic service have already been + indicated. Throughout the entire evolution of conspicuous expenditure, + whether of goods or of services or human life, runs the obvious + implication that in order to effectually mend the consumer's good fame it + must be an expenditure of superfluities. In order to be reputable it must + be wasteful. No merit would accrue from the consumption of the bare + necessaries of life, except by comparison with the abjectly poor who fall + short even of the subsistence minimum; and no standard of expenditure + could result from such a comparison, except the most prosaic and + unattractive level of decency. A standard of life would still be possible + which should admit of invidious comparison in other respects than that of + opulence; as, for instance, a comparison in various directions in the + manifestation of moral, physical, intellectual, or aesthetic force. + Comparison in all these directions is in vogue today; and the comparison + made in these respects is commonly so inextricably bound up with the + pecuniary comparison as to be scarcely distinguishable from the latter. + This is especially true as regards the current rating of expressions of + intellectual and aesthetic force or proficiency' so that we frequently + interpret as aesthetic or intellectual a difference which in substance is + pecuniary only. + </p> + <p> + The use of the term "waste" is in one respect an unfortunate one. As used + in the speech of everyday life the word carries an undertone of + deprecation. It is here used for want of a better term that will + adequately describe the same range of motives and of phenomena, and it is + not to be taken in an odious sense, as implying an illegitimate + expenditure of human products or of human life. In the view of economic + theory the expenditure in question is no more and no less legitimate than + any other expenditure. It is here called "waste" because this expenditure + does not serve human life or human well-being on the whole, not because it + is waste or misdirection of effort or expenditure as viewed from the + standpoint of the individual consumer who chooses it. If he chooses it, + that disposes of the question of its relative utility to him, as compared + with other forms of consumption that would not be deprecated on account of + their wastefulness. Whatever form of expenditure the consumer chooses, or + whatever end he seeks in making his choice, has utility to him by virtue + of his preference. As seen from the point of view of the individual + consumer, the question of wastefulness does not arise within the scope of + economic theory proper. The use of the word "waste" as a technical term, + therefore, implies no deprecation of the motives or of the ends sought by + the consumer under this canon of conspicuous waste. + </p> + <p> + But it is, on other grounds, worth noting that the term "waste" in the + language of everyday life implies deprecation of what is characterized as + wasteful. This common-sense implication is itself an outcropping of the + instinct of workmanship. The popular reprobation of waste goes to say that + in order to be at peace with himself the common man must be able to see in + any and all human effort and human enjoyment an enhancement of life and + well-being on the whole. In order to meet with unqualified approval, any + economic fact must approve itself under the test of impersonal usefulness—usefulness + as seen from the point of view of the generically human. Relative or + competitive advantage of one individual in comparison with another does + not satisfy the economic conscience, and therefore competitive expenditure + has not the approval of this conscience. + </p> + <p> + In strict accuracy nothing should be included under the head of + conspicuous waste but such expenditure as is incurred on the ground of an + invidious pecuniary comparison. But in order to bring any given item or + element in under this head it is not necessary that it should be + recognized as waste in this sense by the person incurring the expenditure. + It frequently happens that an element of the standard of living which set + out with being primarily wasteful, ends with becoming, in the apprehension + of the consumer, a necessary of life; and it may in this way become as + indispensable as any other item of the consumer's habitual expenditure. As + items which sometimes fall under this head, and are therefore available as + illustrations of the manner in which this principle applies, may be cited + carpets and tapestries, silver table service, waiter's services, silk + hats, starched linen, many articles of jewelry and of dress. The + indispensability of these things after the habit and the convention have + been formed, however, has little to say in the classification of + expenditures as waste or not waste in the technical meaning of the word. + The test to which all expenditure must be brought in an attempt to decide + that point is the question whether it serves directly to enhance human + life on the whole-whether it furthers the life process taken impersonally. + For this is the basis of award of the instinct of workmanship, and that + instinct is the court of final appeal in any question of economic truth or + adequacy. It is a question as to the award rendered by a dispassionate + common sense. The question is, therefore, not whether, under the existing + circumstances of individual habit and social custom, a given expenditure + conduces to the particular consumer's gratification or peace of mind; but + whether, aside from acquired tastes and from the canons of usage and + conventional decency, its result is a net gain in comfort or in the + fullness of life. Customary expenditure must be classed under the head of + waste in so far as the custom on which it rests is traceable to the habit + of making an invidious pecuniary comparison-in so far as it is conceived + that it could not have become customary and prescriptive without the + backing of this principle of pecuniary reputability or relative economic + success. It is obviously not necessary that a given object of expenditure + should be exclusively wasteful in order to come in under the category of + conspicuous waste. An article may be useful and wasteful both, and its + utility to the consumer may be made up of use and waste in the most + varying proportions. Consumable goods, and even productive goods, + generally show the two elements in combination, as constituents of their + utility; although, in a general way, the element of waste tends to + predominate in articles of consumption, while the contrary is true of + articles designed for productive use. Even in articles which appear at + first glance to serve for pure ostentation only, it is always possible to + detect the presence of some, at least ostensible, useful purpose; and on + the other hand, even in special machinery and tools contrived for some + particular industrial process, as well as in the rudest appliances of + human industry, the traces of conspicuous waste, or at least of the habit + of ostentation, usually become evident on a close scrutiny. It would be + hazardous to assert that a useful purpose is ever absent from the utility + of any article or of any service, however obviously its prime purpose and + chief element is conspicuous waste; and it would be only less hazardous to + assert of any primarily useful product that the element of waste is in no + way concerned in its value, immediately or remotely. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter Five ~~ The Pecuniary Standard of Living + </h2> + <p> + For the great body of the people in any modern community, the proximate + ground of expenditure in excess of what is required for physical comfort + is not a conscious effort to excel in the expensiveness of their visible + consumption, so much as it is a desire to live up to the conventional + standard of decency in the amount and grade of goods consumed. This desire + is not guided by a rigidly invariable standard, which must be lived up to, + and beyond which there is no incentive to go. The standard is flexible; + and especially it is indefinitely extensible, if only time is allowed for + habituation to any increase in pecuniary ability and for acquiring + facility in the new and larger scale of expenditure that follows such an + increase. It is much more difficult to recede from a scale of expenditure + once adopted than it is to extend the accustomed scale in response to an + accession of wealth. Many items of customary expenditure prove on analysis + to be almost purely wasteful, and they are therefore honorific only, but + after they have once been incorporated into the scale of decent + consumption, and so have become an integral part of one's scheme of life, + it is quite as hard to give up these as it is to give up many items that + conduce directly to one's physical comfort, or even that may be necessary + to life and health. That is to say, the conspicuously wasteful honorific + expenditure that confers spiritual well-being may become more + indispensable than much of that expenditure which ministers to the "lower" + wants of physical well-being or sustenance only. It is notoriously just as + difficult to recede from a "high" standard of living as it is to lower a + standard which is already relatively low; although in the former case the + difficulty is a moral one, while in the latter it may involve a material + deduction from the physical comforts of life. + </p> + <p> + But while retrogression is difficult, a fresh advance in conspicuous + expenditure is relatively easy; indeed, it takes place almost as a matter + of course. In the rare cases where it occurs, a failure to increase one's + visible consumption when the means for an increase are at hand is felt in + popular apprehension to call for explanation, and unworthy motives of + miserliness are imputed to those who fall short in this respect. A prompt + response to the stimulus, on the other hand, is accepted as the normal + effect. This suggests that the standard of expenditure which commonly + guides our efforts is not the average, ordinary expenditure already + achieved; it is an ideal of consumption that lies just beyond our reach, + or to reach which requires some strain. The motive is emulation—the + stimulus of an invidious comparison which prompts us to outdo those with + whom we are in the habit of classing ourselves. Substantially the same + proposition is expressed in the commonplace remark that each class envies + and emulates the class next above it in the social scale, while it rarely + compares itself with those below or with those who are considerably in + advance. That is to say, in other words, our standard of decency in + expenditure, as in other ends of emulation, is set by the usage of those + next above us in reputability; until, in this way, especially in any + community where class distinctions are somewhat vague, all canons of + reputability and decency, and all standards of consumption, are traced + back by insensible gradations to the usages and habits of thought of the + highest social and pecuniary class—the wealthy leisure class. + </p> + <p> + It is for this class to determine, in general outline, what scheme of Life + the community shall accept as decent or honorific; and it is their office + by precept and example to set forth this scheme of social salvation in its + highest, ideal form. But the higher leisure class can exercise this + quasi-sacerdotal office only under certain material limitations. The class + cannot at discretion effect a sudden revolution or reversal of the popular + habits of thought with respect to any of these ceremonial requirements. It + takes time for any change to permeate the mass and change the habitual + attitude of the people; and especially it takes time to change the habits + of those classes that are socially more remote from the radiant body. The + process is slower where the mobility of the population is less or where + the intervals between the several classes are wider and more abrupt. But + if time be allowed, the scope of the discretion of the leisure class as + regards questions of form and detail in the community's scheme of life is + large; while as regards the substantial principles of reputability, the + changes which it can effect lie within a narrow margin of tolerance. Its + example and precept carries the force of prescription for all classes + below it; but in working out the precepts which are handed down as + governing the form and method of reputability—in shaping the usages + and the spiritual attitude of the lower classes—this authoritative + prescription constantly works under the selective guidance of the canon of + conspicuous waste, tempered in varying degree by the instinct of + workmanship. To those norms is to be added another broad principle of + human nature—the predatory animus—which in point of generality + and of psychological content lies between the two just named. The effect + of the latter in shaping the accepted scheme of life is yet to be + discussed. The canon of reputability, then, must adapt itself to the + economic circumstances, the traditions, and the degree of spiritual + maturity of the particular class whose scheme of life it is to regulate. + It is especially to be noted that however high its authority and however + true to the fundamental requirements of reputability it may have been at + its inception, a specific formal observance can under no circumstances + maintain itself in force if with the lapse of time or on its transmission + to a lower pecuniary class it is found to run counter to the ultimate + ground of decency among civilized peoples, namely, serviceability for the + purpose of an invidious comparison in pecuniary success. It is evident + that these canons of expenditure have much to say in determining the + standard of living for any community and for any class. It is no less + evident that the standard of living which prevails at any time or at any + given social altitude will in its turn have much to say as to the forms + which honorific expenditure will take, and as to the degree to which this + "higher" need will dominate a people's consumption. In this respect the + control exerted by the accepted standard of living is chiefly of a + negative character; it acts almost solely to prevent recession from a + scale of conspicuous expenditure that has once become habitual. + </p> + <p> + A standard of living is of the nature of habit. It is an habitual scale + and method of responding to given stimuli. The difficulty in the way of + receding from an accustomed standard is the difficulty of breaking a habit + that has once been formed. The relative facility with which an advance in + the standard is made means that the life process is a process of unfolding + activity and that it will readily unfold in a new direction whenever and + wherever the resistance to self-expression decreases. But when the habit + of expression along such a given line of low resistance has once been + formed, the discharge will seek the accustomed outlet even after a change + has taken place in the environment whereby the external resistance has + appreciably risen. That heightened facility of expression in a given + direction which is called habit may offset a considerable increase in the + resistance offered by external circumstances to the unfolding of life in + the given direction. As between the various habits, or habitual modes and + directions of expression, which go to make up an individual's standard of + living, there is an appreciable difference in point of persistence under + counteracting circumstances and in point of the degree of imperativeness + with which the discharge seeks a given direction. + </p> + <p> + That is to say, in the language of current economic theory, while men are + reluctant to retrench their expenditures in any direction, they are more + reluctant to retrench in some directions than in others; so that while any + accustomed consumption is reluctantly given up, there are certain lines of + consumption which are given up with relatively extreme reluctance. The + articles or forms of consumption to which the consumer clings with the + greatest tenacity are commonly the so-called necessaries of life, or the + subsistence minimum. The subsistence minimum is of course not a rigidly + determined allowance of goods, definite and invariable in kind and + quantity; but for the purpose in hand it may be taken to comprise a + certain, more or less definite, aggregate of consumption required for the + maintenance of life. This minimum, it may be assumed, is ordinarily given + up last in case of a progressive retrenchment of expenditure. That is to + say, in a general way, the most ancient and ingrained of the habits which + govern the individual's life—those habits that touch his existence + as an organism—are the most persistent and imperative. Beyond these + come the higher wants—later-formed habits of the individual or the + race—in a somewhat irregular and by no means invariable gradation. + Some of these higher wants, as for instance the habitual use of certain + stimulants, or the need of salvation (in the eschatological sense), or of + good repute, may in some cases take precedence of the lower or more + elementary wants. In general, the longer the habituation, the more + unbroken the habit, and the more nearly it coincides with previous + habitual forms of the life process, the more persistently will the given + habit assert itself. The habit will be stronger if the particular traits + of human nature which its action involves, or the particular aptitudes + that find exercise in it, are traits or aptitudes that are already largely + and profoundly concerned in the life process or that are intimately bound + up with the life history of the particular racial stock. The varying + degrees of ease with which different habits are formed by different + persons, as well as the varying degrees of reluctance with which different + habits are given up, goes to say that the formation of specific habits is + not a matter of length of habituation simply. Inherited aptitudes and + traits of temperament count for quite as much as length of habituation in + deciding what range of habits will come to dominate any individual's + scheme of life. And the prevalent type of transmitted aptitudes, or in + other words the type of temperament belonging to the dominant ethnic + element in any community, will go far to decide what will be the scope and + form of expression of the community's habitual life process. How greatly + the transmitted idiosyncrasies of aptitude may count in the way of a rapid + and definitive formation of habit in individuals is illustrated by the + extreme facility with which an all-dominating habit of alcoholism is + sometimes formed; or in the similar facility and the similarly inevitable + formation of a habit of devout observances in the case of persons gifted + with a special aptitude in that direction. Much the same meaning attaches + to that peculiar facility of habituation to a specific human environment + that is called romantic love. + </p> + <p> + Men differ in respect of transmitted aptitudes, or in respect of the + relative facility with which they unfold their life activity in particular + directions; and the habits which coincide with or proceed upon a + relatively strong specific aptitude or a relatively great specific + facility of expression become of great consequence to the man's + well-being. The part played by this element of aptitude in determining the + relative tenacity of the several habits which constitute the standard of + living goes to explain the extreme reluctance with which men give up any + habitual expenditure in the way of conspicuous consumption. The aptitudes + or propensities to which a habit of this kind is to be referred as its + ground are those aptitudes whose exercise is comprised in emulation; and + the propensity for emulation—for invidious comparison—is of + ancient growth and is a pervading trait of human nature. It is easily + called into vigorous activity in any new form, and it asserts itself with + great insistence under any form under which it has once found habitual + expression. When the individual has once formed the habit of seeking + expression in a given line of honorific expenditure—when a given set + of stimuli have come to be habitually responded to in activity of a given + kind and direction under the guidance of these alert and deep-reaching + propensities of emulation—it is with extreme reluctance that such an + habitual expenditure is given up. And on the other hand, whenever an + accession of pecuniary strength puts the individual in a position to + unfold his life process in larger scope and with additional reach, the + ancient propensities of the race will assert themselves in determining the + direction which the new unfolding of life is to take. And those + propensities which are already actively in the field under some related + form of expression, which are aided by the pointed suggestions afforded by + a current accredited scheme of life, and for the exercise of which the + material means and opportunities are readily available—these will + especially have much to say in shaping the form and direction in which the + new accession to the individual's aggregate force will assert itself. That + is to say, in concrete terms, in any community where conspicuous + consumption is an element of the scheme of life, an increase in an + individual's ability to pay is likely to take the form of an expenditure + for some accredited line of conspicuous consumption. + </p> + <p> + With the exception of the instinct of self-preservation, the propensity + for emulation is probably the strongest and most alert and persistent of + the economic motives proper. In an industrial community this propensity + for emulation expresses itself in pecuniary emulation; and this, so far as + regards the Western civilized communities of the present, is virtually + equivalent to saying that it expresses itself in some form of conspicuous + waste. The need of conspicuous waste, therefore, stands ready to absorb + any increase in the community's industrial efficiency or output of goods, + after the most elementary physical wants have been provided for. Where + this result does not follow, under modern conditions, the reason for the + discrepancy is commonly to be sought in a rate of increase in the + individual's wealth too rapid for the habit of expenditure to keep abreast + of it; or it may be that the individual in question defers the conspicuous + consumption of the increment to a later date—ordinarily with a view + to heightening the spectacular effect of the aggregate expenditure + contemplated. As increased industrial efficiency makes it possible to + procure the means of livelihood with less labor, the energies of the + industrious members of the community are bent to the compassing of a + higher result in conspicuous expenditure, rather than slackened to a more + comfortable pace. The strain is not lightened as industrial efficiency + increases and makes a lighter strain possible, but the increment of output + is turned to use to meet this want, which is indefinitely expansible, + after the manner commonly imputed in economic theory to higher or + spiritual wants. It is owing chiefly to the presence of this element in + the standard of living that J. S. Mill was able to say that "hitherto it + is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened + the day's toil of any human being." The accepted standard of expenditure + in the community or in the class to which a person belongs largely + determines what his standard of living will be. It does this directly by + commending itself to his common sense as right and good, through his + habitually contemplating it and assimilating the scheme of life in which + it belongs; but it does so also indirectly through popular insistence on + conformity to the accepted scale of expenditure as a matter of propriety, + under pain of disesteem and ostracism. To accept and practice the standard + of living which is in vogue is both agreeable and expedient, commonly to + the point of being indispensable to personal comfort and to success in + life. The standard of living of any class, so far as concerns the element + of conspicuous waste, is commonly as high as the earning capacity of the + class will permit—with a constant tendency to go higher. The effect + upon the serious activities of men is therefore to direct them with great + singleness of purpose to the largest possible acquisition of wealth, and + to discountenance work that brings no pecuniary gain. At the same time the + effect on consumption is to concentrate it upon the lines which are most + patent to the observers whose good opinion is sought; while the + inclinations and aptitudes whose exercise does not involve a honorific + expenditure of time or substance tend to fall into abeyance through + disuse. + </p> + <p> + Through this discrimination in favor of visible consumption it has come + about that the domestic life of most classes is relatively shabby, as + compared with the éclat of that overt portion of their life that is + carried on before the eyes of observers. As a secondary consequence of the + same discrimination, people habitually screen their private life from + observation. So far as concerns that portion of their consumption that may + without blame be carried on in secret, they withdraw from all contact with + their neighbors, hence the exclusiveness of people, as regards their + domestic life, in most of the industrially developed communities; and + hence, by remoter derivation, the habit of privacy and reserve that is so + large a feature in the code of proprieties of the better class in all + communities. The low birthrate of the classes upon whom the requirements + of reputable expenditure fall with great urgency is likewise traceable to + the exigencies of a standard of living based on conspicuous waste. The + conspicuous consumption, and the consequent increased expense, required in + the reputable maintenance of a child is very considerable and acts as a + powerful deterrent. It is probably the most effectual of the Malthusian + prudential checks. + </p> + <p> + The effect of this factor of the standard of living, both in the way of + retrenchment in the obscurer elements of consumption that go to physical + comfort and maintenance, and also in the paucity or absence of children, + is perhaps seen at its best among the classes given to scholarly pursuits. + Because of a presumed superiority and scarcity of the gifts and + attainments that characterize their life, these classes are by convention + subsumed under a higher social grade than their pecuniary grade should + warrant. The scale of decent expenditure in their case is pitched + correspondingly high, and it consequently leaves an exceptionally narrow + margin disposable for the other ends of life. By force of circumstances, + their habitual sense of what is good and right in these matters, as well + as the expectations of the community in the way of pecuniary decency among + the learned, are excessively high—as measured by the prevalent + degree of opulence and earning capacity of the class, relatively to the + non-scholarly classes whose social equals they nominally are. In any + modern community where there is no priestly monopoly of these occupations, + the people of scholarly pursuits are unavoidably thrown into contact with + classes that are pecuniarily their superiors. The high standard of + pecuniary decency in force among these superior classes is transfused + among the scholarly classes with but little mitigation of its rigor; and + as a consequence there is no class of the community that spends a larger + proportion of its substance in conspicuous waste than these. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter Six ~~ Pecuniary Canons of Taste + </h2> + <p> + The caution has already been repeated more than once, that while the + regulating norm of consumption is in large part the requirement of + conspicuous waste, it must not be understood that the motive on which the + consumer acts in any given case is this principle in its bald, + unsophisticated form. Ordinarily his motive is a wish to conform to + established usage, to avoid unfavorable notice and comment, to live up to + the accepted canons of decency in the kind, amount, and grade of goods + consumed, as well as in the decorous employment of his time and effort. In + the common run of cases this sense of prescriptive usage is present in the + motives of the consumer and exerts a direct constraining force, especially + as regards consumption carried on under the eyes of observers. But a + considerable element of prescriptive expensiveness is observable also in + consumption that does not in any appreciable degree become known to + outsiders—as, for instance, articles of underclothing, some articles + of food, kitchen utensils, and other household apparatus designed for + service rather than for evidence. In all such useful articles a close + scrutiny will discover certain features which add to the cost and enhance + the commercial value of the goods in question, but do not proportionately + increase the serviceability of these articles for the material purposes + which alone they ostensibly are designed to serve. + </p> + <p> + Under the selective surveillance of the law of conspicuous waste there + grows up a code of accredited canons of consumption, the effect of which + is to hold the consumer up to a standard of expensiveness and wastefulness + in his consumption of goods and in his employment of time and effort. This + growth of prescriptive usage has an immediate effect upon economic life, + but it has also an indirect and remoter effect upon conduct in other + respects as well. Habits of thought with respect to the expression of life + in any given direction unavoidably affect the habitual view of what is + good and right in life in other directions also. In the organic complex of + habits of thought which make up the substance of an individual's conscious + life the economic interest does not lie isolated and distinct from all + other interests. Something, for instance, has already been said of its + relation to the canons of reputability. + </p> + <p> + The principle of conspicuous waste guides the formation of habits of + thought as to what is honest and reputable in life and in commodities. In + so doing, this principle will traverse other norms of conduct which do not + primarily have to do with the code of pecuniary honor, but which have, + directly or incidentally, an economic significance of some magnitude. So + the canon of honorific waste may, immediately or remotely, influence the + sense of duty, the sense of beauty, the sense of utility, the sense of + devotional or ritualistic fitness, and the scientific sense of truth. + </p> + <p> + It is scarcely necessary to go into a discussion here of the particular + points at which, or the particular manner in which, the canon of honorific + expenditure habitually traverses the canons of moral conduct. The matter + is one which has received large attention and illustration at the hands of + those whose office it is to watch and admonish with respect to any + departures from the accepted code of morals. In modern communities, where + the dominant economic and legal feature of the community's life is the + institution of private property, one of the salient features of the code + of morals is the sacredness of property. There needs no insistence or + illustration to gain assent to the proposition that the habit of holding + private property inviolate is traversed by the other habit of seeking + wealth for the sake of the good repute to be gained through its + conspicuous consumption. Most offenses against property, especially + offenses of an appreciable magnitude, come under this head. It is also a + matter of common notoriety and byword that in offenses which result in a + large accession of property to the offender he does not ordinarily incur + the extreme penalty or the extreme obloquy with which his offenses would + be visited on the ground of the naive moral code alone. The thief or + swindler who has gained great wealth by his delinquency has a better + chance than the small thief of escaping the rigorous penalty of the law + and some good repute accrues to him from his increased wealth and from his + spending the irregularly acquired possessions in a seemly manner. A + well-bred expenditure of his booty especially appeals with great effect to + persons of a cultivated sense of the proprieties, and goes far to mitigate + the sense of moral turpitude with which his dereliction is viewed by them. + It may be noted also—and it is more immediately to the point—that + we are all inclined to condone an offense against property in the case of + a man whose motive is the worthy one of providing the means of a "decent" + manner of life for his wife and children. If it is added that the wife has + been "nurtured in the lap of luxury," that is accepted as an additional + extenuating circumstance. That is to say, we are prone to condone such an + offense where its aim is the honorific one of enabling the offender's wife + to perform for him such an amount of vicarious consumption of time and + substance as is demanded by the standard of pecuniary decency. In such a + case the habit of approving the accustomed degree of conspicuous waste + traverses the habit of deprecating violations of ownership, to the extent + even of sometimes leaving the award of praise or blame uncertain. This is + peculiarly true where the dereliction involves an appreciable predatory or + piratical element. + </p> + <p> + This topic need scarcely be pursued further here; but the remark may not + be out of place that all that considerable body of morals that clusters + about the concept of an inviolable ownership is itself a psychological + precipitate of the traditional meritoriousness of wealth. And it should be + added that this wealth which is held sacred is valued primarily for the + sake of the good repute to be got through its conspicuous consumption. The + bearing of pecuniary decency upon the scientific spirit or the quest of + knowledge will be taken up in some detail in a separate chapter. Also as + regards the sense of devout or ritual merit and adequacy in this + connection, little need be said in this place. That topic will also come + up incidentally in a later chapter. Still, this usage of honorific + expenditure has much to say in shaping popular tastes as to what is right + and meritorious in sacred matters, and the bearing of the principle of + conspicuous waste upon some of the commonplace devout observances and + conceits may therefore be pointed out. + </p> + <p> + Obviously, the canon of conspicuous waste is accountable for a great + portion of what may be called devout consumption; as, e.g., the + consumption of sacred edifices, vestments, and other goods of the same + class. Even in those modern cults to whose divinities is imputed a + predilection for temples not built with hands, the sacred buildings and + the other properties of the cult are constructed and decorated with some + view to a reputable degree of wasteful expenditure. And it needs but + little either of observation or introspection—and either will serve + the turn—to assure us that the expensive splendor of the house of + worship has an appreciable uplifting and mellowing effect upon the + worshipper's frame of mind. It will serve to enforce the same fact if we + reflect upon the sense of abject shamefulness with which any evidence of + indigence or squalor about the sacred place affects all beholders. The + accessories of any devout observance should be pecuniarily above reproach. + This requirement is imperative, whatever latitude may be allowed with + regard to these accessories in point of aesthetic or other serviceability. + It may also be in place to notice that in all communities, especially in + neighborhoods where the standard of pecuniary decency for dwellings is not + high, the local sanctuary is more ornate, more conspicuously wasteful in + its architecture and decoration, than the dwelling houses of the + congregation. This is true of nearly all denominations and cults, whether + Christian or Pagan, but it is true in a peculiar degree of the older and + maturer cults. At the same time the sanctuary commonly contributes little + if anything to the physical comfort of the members. Indeed, the sacred + structure not only serves the physical well-being of the members to but a + slight extent, as compared with their humbler dwelling-houses; but it is + felt by all men that a right and enlightened sense of the true, the + beautiful, and the good demands that in all expenditure on the sanctuary + anything that might serve the comfort of the worshipper should be + conspicuously absent. If any element of comfort is admitted in the + fittings of the sanctuary, it should be at least scrupulously screened and + masked under an ostensible austerity. In the most reputable latter-day + houses of worship, where no expense is spared, the principle of austerity + is carried to the length of making the fittings of the place a means of + mortifying the flesh, especially in appearance. There are few persons of + delicate tastes, in the matter of devout consumption to whom this + austerely wasteful discomfort does not appeal as intrinsically right and + good. Devout consumption is of the nature of vicarious consumption. This + canon of devout austerity is based on the pecuniary reputability of + conspicuously wasteful consumption, backed by the principle that vicarious + consumption should conspicuously not conduce to the comfort of the + vicarious consumer. + </p> + <p> + The sanctuary and its fittings have something of this austerity in all the + cults in which the saint or divinity to whom the sanctuary pertains is not + conceived to be present and make personal use of the property for the + gratification of luxurious tastes imputed to him. The character of the + sacred paraphernalia is somewhat different in this respect in those cults + where the habits of life imputed to the divinity more nearly approach + those of an earthly patriarchal potentate—where he is conceived to + make use of these consumable goods in person. In the latter case the + sanctuary and its fittings take on more of the fashion given to goods + destined for the conspicuous consumption of a temporal master or owner. On + the other hand, where the sacred apparatus is simply employed in the + divinity's service, that is to say, where it is consumed vicariously on + his account by his servants, there the sacred properties take the + character suited to goods that are destined for vicarious consumption + only. + </p> + <p> + In the latter case the sanctuary and the sacred apparatus are so contrived + as not to enhance the comfort or fullness of life of the vicarious + consumer, or at any rate not to convey the impression that the end of + their consumption is the consumer's comfort. For the end of vicarious + consumption is to enhance, not the fullness of life of the consumer, but + the pecuniary repute of the master for whose behoof the consumption takes + place. Therefore priestly vestments are notoriously expensive, ornate, and + inconvenient; and in the cults where the priestly servitor of the divinity + is not conceived to serve him in the capacity of consort, they are of an + austere, comfortless fashion. And such it is felt that they should be. + </p> + <p> + It is not only in establishing a devout standard of decent expensiveness + that the principle of waste invades the domain of the canons of ritual + serviceability. It touches the ways as well as the means, and draws on + vicarious leisure as well as on vicarious consumption. Priestly demeanor + at its best is aloof, leisurely, perfunctory, and uncontaminated with + suggestions of sensuous pleasure. This holds true, in different degrees of + course, for the different cults and denominations; but in the priestly + life of all anthropomorphic cults the marks of a vicarious consumption of + time are visible. + </p> + <p> + The same pervading canon of vicarious leisure is also visibly present in + the exterior details of devout observances and need only be pointed out in + order to become obvious to all beholders. All ritual has a notable + tendency to reduce itself to a rehearsal of formulas. This development of + formula is most noticeable in the maturer cults, which have at the same + time a more austere, ornate, and severe priestly life and garb; but it is + perceptible also in the forms and methods of worship of the newer and + fresher sects, whose tastes in respect of priests, vestments, and + sanctuaries are less exacting. The rehearsal of the service (the term + "service" carries a suggestion significant for the point in question) + grows more perfunctory as the cult gains in age and consistency, and this + perfunctoriness of the rehearsal is very pleasing to the correct devout + taste. And with a good reason, for the fact of its being perfunctory goes + to say pointedly that the master for whom it is performed is exalted above + the vulgar need of actually proficuous service on the part of his + servants. They are unprofitable servants, and there is an honorific + implication for their master in their remaining unprofitable. It is + needless to point out the close analogy at this point between the priestly + office and the office of the footman. It is pleasing to our sense of what + is fitting in these matters, in either case, to recognize in the obvious + perfunctoriness of the service that it is a pro forma execution only. + There should be no show of agility or of dexterous manipulation in the + execution of the priestly office, such as might suggest a capacity for + turning off the work. + </p> + <p> + In all this there is of course an obvious implication as to the + temperament, tastes, propensities, and habits of life imputed to the + divinity by worshippers who live under the tradition of these pecuniary + canons of reputability. Through its pervading men's habits of thought, the + principle of conspicuous waste has colored the worshippers' notions of the + divinity and of the relation in which the human subject stands to him. It + is of course in the more naive cults that this suffusion of pecuniary + beauty is most patent, but it is visible throughout. All peoples, at + whatever stage of culture or degree of enlightenment, are fain to eke out + a sensibly scant degree of authentic formation regarding the personality + and habitual surroundings of their divinities. In so calling in the aid of + fancy to enrich and fill in their picture of the divinity's presence and + manner of life they habitually impute to him such traits as go to make up + their ideal of a worthy man. And in seeking communion with the divinity + the ways and means of approach are assimilated as nearly as may be to the + divine ideal that is in men's minds at the time. It is felt that the + divine presence is entered with the best grace, and with the best effect, + according to certain accepted methods and with the accompaniment of + certain material circumstances which in popular apprehension are + peculiarly consonant with the divine nature. This popularly accepted ideal + of the bearing and paraphernalia adequate to such occasions of communion + is, of course, to a good extent shaped by the popular apprehension of what + is intrinsically worthy and beautiful in human carriage and surroundings + on all occasions of dignified intercourse. It would on this account be + misleading to attempt an analysis of devout demeanor by referring all + evidences of the presence of a pecuniary standard of reputability back + directly and baldly to the underlying norm of pecuniary emulation. So it + would also be misleading to ascribe to the divinity, as popularly + conceived, a jealous regard for his pecuniary standing and a habit of + avoiding and condemning squalid situations and surroundings simply because + they are under grade in the pecuniary respect. + </p> + <p> + And still, after all allowance has been made, it appears that the canons + of pecuniary reputability do, directly or indirectly, materially affect + our notions of the attributes of divinity, as well as our notions of what + are the fit and adequate manner and circumstances of divine communion. It + is felt that the divinity must be of a peculiarly serene and leisurely + habit of life. And whenever his local habitation is pictured in poetic + imagery, for edification or in appeal to the devout fancy, the devout + word-painter, as a matter of course, brings out before his auditors' + imagination a throne with a profusion of the insignia of opulence and + power, and surrounded by a great number of servitors. In the common run of + such presentations of the celestial abodes, the office of this corps of + servants is a vicarious leisure, their time and efforts being in great + measure taken up with an industrially unproductive rehearsal of the + meritorious characteristics and exploits of the divinity; while the + background of the presentation is filled with the shimmer of the precious + metals and of the more expensive varieties of precious stones. It is only + in the crasser expressions of devout fancy that this intrusion of + pecuniary canons into the devout ideals reaches such an extreme. An + extreme case occurs in the devout imagery of the Negro population of the + South. Their word-painters are unable to descend to anything cheaper than + gold; so that in this case the insistence on pecuniary beauty gives a + startling effect in yellow—such as would be unbearable to a soberer + taste. Still, there is probably no cult in which ideals of pecuniary merit + have not been called in to supplement the ideals of ceremonial adequacy + that guide men's conception of what is right in the matter of sacred + apparatus. + </p> + <p> + Similarly it is felt—and the sentiment is acted upon—that the + priestly servitors of the divinity should not engage in industrially + productive work; that work of any kind—any employment which is of + tangible human use—must not be carried on in the divine presence, or + within the precincts of the sanctuary; that whoever comes into the + presence should come cleansed of all profane industrial features in his + apparel or person, and should come clad in garments of more than everyday + expensiveness; that on holidays set apart in honor of or for communion + with the divinity no work that is of human use should be performed by any + one. Even the remoter, lay dependents should render a vicarious leisure to + the extent of one day in seven. In all these deliverances of men's + uninstructed sense of what is fit and proper in devout observance and in + the relations of the divinity, the effectual presence of the canons of + pecuniary reputability is obvious enough, whether these canons have had + their effect on the devout judgment in this respect immediately or at the + second remove. + </p> + <p> + These canons of reputability have had a similar, but more far-reaching and + more specifically determinable, effect upon the popular sense of beauty or + serviceability in consumable goods. The requirements of pecuniary decency + have, to a very appreciable extent, influenced the sense of beauty and of + utility in articles of use or beauty. Articles are to an extent preferred + for use on account of their being conspicuously wasteful; they are felt to + be serviceable somewhat in proportion as they are wasteful and ill adapted + to their ostensible use. + </p> + <p> + The utility of articles valued for their beauty depends closely upon the + expensiveness of the articles. A homely illustration will bring out this + dependence. A hand-wrought silver spoon, of a commercial value of some ten + to twenty dollars, is not ordinarily more serviceable—in the first + sense of the word—than a machine-made spoon of the same material. It + may not even be more serviceable than a machine-made spoon of some "base" + metal, such as aluminum, the value of which may be no more than some ten + to twenty cents. The former of the two utensils is, in fact, commonly a + less effective contrivance for its ostensible purpose than the latter. The + objection is of course ready to hand that, in taking this view of the + matter, one of the chief uses, if not the chief use, of the costlier spoon + is ignored; the hand-wrought spoon gratifies our taste, our sense of the + beautiful, while that made by machinery out of the base metal has no + useful office beyond a brute efficiency. The facts are no doubt as the + objection states them, but it will be evident on rejection that the + objection is after all more plausible than conclusive. It appears (1) that + while the different materials of which the two spoons are made each + possesses beauty and serviceability for the purpose for which it is used, + the material of the hand-wrought spoon is some one hundred times more + valuable than the baser metal, without very greatly excelling the latter + in intrinsic beauty of grain or color, and without being in any + appreciable degree superior in point of mechanical serviceability; (2) if + a close inspection should show that the supposed hand-wrought spoon were + in reality only a very clever citation of hand-wrought goods, but an + imitation so cleverly wrought as to give the same impression of line and + surface to any but a minute examination by a trained eye, the utility of + the article, including the gratification which the user derives from its + contemplation as an object of beauty, would immediately decline by some + eighty or ninety per cent, or even more; (3) if the two spoons are, to a + fairly close observer, so nearly identical in appearance that the lighter + weight of the spurious article alone betrays it, this identity of form and + color will scarcely add to the value of the machine-made spoon, nor + appreciably enhance the gratification of the user's "sense of beauty" in + contemplating it, so long as the cheaper spoon is not a novelty, ad so + long as it can be procured at a nominal cost. The case of the spoons is + typical. The superior gratification derived from the use and contemplation + of costly and supposedly beautiful products is, commonly, in great measure + a gratification of our sense of costliness masquerading under the name of + beauty. Our higher appreciation of the superior article is an appreciation + of its superior honorific character, much more frequently than it is an + unsophisticated appreciation of its beauty. The requirement of conspicuous + wastefulness is not commonly present, consciously, in our canons of taste, + but it is none the less present as a constraining norm selectively shaping + and sustaining our sense of what is beautiful, and guiding our + discrimination with respect to what may legitimately be approved as + beautiful and what may not. + </p> + <p> + It is at this point, where the beautiful and the honorific meet and blend, + that a discrimination between serviceability and wastefulness is most + difficult in any concrete case. It frequently happens that an article + which serves the honorific purpose of conspicuous waste is at the same + time a beautiful object; and the same application of labor to which it + owes its utility for the former purpose may, and often does, give beauty + of form and color to the article. The question is further complicated by + the fact that many objects, as, for instance, the precious stones and the + metals and some other materials used for adornment and decoration, owe + their utility as items of conspicuous waste to an antecedent utility as + objects of beauty. Gold, for instance, has a high degree of sensuous + beauty very many if not most of the highly prized works of art are + intrinsically beautiful, though often with material qualification; the + like is true of some stuffs used for clothing, of some landscapes, and of + many other things in less degree. Except for this intrinsic beauty which + they possess, these objects would scarcely have been coveted as they are, + or have become monopolized objects of pride to their possessors and users. + But the utility of these things to the possessor is commonly due less to + their intrinsic beauty than to the honor which their possession and + consumption confers, or to the obloquy which it wards off. + </p> + <p> + Apart from their serviceability in other respects, these objects are + beautiful and have a utility as such; they are valuable on this account if + they can be appropriated or monopolized; they are, therefore, coveted as + valuable possessions, and their exclusive enjoyment gratifies the + possessor's sense of pecuniary superiority at the same time that their + contemplation gratifies his sense of beauty. But their beauty, in the + naive sense of the word, is the occasion rather than the ground of their + monopolization or of their commercial value. "Great as is the sensuous + beauty of gems, their rarity and price adds an expression of distinction + to them, which they would never have if they were cheap." There is, + indeed, in the common run of cases under this head, relatively little + incentive to the exclusive possession and use of these beautiful things, + except on the ground of their honorific character as items of conspicuous + waste. Most objects of this general class, with the partial exception of + articles of personal adornment, would serve all other purposes than the + honorific one equally well, whether owned by the person viewing them or + not; and even as regards personal ornaments it is to be added that their + chief purpose is to lend éclat to the person of their wearer (or owner) by + comparison with other persons who are compelled to do without. The + aesthetic serviceability of objects of beauty is not greatly nor + universally heightened by possession. + </p> + <p> + The generalization for which the discussion so far affords ground is that + any valuable object in order to appeal to our sense of beauty must conform + to the requirements of beauty and of expensiveness both. But this is not + all. Beyond this the canon of expensiveness also affects our tastes in + such a way as to inextricably blend the marks of expensiveness, in our + appreciation, with the beautiful features of the object, and to subsume + the resultant effect under the head of an appreciation of beauty simply. + The marks of expensiveness come to be accepted as beautiful features of + the expensive articles. They are pleasing as being marks of honorific + costliness, and the pleasure which they afford on this score blends with + that afforded by the beautiful form and color of the object; so that we + often declare that an article of apparel, for instance, is "perfectly + lovely," when pretty much all that an analysis of the aesthetic value of + the article would leave ground for is the declaration that it is + pecuniarily honorific. + </p> + <p> + This blending and confusion of the elements of expensiveness and of beauty + is, perhaps, best exemplified in articles of dress and of household + furniture. The code of reputability in matters of dress decides what + shapes, colors, materials, and general effects in human apparel are for + the time to be accepted as suitable; and departures from the code are + offensive to our taste, supposedly as being departures from aesthetic + truth. The approval with which we look upon fashionable attire is by no + means to be accounted pure make-believe. We readily, and for the most part + with utter sincerity, find those things pleasing that are in vogue. Shaggy + dress-stuffs and pronounced color effects, for instance, offend us at + times when the vogue is goods of a high, glossy finish and neutral colors. + A fancy bonnet of this year's model unquestionably appeals to our + sensibilities today much more forcibly than an equally fancy bonnet of the + model of last year; although when viewed in the perspective of a quarter + of a century, it would, I apprehend, be a matter of the utmost difficulty + to award the palm for intrinsic beauty to the one rather than to the other + of these structures. So, again, it may be remarked that, considered simply + in their physical juxtaposition with the human form, the high gloss of a + gentleman's hat or of a patent-leather shoe has no more of intrinsic + beauty than a similarly high gloss on a threadbare sleeve; and yet there + is no question but that all well-bred people (in the Occidental civilized + communities) instinctively and unaffectedly cleave to the one as a + phenomenon of great beauty, and eschew the other as offensive to every + sense to which it can appeal. It is extremely doubtful if any one could be + induced to wear such a contrivance as the high hat of civilized society, + except for some urgent reason based on other than aesthetic grounds. + </p> + <p> + By further habituation to an appreciative perception of the marks of + expensiveness in goods, and by habitually identifying beauty with + reputability, it comes about that a beautiful article which is not + expensive is accounted not beautiful. In this way it has happened, for + instance, that some beautiful flowers pass conventionally for offensive + weeds; others that can be cultivated with relative ease are accepted and + admired by the lower middle class, who can afford no more expensive + luxuries of this kind; but these varieties are rejected as vulgar by those + people who are better able to pay for expensive flowers and who are + educated to a higher schedule of pecuniary beauty in the florist's + products; while still other flowers, of no greater intrinsic beauty than + these, are cultivated at great cost and call out much admiration from + flower-lovers whose tastes have been matured under the critical guidance + of a polite environment. + </p> + <p> + The same variation in matters of taste, from one class of society to + another, is visible also as regards many other kinds of consumable goods, + as, for example, is the case with furniture, houses, parks, and gardens. + This diversity of views as to what is beautiful in these various classes + of goods is not a diversity of the norm according to which the + unsophisticated sense of the beautiful works. It is not a constitutional + difference of endowments in the aesthetic respect, but rather a difference + in the code of reputability which specifies what objects properly lie + within the scope of honorific consumption for the class to which the + critic belongs. It is a difference in the traditions of propriety with + respect to the kinds of things which may, without derogation to the + consumer, be consumed under the head of objects of taste and art. With a + certain allowance for variations to be accounted for on other grounds, + these traditions are determined, more or less rigidly, by the pecuniary + plane of life of the class. + </p> + <p> + Everyday life affords many curious illustrations of the way in which the + code of pecuniary beauty in articles of use varies from class to class, as + well as of the way in which the conventional sense of beauty departs in + its deliverances from the sense untutored by the requirements of pecuniary + repute. Such a fact is the lawn, or the close-cropped yard or park, which + appeals so unaffectedly to the taste of the Western peoples. It appears + especially to appeal to the tastes of the well-to-do classes in those + communities in which the dolicho-blond element predominates in an + appreciable degree. The lawn unquestionably has an element of sensuous + beauty, simply as an object of apperception, and as such no doubt it + appeals pretty directly to the eye of nearly all races and all classes; + but it is, perhaps, more unquestionably beautiful to the eye of the + dolicho-blond than to most other varieties of men. This higher + appreciation of a stretch of greensward in this ethnic element than in the + other elements of the population, goes along with certain other features + of the dolicho-blond temperament that indicate that this racial element + had once been for a long time a pastoral people inhabiting a region with a + humid climate. The close-cropped lawn is beautiful in the eyes of a people + whose inherited bent it is to readily find pleasure in contemplating a + well-preserved pasture or grazing land. + </p> + <p> + For the aesthetic purpose the lawn is a cow pasture; and in some cases + today—where the expensiveness of the attendant circumstances bars + out any imputation of thrift—the idyl of the dolicho-blond is + rehabilitated in the introduction of a cow into a lawn or private ground. + In such cases the cow made use of is commonly of an expensive breed. The + vulgar suggestion of thrift, which is nearly inseparable from the cow, is + a standing objection to the decorative use of this animal. So that in all + cases, except where luxurious surroundings negate this suggestion, the use + of the cow as an object of taste must be avoided. Where the predilection + for some grazing animal to fill out the suggestion of the pasture is too + strong to be suppressed, the cow's place is often given to some more or + less inadequate substitute, such as deer, antelopes, or some such exotic + beast. These substitutes, although less beautiful to the pastoral eye of + Western man than the cow, are in such cases preferred because of their + superior expensiveness or futility, and their consequent repute. They are + not vulgarly lucrative either in fact or in suggestion. + </p> + <p> + Public parks of course fall in the same category with the lawn; they too, + at their best, are imitations of the pasture. Such a park is of course + best kept by grazing, and the cattle on the grass are themselves no mean + addition to the beauty of the thing, as need scarcely be insisted on with + anyone who has once seen a well-kept pasture. But it is worth noting, as + an expression of the pecuniary element in popular taste, that such a + method of keeping public grounds is seldom resorted to. The best that is + done by skilled workmen under the supervision of a trained keeper is a + more or less close imitation of a pasture, but the result invariably falls + somewhat short of the artistic effect of grazing. But to the average + popular apprehension a herd of cattle so pointedly suggests thrift and + usefulness that their presence in the public pleasure ground would be + intolerably cheap. This method of keeping grounds is comparatively + inexpensive, therefore it is indecorous. + </p> + <p> + Of the same general bearing is another feature of public grounds. There is + a studious exhibition of expensiveness coupled with a make-believe of + simplicity and crude serviceability. Private grounds also show the same + physiognomy wherever they are in the management or ownership of persons + whose tastes have been formed under middle-class habits of life or under + the upper-class traditions of no later a date than the childhood of the + generation that is now passing. Grounds which conform to the instructed + tastes of the latter-day upper class do not show these features in so + marked a degree. The reason for this difference in tastes between the past + and the incoming generation of the well-bred lies in the changing economic + situation. A similar difference is perceptible in other respects, as well + as in the accepted ideals of pleasure grounds. In this country as in most + others, until the last half century but a very small proportion of the + population were possessed of such wealth as would exempt them from thrift. + Owing to imperfect means of communication, this small fraction were + scattered and out of effective touch with one another. There was therefore + no basis for a growth of taste in disregard of expensiveness. The revolt + of the well-bred taste against vulgar thrift was unchecked. Wherever the + unsophisticated sense of beauty might show itself sporadically in an + approval of inexpensive or thrifty surroundings, it would lack the "social + confirmation" which nothing but a considerable body of like-minded people + can give. There was, therefore, no effective upper-class opinion that + would overlook evidences of possible inexpensiveness in the management of + grounds; and there was consequently no appreciable divergence between the + leisure-class and the lower middle-class ideal in the physiognomy of + pleasure grounds. Both classes equally constructed their ideals with the + fear of pecuniary disrepute before their eyes. + </p> + <p> + Today a divergence in ideals is beginning to be apparent. The portion of + the leisure class that has been consistently exempt from work and from + pecuniary cares for a generation or more is now large enough to form and + sustain opinion in matters of taste. Increased mobility of the members has + also added to the facility with which a "social confirmation" can be + attained within the class. Within this select class the exemption from + thrift is a matter so commonplace as to have lost much of its utility as a + basis of pecuniary decency. Therefore the latter-day upper-class canons of + taste do not so consistently insist on an unremitting demonstration of + expensiveness and a strict exclusion of the appearance of thrift. So, a + predilection for the rustic and the "natural" in parks and grounds makes + its appearance on these higher social and intellectual levels. This + predilection is in large part an outcropping of the instinct of + workmanship; and it works out its results with varying degrees of + consistency. It is seldom altogether unaffected, and at times it shades + off into something not widely different from that make-believe of + rusticity which has been referred to above. + </p> + <p> + A weakness for crudely serviceable contrivances that pointedly suggest + immediate and wasteless use is present even in the middle-class tastes; + but it is there kept well in hand under the unbroken dominance of the + canon of reputable futility. Consequently it works out in a variety of + ways and means for shamming serviceability—in such contrivances as + rustic fences, bridges, bowers, pavilions, and the like decorative + features. An expression of this affectation of serviceability, at what is + perhaps its widest divergence from the first promptings of the sense of + economic beauty, is afforded by the cast-iron rustic fence and trellis or + by a circuitous drive laid across level ground. + </p> + <p> + The select leisure class has outgrown the use of these pseudo-serviceable + variants of pecuniary beauty, at least at some points. But the taste of + the more recent accessions to the leisure class proper and of the middle + and lower classes still requires a pecuniary beauty to supplement the + aesthetic beauty, even in those objects which are primarily admired for + the beauty that belongs to them as natural growths. + </p> + <p> + The popular taste in these matters is to be seen in the prevalent high + appreciation of topiary work and of the conventional flower-beds of public + grounds. Perhaps as happy an illustration as may be had of this dominance + of pecuniary beauty over aesthetic beauty in middle-class tastes is seen + in the reconstruction of the grounds lately occupied by the Columbian + Exposition. The evidence goes to show that the requirement of reputable + expensiveness is still present in good vigor even where all ostensibly + lavish display is avoided. The artistic effects actually wrought in this + work of reconstruction diverge somewhat widely from the effect to which + the same ground would have lent itself in hands not guided by pecuniary + canons of taste. And even the better class of the city's population view + the progress of the work with an unreserved approval which suggests that + there is in this case little if any discrepancy between the tastes of the + upper and the lower or middle classes of the city. The sense of beauty in + the population of this representative city of the advanced pecuniary + culture is very chary of any departure from its great cultural principle + of conspicuous waste. + </p> + <p> + The love of nature, perhaps itself borrowed from a higher-class code of + taste, sometimes expresses itself in unexpected ways under the guidance of + this canon of pecuniary beauty, and leads to results that may seem + incongruous to an unreflecting beholder. The well-accepted practice of + planting trees in the treeless areas of this country, for instance, has + been carried over as an item of honorific expenditure into the heavily + wooded areas; so that it is by no means unusual for a village or a farmer + in the wooded country to clear the land of its native trees and + immediately replant saplings of certain introduced varieties about the + farmyard or along the streets. In this way a forest growth of oak, elm, + beech, butternut, hemlock, basswood, and birch is cleared off to give room + for saplings of soft maple, cottonwood, and brittle willow. It is felt + that the inexpensiveness of leaving the forest trees standing would + derogate from the dignity that should invest an article which is intended + to serve a decorative and honorific end. + </p> + <p> + The like pervading guidance of taste by pecuniary repute is traceable in + the prevalent standards of beauty in animals. The part played by this + canon of taste in assigning her place in the popular aesthetic scale to + the cow has already been spokes of. Something to the same effect is true + of the other domestic animals, so far as they are in an appreciable degree + industrially useful to the community—as, for instance, barnyard + fowl, hogs, cattle, sheep, goats, draught-horses. They are of the nature + of productive goods, and serve a useful, often a lucrative end; therefore + beauty is not readily imputed to them. The case is different with those + domestic animals which ordinarily serve no industrial end; such as + pigeons, parrots and other cage-birds, cats, dogs, and fast horses. These + commonly are items of conspicuous consumption, and are therefore honorific + in their nature and may legitimately be accounted beautiful. This class of + animals are conventionally admired by the body of the upper classes, while + the pecuniarily lower classes—and that select minority of the + leisure class among whom the rigorous canon that abjures thrift is in a + measure obsolescent—find beauty in one class of animals as in + another, without drawing a hard and fast line of pecuniary demarcation + between the beautiful and the ugly. In the case of those domestic animals + which are honorific and are reputed beautiful, there is a subsidiary basis + of merit that should be spokes of. Apart from the birds which belong in + the honorific class of domestic animals, and which owe their place in this + class to their non-lucrative character alone, the animals which merit + particular attention are cats, dogs, and fast horses. The cat is less + reputable than the other two just named, because she is less wasteful; she + may even serve a useful end. At the same time the cat's temperament does + not fit her for the honorific purpose. She lives with man on terms of + equality, knows nothing of that relation of status which is the ancient + basis of all distinctions of worth, honor, and repute, and she does not + lend herself with facility to an invidious comparison between her owner + and his neighbors. The exception to this last rule occurs in the case of + such scarce and fanciful products as the Angora cat, which have some + slight honorific value on the ground of expensiveness, and have, + therefore, some special claim to beauty on pecuniary grounds. + </p> + <p> + The dog has advantages in the way of uselessness as well as in special + gifts of temperament. He is often spoken of, in an eminent sense, as the + friend of man, and his intelligence and fidelity are praised. The meaning + of this is that the dog is man's servant and that he has the gift of an + unquestioning subservience and a slave's quickness in guessing his + master's mood. Coupled with these traits, which fit him well for the + relation of status—and which must for the present purpose be set + down as serviceable traits—the dog has some characteristics which + are of a more equivocal aesthetic value. He is the filthiest of the + domestic animals in his person and the nastiest in his habits. For this he + makes up is a servile, fawning attitude towards his master, and a + readiness to inflict damage and discomfort on all else. The dog, then, + commends himself to our favor by affording play to our propensity for + mastery, and as he is also an item of expense, and commonly serves no + industrial purpose, he holds a well-assured place in men's regard as a + thing of good repute. The dog is at the same time associated in our + imagination with the chase—a meritorious employment and an + expression of the honorable predatory impulse. Standing on this vantage + ground, whatever beauty of form and motion and whatever commendable mental + traits he may possess are conventionally acknowledged and magnified. And + even those varieties of the dog which have been bred into grotesque + deformity by the dog-fancier are in good faith accounted beautiful by + many. These varieties of dogs—and the like is true of other + fancy-bred animals—are rated and graded in aesthetic value somewhat + in proportion to the degree of grotesqueness and instability of the + particular fashion which the deformity takes in the given case. For the + purpose in hand, this differential utility on the ground of grotesqueness + and instability of structure is reducible to terms of a greater scarcity + and consequent expense. The commercial value of canine monstrosities, such + as the prevailing styles of pet dogs both for men's and women's use, rests + on their high cost of production, and their value to their owners lies + chiefly in their utility as items of conspicuous consumption. Indirectly, + through reflection upon their honorific expensiveness, a social worth is + imputed to them; and so, by an easy substitution of words and ideas, they + come to be admired and reputed beautiful. Since any attention bestowed + upon these animals is in no sense gainful or useful, it is also reputable; + and since the habit of giving them attention is consequently not + deprecated, it may grow into an habitual attachment of great tenacity and + of a most benevolent character. So that in the affection bestowed on pet + animals the canon of expensiveness is present more or less remotely as a + norm which guides and shapes the sentiment and the selection of its + object. The like is true, as will be noticed presently, with respect to + affection for persons also; although the manner in which the norm acts in + that case is somewhat different. + </p> + <p> + The case of the fast horse is much like that of the dog. He is on the + whole expensive, or wasteful and useless—for the industrial purpose. + What productive use he may possess, in the way of enhancing the well-being + of the community or making the way of life easier for men, takes the form + of exhibitions of force and facility of motion that gratify the popular + aesthetic sense. This is of course a substantial serviceability. The horse + is not endowed with the spiritual aptitude for servile dependence in the + same measure as the dog; but he ministers effectually to his master's + impulse to convert the "animate" forces of the environment to his own use + and discretion and so express his own dominating individuality through + them. The fast horse is at least potentially a race-horse, of high or low + degree; and it is as such that he is peculiarly serviceable to his owner. + The utility of the fast horse lies largely in his efficiency as a means of + emulation; it gratifies the owner's sense of aggression and dominance to + have his own horse outstrip his neighbor's. This use being not lucrative, + but on the whole pretty consistently wasteful, and quite conspicuously so, + it is honorific, and therefore gives the fast horse a strong presumptive + position of reputability. Beyond this, the race-horse proper has also a + similarly non-industrial but honorific use as a gambling instrument. + </p> + <p> + The fast horse, then, is aesthetically fortunate, in that the canon of + pecuniary good repute legitimates a free appreciation of whatever beauty + or serviceability he may possess. His pretensions have the countenance of + the principle of conspicuous waste and the backing of the predatory + aptitude for dominance and emulation. The horse is, moreover, a beautiful + animal, although the race-horse is so in no peculiar degree to the + uninstructed taste of those persons who belong neither in the class of + race-horse fanciers nor in the class whose sense of beauty is held in + abeyance by the moral constraint of the horse fancier's award. To this + untutored taste the most beautiful horse seems to be a form which has + suffered less radical alteration than the race-horse under the breeder's + selective development of the animal. Still, when a writer or speaker—especially + of those whose eloquence is most consistently commonplace wants an + illustration of animal grace and serviceability, for rhetorical use, he + habitually turns to the horse; and he commonly makes it plain before he is + done that what he has in mind is the race-horse. + </p> + <p> + It should be noted that in the graduated appreciation of varieties of + horses and of dogs, such as one meets with among people of even moderately + cultivated tastes in these matters, there is also discernible another and + more direct line of influence of the leisure-class canons of reputability. + In this country, for instance, leisure-class tastes are to some extent + shaped on usages and habits which prevail, or which are apprehended to + prevail, among the leisure class of Great Britain. In dogs this is true to + a less extent than in horses. In horses, more particularly in saddle + horses—which at their best serve the purpose of wasteful display + simply—it will hold true in a general way that a horse is more + beautiful in proportion as he is more English; the English leisure class + being, for purposes of reputable usage, the upper leisure class of this + country, and so the exemplar for the lower grades. This mimicry in the + methods of the apperception of beauty and in the forming of judgments of + taste need not result in a spurious, or at any rate not a hypocritical or + affected, predilection. The predilection is as serious and as substantial + an award of taste when it rests on this basis as when it rests on any + other, the difference is that this taste is and as substantial an award of + taste when it rests on this basis as when it rests on any other; the + difference is that this taste is a taste for the reputably correct, not + for the aesthetically true. + </p> + <p> + The mimicry, it should be said, extends further than to the sense of + beauty in horseflesh simply. It includes trappings and horsemanship as + well, so that the correct or reputably beautiful seat or posture is also + decided by English usage, as well as the equestrian gait. To show how + fortuitous may sometimes be the circumstances which decide what shall be + becoming and what not under the pecuniary canon of beauty, it may be noted + that this English seat, and the peculiarly distressing gait which has made + an awkward seat necessary, are a survival from the time when the English + roads were so bad with mire and mud as to be virtually impassable for a + horse travelling at a more comfortable gait; so that a person of decorous + tastes in horsemanship today rides a punch with docked tail, in an + uncomfortable posture and at a distressing gait, because the English roads + during a great part of the last century were impassable for a horse + travelling at a more horse-like gait, or for an animal built for moving + with ease over the firm and open country to which the horse is indigenous. + It is not only with respect to consumable goods—including domestic + animals—that the canons of taste have been colored by the canons of + pecuniary reputability. Something to the like effect is to be said for + beauty in persons. In order to avoid whatever may be matter of + controversy, no weight will be given in this connection to such popular + predilection as there may be for the dignified (leisurely) bearing and + poly presence that are by vulgar tradition associated with opulence in + mature men. These traits are in some measure accepted as elements of + personal beauty. But there are certain elements of feminine beauty, on the + other hand, which come in under this head, and which are of so concrete + and specific a character as to admit of itemized appreciation. It is more + or less a rule that in communities which are at the stage of economic + development at which women are valued by the upper class for their + service, the ideal of female beauty is a robust, large-limbed woman. The + ground of appreciation is the physique, while the conformation of the face + is of secondary weight only. A well-known instance of this ideal of the + early predatory culture is that of the maidens of the Homeric poems. + </p> + <p> + This ideal suffers a change in the succeeding development, when, in the + conventional scheme, the office of the high-class wife comes to be a + vicarious leisure simply. The ideal then includes the characteristics + which are supposed to result from or to go with a life of leisure + consistently enforced. The ideal accepted under these circumstances may be + gathered from descriptions of beautiful women by poets and writers of the + chivalric times. In the conventional scheme of those days ladies of high + degree were conceived to be in perpetual tutelage, and to be scrupulously + exempt from all useful work. The resulting chivalric or romantic ideal of + beauty takes cognizance chiefly of the face, and dwells on its delicacy, + and on the delicacy of the hands and feet, the slender figure, and + especially the slender waist. In the pictured representations of the women + of that time, and in modern romantic imitators of the chivalric thought + and feeling, the waist is attenuated to a degree that implies extreme + debility. The same ideal is still extant among a considerable portion of + the population of modern industrial communities; but it is to be said that + it has retained its hold most tenaciously in those modern communities + which are least advanced in point of economic and civil development, and + which show the most considerable survivals of status and of predatory + institutions. That is to say, the chivalric ideal is best preserved in + those existing communities which are substantially least modern. Survivals + of this lackadaisical or romantic ideal occur freely in the tastes of the + well-to-do classes of Continental countries. In modern communities which + have reached the higher levels of industrial development, the upper + leisure class has accumulated so great a mass of wealth as to place its + women above all imputation of vulgarly productive labor. Here the status + of women as vicarious consumers is beginning to lose its place in the + sections of the body of the people; and as a consequence the ideal of + feminine beauty is beginning to change back again from the infirmly + delicate, translucent, and hazardously slender, to a woman of the archaic + type that does not disown her hands and feet, nor, indeed, the other gross + material facts of her person. In the course of economic development the + ideal of beauty among the peoples of the Western culture has shifted from + the woman of physical presence to the lady, and it is beginning to shift + back again to the woman; and all in obedience to the changing conditions + of pecuniary emulation. The exigencies of emulation at one time required + lusty slaves; at another time they required a conspicuous performance of + vicarious leisure and consequently an obvious disability; but the + situation is now beginning to outgrow this last requirement, since, under + the higher efficiency of modern industry, leisure in women is possible so + far down the scale of reputability that it will no longer serve as a + definitive mark of the highest pecuniary grade. + </p> + <p> + Apart from this general control exercised by the norm of conspicuous waste + over the ideal of feminine beauty, there are one or two details which + merit specific mention as showing how it may exercise an extreme + constraint in detail over men's sense of beauty in women. It has already + been noticed that at the stages of economic evolution at which conspicuous + leisure is much regarded as a means of good repute, the ideal requires + delicate and diminutive hands and feet and a slender waist. These + features, together with the other, related faults of structure that + commonly go with them, go to show that the person so affected is incapable + of useful effort and must therefore be supported in idleness by her owner. + She is useless and expensive, and she is consequently valuable as evidence + of pecuniary strength. It results that at this cultural stage women take + thought to alter their persons, so as to conform more nearly to the + requirements of the instructed taste of the time; and under the guidance + of the canon of pecuniary decency, the men find the resulting artificially + induced pathological features attractive. So, for instance, the + constricted waist which has had so wide and persistent a vogue in the + communities of the Western culture, and so also the deformed foot of the + Chinese. Both of these are mutilations of unquestioned repulsiveness to + the untrained sense. It requires habituation to become reconciled to them. + Yet there is no room to question their attractiveness to men into whose + scheme of life they fit as honorific items sanctioned by the requirements + of pecuniary reputability. They are items of pecuniary and cultural beauty + which have come to do duty as elements of the ideal of womanliness. + </p> + <p> + The connection here indicated between the aesthetic value and the + invidious pecuniary value of things is of course not present in the + consciousness of the valuer. So far as a person, in forming a judgment of + taste, takes thought and reflects that the object of beauty under + consideration is wasteful and reputable, and therefore may legitimately be + accounted beautiful; so far the judgment is not a bona fide judgment of + taste and does not come up for consideration in this connection. The + connection which is here insisted on between the reputability and the + apprehended beauty of objects lies through the effect which the fact of + reputability has upon the valuer's habits of thought. He is in the habit + of forming judgments of value of various kinds-economic, moral, aesthetic, + or reputable concerning the objects with which he has to do, and his + attitude of commendation towards a given object on any other ground will + affect the degree of his appreciation of the object when he comes to value + it for the aesthetic purpose. This is more particularly true as regards + valuation on grounds so closely related to the aesthetic ground as that of + reputability. The valuation for the aesthetic purpose and for the purpose + of repute are not held apart as distinctly as might be. Confusion is + especially apt to arise between these two kinds of valuation, because the + value of objects for repute is not habitually distinguished in speech by + the use of a special descriptive term. The result is that the terms in + familiar use to designate categories or elements of beauty are applied to + cover this unnamed element of pecuniary merit, and the corresponding + confusion of ideas follows by easy consequence. The demands of + reputability in this way coalesce in the popular apprehension with the + demands of the sense of beauty, and beauty which is not accompanied by the + accredited marks of good repute is not accepted. But the requirements of + pecuniary reputability and those of beauty in the naive sense do not in + any appreciable degree coincide. The elimination from our surroundings of + the pecuniarily unfit, therefore, results in a more or less thorough + elimination of that considerable range of elements of beauty which do not + happen to conform to the pecuniary requirement. The underlying norms of + taste are of very ancient growth, probably far antedating the advent of + the pecuniary institutions that are here under discussion. Consequently, + by force of the past selective adaptation of men's habits of thought, it + happens that the requirements of beauty, simply, are for the most part + best satisfied by inexpensive contrivances and structures which in a + straightforward manner suggest both the office which they are to perform + and the method of serving their end. It may be in place to recall the + modern psychological position. Beauty of form seems to be a question of + facility of apperception. The proposition could perhaps safely be made + broader than this. If abstraction is made from association, suggestion, + and "expression," classed as elements of beauty, then beauty in any + perceived object means that the mind readily unfolds its apperceptive + activity in the directions which the object in question affords. But the + directions in which activity readily unfolds or expresses itself are the + directions to which long and close habituation has made the mind prone. So + far as concerns the essential elements of beauty, this habituation is an + habituation so close and long as to have induced not only a proclivity to + the apperceptive form in question, but an adaptation of physiological + structure and function as well. So far as the economic interest enters + into the constitution of beauty, it enters as a suggestion or expression + of adequacy to a purpose, a manifest and readily inferable subservience to + the life process. This expression of economic facility or economic + serviceability in any object—what may be called the economic beauty + of the object-is best served by neat and unambiguous suggestion of its + office and its efficiency for the material ends of life. + </p> + <p> + On this ground, among objects of use the simple and unadorned article is + aesthetically the best. But since the pecuniary canon of reputability + rejects the inexpensive in articles appropriated to individual + consumption, the satisfaction of our craving for beautiful things must be + sought by way of compromise. The canons of beauty must be circumvented by + some contrivance which will give evidence of a reputably wasteful + expenditure, at the same time that it meets the demands of our critical + sense of the useful and the beautiful, or at least meets the demand of + some habit which has come to do duty in place of that sense. Such an + auxiliary sense of taste is the sense of novelty; and this latter is + helped out in its surrogateship by the curiosity with which men view + ingenious and puzzling contrivances. Hence it comes that most objects + alleged to be beautiful, and doing duty as such, show considerable + ingenuity of design and are calculated to puzzle the beholder—to + bewilder him with irrelevant suggestions and hints of the improbable—at + the same time that they give evidence of an expenditure of labor in excess + of what would give them their fullest efficency for their ostensible + economic end. + </p> + <p> + This may be shown by an illustration taken from outside the range of our + everyday habits and everyday contact, and so outside the range of our + bias. Such are the remarkable feather mantles of Hawaii, or the well-known + cawed handles of the ceremonial adzes of several Polynesian islands. These + are undeniably beautiful, both in the sense that they offer a pleasing + composition of form, lines, and color, and in the sense that they evince + great skill and ingenuity in design and construction. At the same time the + articles are manifestly ill fitted to serve any other economic purpose. + But it is not always that the evolution of ingenious and puzzling + contrivances under the guidance of the canon of wasted effort works out so + happy a result. The result is quite as often a virtually complete + suppression of all elements that would bear scrutiny as expressions of + beauty, or of serviceability, and the substitution of evidences of + misspent ingenuity and labor, backed by a conspicuous ineptitude; until + many of the objects with which we surround ourselves in everyday life, and + even many articles of everyday dress and ornament, are such as would not + be tolerated except under the stress of prescriptive tradition. + Illustrations of this substitution of ingenuity and expense in place of + beauty and serviceability are to be seen, for instance, in domestic + architecture, in domestic art or fancy work, in various articles of + apparel, especially of feminine and priestly apparel. + </p> + <p> + The canon of beauty requires expression of the generic. The "novelty" due + to the demands of conspicuous waste traverses this canon of beauty, in + that it results in making the physiognomy of our objects of taste a + congeries of idiosyncrasies; and the idiosyncrasies are, moreover, under + the selective surveillance of the canon of expensiveness. + </p> + <p> + This process of selective adaptation of designs to the end of conspicuous + waste, and the substitution of pecuniary beauty for aesthetic beauty, has + been especially effective in the development of architecture. It would be + extremely difficult to find a modern civilized residence or public + building which can claim anything better than relative inoffensiveness in + the eyes of anyone who will dissociate the elements of beauty from those + of honorific waste. The endless variety of fronts presented by the better + class of tenements and apartment houses in our cities is an endless + variety of architectural distress and of suggestions of expensive + discomfort. Considered as objects of beauty, the dead walls of the sides + and back of these structures, left untouched by the hands of the artist, + are commonly the best feature of the building. + </p> + <p> + What has been said of the influence of the law of conspicuous waste upon + the canons of taste will hold true, with but a slight change of terms, of + its influence upon our notions of the serviceability of goods for other + ends than the aesthetic one. Goods are produced and consumed as a means to + the fuller unfolding of human life; and their utility consists, in the + first instance, in their efficiency as means to this end. The end is, in + the first instance, the fullness of life of the individual, taken in + absolute terms. But the human proclivity to emulation has seized upon the + consumption of goods as a means to an invidious comparison, and has + thereby invested consumable goods with a secondary utility as evidence of + relative ability to pay. This indirect or secondary use of consumable + goods lends an honorific character to consumption and presently also to + the goods which best serve the emulative end of consumption. The + consumption of expensive goods is meritorious, and the goods which contain + an appreciable element of cost in excess of what goes to give them + serviceability for their ostensible mechanical purpose are honorific. The + marks of superfluous costliness in the goods are therefore marks of worth—of + high efficency for the indirect, invidious end to be served by their + consumption; and conversely, goods are humilific, and therefore + unattractive, if they show too thrifty an adaptation to the mechanical end + sought and do not include a margin of expensiveness on which to rest a + complacent invidious comparison. This indirect utility gives much of their + value to the "better" grades of goods. In order to appeal to the + cultivated sense of utility, an article must contain a modicum of this + indirect utility. + </p> + <p> + While men may have set out with disapproving an inexpensive manner of + living because it indicated inability to spend much, and so indicated a + lack of pecuniary success, they end by falling into the habit of + disapproving cheap things as being intrinsically dishonorable or unworthy + because they are cheap. As time has gone on, each succeeding generation + has received this tradition of meritorious expenditure from the generation + before it, and has in its turn further elaborated and fortified the + traditional canon of pecuniary reputability in goods consumed; until we + have finally reached such a degree of conviction as to the unworthiness of + all inexpensive things, that we have no longer any misgivings in + formulating the maxim, "Cheap and nasty." So thoroughly has the habit of + approving the expensive and disapproving the inexpensive been ingrained + into our thinking that we instinctively insist upon at least some measure + of wasteful expensiveness in all our consumption, even in the case of + goods which are consumed in strict privacy and without the slightest + thought of display. We all feel, sincerely and without misgiving, that we + are the more lifted up in spirit for having, even in the privacy of our + own household, eaten our daily meal by the help of hand-wrought silver + utensils, from hand-painted china (often of dubious artistic value) laid + on high-priced table linen. Any retrogression from the standard of living + which we are accustomed to regard as worthy in this respect is felt to be + a grievous violation of our human dignity. So, also, for the last dozen + years candles have been a more pleasing source of light at dinner than any + other. Candlelight is now softer, less distressing to well-bred eyes, than + oil, gas, or electric light. The same could not have been said thirty + years ago, when candles were, or recently had been, the cheapest available + light for domestic use. Nor are candles even now found to give an + acceptable or effective light for any other than a ceremonial + illumination. + </p> + <p> + A political sage still living has summed up the conclusion of this whole + matter in the dictum: "A cheap coat makes a cheap man," and there is + probably no one who does not feel the convincing force of the maxim. + </p> + <p> + The habit of looking for the marks of superfluous expensiveness in goods, + and of requiring that all goods should afford some utility of the indirect + or invidious sort, leads to a change in the standards by which the utility + of goods is gauged. The honorific element and the element of brute + efficiency are not held apart in the consumer's appreciation of + commodities, and the two together go to make up the unanalyzed aggregate + serviceability of the goods. Under the resulting standard of + serviceability, no article will pass muster on the strength of material + sufficiency alone. In order to completeness and full acceptability to the + consumer it must also show the honorific element. It results that the + producers of articles of consumption direct their efforts to the + production of goods that shall meet this demand for the honorific element. + They will do this with all the more alacrity and effect, since they are + themselves under the dominance of the same standard of worth in goods, and + would be sincerely grieved at the sight of goods which lack the proper + honorific finish. Hence it has come about that there are today no goods + supplied in any trade which do not contain the honorific element in + greater or less degree. Any consumer who might, Diogenes-like, insist on + the elimination of all honorific or wasteful elements from his + consumption, would be unable to supply his most trivial wants in the + modern market. Indeed, even if he resorted to supplying his wants directly + by his own efforts, he would find it difficult if not impossible to divest + himself of the current habits of thought on this head; so that he could + scarcely compass a supply of the necessaries of life for a day's + consumption without instinctively and by oversight incorporating in his + home-made product something of this honorific, quasi-decorative element of + wasted labor. + </p> + <p> + It is notorious that in their selection of serviceable goods in the retail + market purchasers are guided more by the finish and workmanship of the + goods than by any marks of substantial serviceability. Goods, in order to + sell, must have some appreciable amount of labor spent in giving them the + marks of decent expensiveness, in addition to what goes to give them + efficiency for the material use which they are to serve. This habit of + making obvious costliness a canon of serviceability of course acts to + enhance the aggregate cost of articles of consumption. It puts us on our + guard against cheapness by identifying merit in some degree with cost. + There is ordinarily a consistent effort on the part of the consumer to + obtain goods of the required serviceability at as advantageous a bargain + as may be; but the conventional requirement of obvious costliness, as a + voucher and a constituent of the serviceability of the goods, leads him to + reject as under grade such goods as do not contain a large element of + conspicuous waste. + </p> + <p> + It is to be added that a large share of those features of consumable goods + which figure in popular apprehension as marks of serviceability, and to + which reference is here had as elements of conspicuous waste, commend + themselves to the consumer also on other grounds than that of + expensiveness alone. They usually give evidence of skill and effective + workmanship, even if they do not contribute to the substantial + serviceability of the goods; and it is no doubt largely on some such + ground that any particular mark of honorific serviceability first comes + into vogue and afterward maintains its footing as a normal constituent + element of the worth of an article. A display of efficient workmanship is + pleasing simply as such, even where its remoter, for the time + unconsidered, outcome is futile. There is a gratification of the artistic + sense in the contemplation of skillful work. But it is also to be added + that no such evidence of skillful workmanship, or of ingenious and + effective adaptation of means to an end, will, in the long run, enjoy the + approbation of the modern civilized consumer unless it has the sanction of + the Canon of conspicuous waste. + </p> + <p> + The position here taken is enforced in a felicitous manner by the place + assigned in the economy of consumption to machine products. The point of + material difference between machine-made goods and the hand-wrought goods + which serve the same purposes is, ordinarily, that the former serve their + primary purpose more adequately. They are a more perfect product—show + a more perfect adaptation of means to end. This does not save them from + disesteem and deprecation, for they fall short under the test of honorific + waste. Hand labor is a more wasteful method of production; hence the goods + turned out by this method are more serviceable for the purpose of + pecuniary reputability; hence the marks of hand labor come to be + honorific, and the goods which exhibit these marks take rank as of higher + grade than the corresponding machine product. Commonly, if not invariably, + the honorific marks of hand labor are certain imperfections and + irregularities in the lines of the hand-wrought article, showing where the + workman has fallen short in the execution of the design. The ground of the + superiority of hand-wrought goods, therefore, is a certain margin of + crudeness. This margin must never be so wide as to show bungling + workmanship, since that would be evidence of low cost, nor so narrow as to + suggest the ideal precision attained only by the machine, for that would + be evidence of low cost. + </p> + <p> + The appreciation of those evidences of honorific crudeness to which + hand-wrought goods owe their superior worth and charm in the eyes of + well-bred people is a matter of nice discrimination. It requires training + and the formation of right habits of thought with respect to what may be + called the physiognomy of goods. Machine-made goods of daily use are often + admired and preferred precisely on account of their excessive perfection + by the vulgar and the underbred who have not given due thought to the + punctilios of elegant consumption. The ceremonial inferiority of machine + products goes to show that the perfection of skill and workmanship + embodied in any costly innovations in the finish of goods is not + sufficient of itself to secure them acceptance and permanent favor. The + innovation must have the support of the canon of conspicuous waste. Any + feature in the physiognomy of goods, however pleasing in itself, and + however well it may approve itself to the taste for effective work, will + not be tolerated if it proves obnoxious to this norm of pecuniary + reputability. + </p> + <p> + The ceremonial inferiority or uncleanness in consumable goods due to + "commonness," or in other words to their slight cost of production, has + been taken very seriously by many persons. The objection to machine + products is often formulated as an objection to the commonness of such + goods. What is common is within the (pecuniary) reach of many people. Its + consumption is therefore not honorific, since it does not serve the + purpose of a favorable invidious comparison with other consumers. Hence + the consumption, or even the sight of such goods, is inseparable from an + odious suggestion of the lower levels of human life, and one comes away + from their contemplation with a pervading sense of meanness that is + extremely distasteful and depressing to a person of sensibility. In + persons whose tastes assert themselves imperiously, and who have not the + gift, habit, or incentive to discriminate between the grounds of their + various judgments of taste, the deliverances of the sense of the honorific + coalesce with those of the sense of beauty and of the sense of + serviceability—in the manner already spoken of; the resulting + composite valuation serves as a judgment of the object's beauty or its + serviceability, according as the valuer's bias or interest inclines him to + apprehend the object in the one or the other of these aspects. It follows + not infrequently that the marks of cheapness or commonness are accepted as + definitive marks of artistic unfitness, and a code or schedule of + aesthetic proprieties on the one hand, and of aesthetic abominations on + the other, is constructed on this basis for guidance in questions of + taste. + </p> + <p> + As has already been pointed out, the cheap, and therefore indecorous, + articles of daily consumption in modern industrial communities are + commonly machine products; and the generic feature of the physiognomy of + machine-made goods as compared with the hand-wrought article is their + greater perfection in workmanship and greater accuracy in the detail + execution of the design. Hence it comes about that the visible + imperfections of the hand-wrought goods, being honorific, are accounted + marks of superiority in point of beauty, or serviceability, or both. Hence + has arisen that exaltation of the defective, of which John Ruskin and + William Morris were such eager spokesmen in their time; and on this ground + their propaganda of crudity and wasted effort has been taken up and + carried forward since their time. And hence also the propaganda for a + return to handicraft and household industry. So much of the work and + speculations of this group of men as fairly comes under the + characterization here given would have been impossible at a time when the + visibly more perfect goods were not the cheaper. + </p> + <p> + It is of course only as to the economic value of this school of aesthetic + teaching that anything is intended to be said or can be said here. What is + said is not to be taken in the sense of depreciation, but chiefly as a + characterization of the tendency of this teaching in its effect on + consumption and on the production of consumable goods. + </p> + <p> + The manner in which the bias of this growth of taste has worked itself out + in production is perhaps most cogently exemplified in the book manufacture + with which Morris busied himself during the later years of his life; but + what holds true of the work of the Kelmscott Press in an eminent degree, + holds true with but slightly abated force when applied to latter-day + artistic book-making generally—as to type, paper, illustration, + binding materials, and binder's work. The claims to excellence put forward + by the later products of the bookmaker's industry rest in some measure on + the degree of its approximation to the crudities of the time when the work + of book-making was a doubtful struggle with refractory materials carried + on by means of insufficient appliances. These products, since they require + hand labor, are more expensive; they are also less convenient for use than + the books turned out with a view to serviceability alone; they therefore + argue ability on the part of the purchaser to consume freely, as well as + ability to waste time and effort. It is on this basis that the printers of + today are returning to "old-style," and other more or less obsolete styles + of type which are less legible and give a cruder appearance to the page + than the "modern." Even a scientific periodical, with ostensibly no + purpose but the most effective presentation of matter with which its + science is concerned, will concede so much to the demands of this + pecuniary beauty as to publish its scientific discussions in oldstyle + type, on laid paper, and with uncut edges. But books which are not + ostensibly concerned with the effective presentation of their contents + alone, of course go farther in this direction. Here we have a somewhat + cruder type, printed on hand-laid, deckel-edged paper, with excessive + margins and uncut leaves, with bindings of a painstaking crudeness and + elaborate ineptitude. The Kelmscott Press reduced the matter to an + absurdity—as seen from the point of view of brute serviceability + alone—by issuing books for modern use, edited with the obsolete + spelling, printed in black-letter, and bound in limp vellum fitted with + thongs. As a further characteristic feature which fixes the economic place + of artistic book-making, there is the fact that these more elegant books + are, at their best, printed in limited editions. A limited edition is in + effect a guarantee—somewhat crude, it is true—that this book + is scarce and that it therefore is costly and lends pecuniary distinction + to its consumer. + </p> + <p> + The special attractiveness of these book-products to the book-buyer of + cultivated taste lies, of course, not in a conscious, naive recognition of + their costliness and superior clumsiness. Here, as in the parallel case of + the superiority of hand-wrought articles over machine products, the + conscious ground of preference is an intrinsic excellence imputed to the + costlier and more awkward article. The superior excellence imputed to the + book which imitates the products of antique and obsolete processes is + conceived to be chiefly a superior utility in the aesthetic respect; but + it is not unusual to find a well-bred book-lover insisting that the + clumsier product is also more serviceable as a vehicle of printed speech. + So far as regards the superior aesthetic value of the decadent book, the + chances are that the book-lover's contention has some ground. The book is + designed with an eye single to its beauty, and the result is commonly some + measure of success on the part of the designer. What is insisted on here, + however, is that the canon of taste under which the designer works is a + canon formed under the surveillance of the law of conspicuous waste, and + that this law acts selectively to eliminate any canon of taste that does + not conform to its demands. That is to say, while the decadent book may be + beautiful, the limits within which the designer may work are fixed by + requirements of a non-aesthetic kind. The product, if it is beautiful, + must also at the same time be costly and ill adapted to its ostensible + use. This mandatory canon of taste in the case of the book-designer, + however, is not shaped entirely by the law of waste in its first form; the + canon is to some extent shaped in conformity to that secondary expression + of the predatory temperament, veneration for the archaic or obsolete, + which in one of its special developments is called classicism. In + aesthetic theory it might be extremely difficult, if not quite + impracticable, to draw a line between the canon of classicism, or regard + for the archaic, and the canon of beauty. For the aesthetic purpose such a + distinction need scarcely be drawn, and indeed it need not exist. For a + theory of taste the expression of an accepted ideal of archaism, on + whatever basis it may have been accepted, is perhaps best rated as an + element of beauty; there need be no question of its legitimation. But for + the present purpose—for the purpose of determining what economic + grounds are present in the accepted canons of taste and what is their + significance for the distribution and consumption of goods—the + distinction is not similarly beside the point. The position of machine + products in the civilized scheme of consumption serves to point out the + nature of the relation which subsists between the canon of conspicuous + waste and the code of proprieties in consumption. Neither in matters of + art and taste proper, nor as regards the current sense of the + serviceability of goods, does this canon act as a principle of innovation + or initiative. It does not go into the future as a creative principle + which makes innovations and adds new items of consumption and new elements + of cost. The principle in question is, in a certain sense, a negative + rather than a positive law. It is a regulative rather than a creative + principle. It very rarely initiates or originates any usage or custom + directly. Its action is selective only. Conspicuous wastefulness does not + directly afford ground for variation and growth, but conformity to its + requirements is a condition to the survival of such innovations as may be + made on other grounds. In whatever way usages and customs and methods of + expenditure arise, they are all subject to the selective action of this + norm of reputability; and the degree in which they conform to its + requirements is a test of their fitness to survive in the competition with + other similar usages and customs. Other thing being equal, the more + obviously wasteful usage or method stands the better chance of survival + under this law. The law of conspicuous waste does not account for the + origin of variations, but only for the persistence of such forms as are + fit to survive under its dominance. It acts to conserve the fit, not to + originate the acceptable. Its office is to prove all things and to hold + fast that which is good for its purpose. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter Seven ~~ Dress as an Expression of the Pecuniary Culture + </h2> + <p> + It will in place, by way of illustration, to show in some detail how the + economic principles so far set forth apply to everyday facts in some one + direction of the life process. For this purpose no line of consumption + affords a more apt illustration than expenditure on dress. It is + especially the rule of the conspicuous waste of goods that finds + expression in dress, although the other, related principles of pecuniary + repute are also exemplified in the same contrivances. Other methods of + putting one's pecuniary standing in evidence serve their end effectually, + and other methods are in vogue always and everywhere; but expenditure on + dress has this advantage over most other methods, that our apparel is + always in evidence and affords an indication of our pecuniary standing to + all observers at the first glance. It is also true that admitted + expenditure for display is more obviously present, and is, perhaps, more + universally practiced in the matter of dress than in any other line of + consumption. No one finds difficulty in assenting to the commonplace that + the greater part of the expenditure incurred by all classes for apparel is + incurred for the sake of a respectable appearance rather than for the + protection of the person. And probably at no other point is the sense of + shabbiness so keenly felt as it is if we fall short of the standard set by + social usage in this matter of dress. It is true of dress in even a higher + degree than of most other items of consumption, that people will undergo a + very considerable degree of privation in the comforts or the necessaries + of life in order to afford what is considered a decent amount of wasteful + consumption; so that it is by no means an uncommon occurrence, in an + inclement climate, for people to go ill clad in order to appear well + dressed. And the commercial value of the goods used for clotting in any + modern community is made up to a much larger extent of the + fashionableness, the reputability of the goods than of the mechanical + service which they render in clothing the person of the wearer. The need + of dress is eminently a "higher" or spiritual need. + </p> + <p> + This spiritual need of dress is not wholly, nor even chiefly, a naive + propensity for display of expenditure. The law of conspicuous waste guides + consumption in apparel, as in other things, chiefly at the second remove, + by shaping the canons of taste and decency. In the common run of cases the + conscious motive of the wearer or purchaser of conspicuously wasteful + apparel is the need of conforming to established usage, and of living up + to the accredited standard of taste and reputability. It is not only that + one must be guided by the code of proprieties in dress in order to avoid + the mortification that comes of unfavorable notice and comment, though + that motive in itself counts for a great deal; but besides that, the + requirement of expensiveness is so ingrained into our habits of thought in + matters of dress that any other than expensive apparel is instinctively + odious to us. Without reflection or analysis, we feel that what is + inexpensive is unworthy. "A cheap coat makes a cheap man." "Cheap and + nasty" is recognized to hold true in dress with even less mitigation than + in other lines of consumption. On the ground both of taste and of + serviceability, an inexpensive article of apparel is held to be inferior, + under the maxim "cheap and nasty." We find things beautiful, as well as + serviceable, somewhat in proportion as they are costly. With few and + inconsequential exceptions, we all find a costly hand-wrought article of + apparel much preferable, in point of beauty and of serviceability, to a + less expensive imitation of it, however cleverly the spurious article may + imitate the costly original; and what offends our sensibilities in the + spurious article is not that it falls short in form or color, or, indeed, + in visual effect in any way. The offensive object may be so close an + imitation as to defy any but the closest scrutiny; and yet so soon as the + counterfeit is detected, its aesthetic value, and its commercial value as + well, declines precipitately. Not only that, but it may be asserted with + but small risk of contradiction that the aesthetic value of a detected + counterfeit in dress declines somewhat in the same proportion as the + counterfeit is cheaper than its original. It loses caste aesthetically + because it falls to a lower pecuniary grade. + </p> + <p> + But the function of dress as an evidence of ability to pay does not end + with simply showing that the wearer consumes valuable goods in excess of + what is required for physical comfort. Simple conspicuous waste of goods + is effective and gratifying as far as it goes; it is good prima facie + evidence of pecuniary success, and consequently prima facie evidence of + social worth. But dress has subtler and more far-reaching possibilities + than this crude, first-hand evidence of wasteful consumption only. If, in + addition to showing that the wearer can afford to consume freely and + uneconomically, it can also be shown in the same stroke that he or she is + not under the necessity of earning a livelihood, the evidence of social + worth is enhanced in a very considerable degree. Our dress, therefore, in + order to serve its purpose effectually, should not only he expensive, but + it should also make plain to all observers that the wearer is not engaged + in any kind of productive labor. In the evolutionary process by which our + system of dress has been elaborated into its present admirably perfect + adaptation to its purpose, this subsidiary line of evidence has received + due attention. A detailed examination of what passes in popular + apprehension for elegant apparel will show that it is contrived at every + point to convey the impression that the wearer does not habitually put + forth any useful effort. It goes without saying that no apparel can be + considered elegant, or even decent, if it shows the effect of manual labor + on the part of the wearer, in the way of soil or wear. The pleasing effect + of neat and spotless garments is chiefly, if not altogether, due to their + carrying the suggestion of leisure-exemption from personal contact with + industrial processes of any kind. Much of the charm that invests the + patent-leather shoe, the stainless linen, the lustrous cylindrical hat, + and the walking-stick, which so greatly enhance the native dignity of a + gentleman, comes of their pointedly suggesting that the wearer cannot when + so attired bear a hand in any employment that is directly and immediately + of any human use. Elegant dress serves its purpose of elegance not only in + that it is expensive, but also because it is the insignia of leisure. It + not only shows that the wearer is able to consume a relatively large + value, but it argues at the same time that he consumes without producing. + </p> + <p> + The dress of women goes even farther than that of men in the way of + demonstrating the wearer's abstinence from productive employment. It needs + no argument to enforce the generalization that the more elegant styles of + feminine bonnets go even farther towards making work impossible than does + the man's high hat. The woman's shoe adds the so-called French heel to the + evidence of enforced leisure afforded by its polish; because this high + heel obviously makes any, even the simplest and most necessary manual work + extremely difficult. The like is true even in a higher degree of the skirt + and the rest of the drapery which characterizes woman's dress. The + substantial reason for our tenacious attachment to the skirt is just this; + it is expensive and it hampers the wearer at every turn and incapacitates + her for all useful exertion. The like is true of the feminine custom of + wearing the hair excessively long. + </p> + <p> + But the woman's apparel not only goes beyond that of the modern man in the + degree in which it argues exemption from labor; it also adds a peculiar + and highly characteristic feature which differs in kind from anything + habitually practiced by the men. This feature is the class of contrivances + of which the corset is the typical example. The corset is, in economic + theory, substantially a mutilation, undergone for the purpose of lowering + the subject's vitality and rendering her permanently and obviously unfit + for work. It is true, the corset impairs the personal attractions of the + wearer, but the loss suffered on that score is offset by the gain in + reputability which comes of her visibly increased expensiveness and + infirmity. It may broadly be set down that the womanliness of woman's + apparel resolves itself, in point of substantial fact, into the more + effective hindrance to useful exertion offered by the garments peculiar to + women. This difference between masculine and feminine apparel is here + simply pointed out as a characteristic feature. The ground of its + occurrence will be discussed presently. + </p> + <p> + So far, then, we have, as the great and dominant norm of dress, the broad + principle of conspicuous waste. Subsidiary to this principle, and as a + corollary under it, we get as a second norm the principle of conspicuous + leisure. In dress construction this norm works out in the shape of divers + contrivances going to show that the wearer does not and, as far as it may + conveniently be shown, can not engage in productive labor. Beyond these + two principles there is a third of scarcely less constraining force, which + will occur to any one who reflects at all on the subject. Dress must not + only be conspicuously expensive and inconvenient, it must at the same time + be up to date. No explanation at all satisfactory has hitherto been + offered of the phenomenon of changing fashions. The imperative requirement + of dressing in the latest accredited manner, as well as the fact that this + accredited fashion constantly changes from season to season, is + sufficiently familiar to every one, but the theory of this flux and change + has not been worked out. We may of course say, with perfect consistency + and truthfulness, that this principle of novelty is another corollary + under the law of conspicuous waste. Obviously, if each garment is + permitted to serve for but a brief term, and if none of last season's + apparel is carried over and made further use of during the present season, + the wasteful expenditure on dress is greatly increased. This is good as + far as it goes, but it is negative only. Pretty much all that this + consideration warrants us in saying is that the norm of conspicuous waste + exercises a controlling surveillance in all matters of dress, so that any + change in the fashions must conspicuous waste exercises a controlling + surveillance in all matters of dress, so that any change in the fashions + must conform to the requirement of wastefulness; it leaves unanswered the + question as to the motive for making and accepting a change in the + prevailing styles, and it also fails to explain why conformity to a given + style at a given time is so imperatively necessary as we know it to be. + </p> + <p> + For a creative principle, capable of serving as motive to invention and + innovation in fashions, we shall have to go back to the primitive, + non-economic motive with which apparel originated—the motive of + adornment. Without going into an extended discussion of how and why this + motive asserts itself under the guidance of the law of expensiveness, it + may be stated broadly that each successive innovation in the fashions is + an effort to reach some form of display which shall be more acceptable to + our sense of form and color or of effectiveness, than that which it + displaces. The changing styles are the expression of a restless search for + something which shall commend itself to our aesthetic sense; but as each + innovation is subject to the selective action of the norm of conspicuous + waste, the range within which innovation can take place is somewhat + restricted. The innovation must not only be more beautiful, or perhaps + oftener less offensive, than that which it displaces, but it must also + come up to the accepted standard of expensiveness. + </p> + <p> + It would seem at first sight that the result of such an unremitting + struggle to attain the beautiful in dress should be a gradual approach to + artistic perfection. We might naturally expect that the fashions should + show a well-marked trend in the direction of some one or more types of + apparel eminently becoming to the human form; and we might even feel that + we have substantial ground for the hope that today, after all the + ingenuity and effort which have been spent on dress these many years, the + fashions should have achieved a relative perfection and a relative + stability, closely approximating to a permanently tenable artistic ideal. + But such is not the case. It would be very hazardous indeed to assert that + the styles of today are intrinsically more becoming than those of ten + years ago, or than those of twenty, or fifty, or one hundred years ago. On + the other hand, the assertion freely goes uncontradicted that styles in + vogue two thousand years ago are more becoming than the most elaborate and + painstaking constructions of today. + </p> + <p> + The explanation of the fashions just offered, then, does not fully + explain, and we shall have to look farther. It is well known that certain + relatively stable styles and types of costume have been worked out in + various parts of the world; as, for instance, among the Japanese, Chinese, + and other Oriental nations; likewise among the Greeks, Romans, and other + Eastern peoples of antiquity so also, in later times, among the peasants + of nearly every country of Europe. These national or popular costumes are + in most cases adjudged by competent critics to be more becoming, more + artistic, than the fluctuating styles of modern civilized apparel. At the + same time they are also, at least usually, less obviously wasteful; that + is to say, other elements than that of a display of expense are more + readily detected in their structure. + </p> + <p> + These relatively stable costumes are, commonly, pretty strictly and + narrowly localized, and they vary by slight and systematic gradations from + place to place. They have in every case been worked out by peoples or + classes which are poorer than we, and especially they belong in countries + and localities and times where the population, or at least the class to + which the costume in question belongs, is relatively homogeneous, stable, + and immobile. That is to say, stable costumes which will bear the test of + time and perspective are worked out under circumstances where the norm of + conspicuous waste asserts itself less imperatively than it does in the + large modern civilized cities, whose relatively mobile wealthy population + today sets the pace in matters of fashion. The countries and classes which + have in this way worked out stable and artistic costumes have been so + placed that the pecuniary emulation among them has taken the direction of + a competition in conspicuous leisure rather than in conspicuous + consumption of goods. So that it will hold true in a general way that + fashions are least stable and least becoming in those communities where + the principle of a conspicuous waste of goods asserts itself most + imperatively, as among ourselves. All this points to an antagonism between + expensiveness and artistic apparel. In point of practical fact, the norm + of conspicuous waste is incompatible with the requirement that dress + should be beautiful or becoming. And this antagonism offers an explanation + of that restless change in fashion which neither the canon of + expensiveness nor that of beauty alone can account for. + </p> + <p> + The standard of reputability requires that dress should show wasteful + expenditure; but all wastefulness is offensive to native taste. The + psychological law has already been pointed out that all men—and + women perhaps even in a higher degree abhor futility, whether of effort or + of expenditure—much as Nature was once said to abhor a vacuum. But + the principle of conspicuous waste requires an obviously futile + expenditure; and the resulting conspicuous expensiveness of dress is + therefore intrinsically ugly. Hence we find that in all innovations in + dress, each added or altered detail strives to avoid condemnation by + showing some ostensible purpose, at the same time that the requirement of + conspicuous waste prevents the purposefulness of these innovations from + becoming anything more than a somewhat transparent pretense. Even in its + freest flights, fashion rarely if ever gets away from a simulation of some + ostensible use. The ostensible usefulness of the fashionable details of + dress, however, is always so transparent a make-believe, and their + substantial futility presently forces itself so baldly upon our attention + as to become unbearable, and then we take refuge in a new style. But the + new style must conform to the requirement of reputable wastefulness and + futility. Its futility presently becomes as odious as that of its + predecessor; and the only remedy which the law of waste allows us is to + seek relief in some new construction, equally futile and equally + untenable. Hence the essential ugliness and the unceasing change of + fashionable attire. + </p> + <p> + Having so explained the phenomenon of shifting fashions, the next thing is + to make the explanation tally with everyday facts. Among these everyday + facts is the well-known liking which all men have for the styles that are + in vogue at any given time. A new style comes into vogue and remains in + favor for a season, and, at least so long as it is a novelty, people very + generally find the new style attractive. The prevailing fashion is felt to + be beautiful. This is due partly to the relief it affords in being + different from what went before it, partly to its being reputable. As + indicated in the last chapter, the canon of reputability to some extent + shapes our tastes, so that under its guidance anything will be accepted as + becoming until its novelty wears off, or until the warrant of reputability + is transferred to a new and novel structure serving the same general + purpose. That the alleged beauty, or "loveliness," of the styles in vogue + at any given time is transient and spurious only is attested by the fact + that none of the many shifting fashions will bear the test of time. When + seen in the perspective of half-a-dozen years or more, the best of our + fashions strike us as grotesque, if not unsightly. Our transient + attachment to whatever happens to be the latest rests on other than + aesthetic grounds, and lasts only until our abiding aesthetic sense has + had time to assert itself and reject this latest indigestible contrivance. + </p> + <p> + The process of developing an aesthetic nausea takes more or less time; the + length of time required in any given case being inversely as the degree of + intrinsic odiousness of the style in question. This time relation between + odiousness and instability in fashions affords ground for the inference + that the more rapidly the styles succeed and displace one another, the + more offensive they are to sound taste. The presumption, therefore, is + that the farther the community, especially the wealthy classes of the + community, develop in wealth and mobility and in the range of their human + contact, the more imperatively will the law of conspicuous waste assert + itself in matters of dress, the more will the sense of beauty tend to fall + into abeyance or be overborne by the canon of pecuniary reputability, the + more rapidly will fashions shift and change, and the more grotesque and + intolerable will be the varying styles that successively come into vogue. + </p> + <p> + There remains at least one point in this theory of dress yet to be + discussed. Most of what has been said applies to men's attire as well as + to that of women; although in modern times it applies at nearly all points + with greater force to that of women. But at one point the dress of women + differs substantially from that of men. In woman's dress there is + obviously greater insistence on such features as testify to the wearer's + exemption from or incapacity for all vulgarly productive employment. This + characteristic of woman's apparel is of interest, not only as completing + the theory of dress, but also as confirming what has already been said of + the economic status of women, both in the past and in the present. + </p> + <p> + As has been seen in the discussion of woman's status under the heads of + Vicarious Leisure and Vicarious Consumption, it has in the course of + economic development become the office of the woman to consume vicariously + for the head of the household; and her apparel is contrived with this + object in view. It has come about that obviously productive labor is in a + peculiar degree derogatory to respectable women, and therefore special + pains should be taken in the construction of women's dress, to impress + upon the beholder the fact (often indeed a fiction) that the wearer does + not and can not habitually engage in useful work. Propriety requires + respectable women to abstain more consistently from useful effort and to + make more of a show of leisure than the men of the same social classes. It + grates painfully on our nerves to contemplate the necessity of any + well-bred woman's earning a livelihood by useful work. It is not "woman's + sphere." Her sphere is within the household, which she should "beautify," + and of which she should be the "chief ornament." The male head of the + household is not currently spoken of as its ornament. This feature taken + in conjunction with the other fact that propriety requires more + unremitting attention to expensive display in the dress and other + paraphernalia of women, goes to enforce the view already implied in what + has gone before. By virtue of its descent from a patriarchal past, our + social system makes it the woman's function in an especial degree to put + in evidence her household's ability to pay. According to the modern + civilized scheme of life, the good name of the household to which she + belongs should be the special care of the woman; and the system of + honorific expenditure and conspicuous leisure by which this good name is + chiefly sustained is therefore the woman's sphere. In the ideal scheme, as + it tends to realize itself in the life of the higher pecuniary classes, + this attention to conspicuous waste of substance and effort should + normally be the sole economic function of the woman. + </p> + <p> + At the stage of economic development at which the women were still in the + full sense the property of the men, the performance of conspicuous leisure + and consumption came to be part of the services required of them. The + women being not their own masters, obvious expenditure and leisure on + their part would redound to the credit of their master rather than to + their own credit; and therefore the more expensive and the more obviously + unproductive the women of the household are, the more creditable and more + effective for the purpose of reputability of the household or its head + will their life be. So much so that the women have been required not only + to afford evidence of a life of leisure, but even to disable themselves + for useful activity. + </p> + <p> + It is at this point that the dress of men falls short of that of women, + and for sufficient reason. Conspicuous waste and conspicuous leisure are + reputable because they are evidence of pecuniary strength; pecuniary + strength is reputable or honorific because, in the last analysis, it + argues success and superior force; therefore the evidence of waste and + leisure put forth by any individual in his own behalf cannot consistently + take such a form or be carried to such a pitch as to argue incapacity or + marked discomfort on his part; as the exhibition would in that case show + not superior force, but inferiority, and so defeat its own purpose. So, + then, wherever wasteful expenditure and the show of abstention from effort + is normally, or on an average, carried to the extent of showing obvious + discomfort or voluntarily induced physical disability. There the immediate + inference is that the individual in question does not perform this + wasteful expenditure and undergo this disability for her own personal gain + in pecuniary repute, but in behalf of some one else to whom she stands in + a relation of economic dependence; a relation which in the last analysis + must, in economic theory, reduce itself to a relation of servitude. + </p> + <p> + To apply this generalization to women's dress, and put the matter in + concrete terms: the high heel, the skirt, the impracticable bonnet, the + corset, and the general disregard of the wearer's comfort which is an + obvious feature of all civilized women's apparel, are so many items of + evidence to the effect that in the modern civilized scheme of life the + woman is still, in theory, the economic dependent of the man—that, + perhaps in a highly idealized sense, she still is the man's chattel. The + homely reason for all this conspicuous leisure and attire on the part of + women lies in the fact that they are servants to whom, in the + differentiation of economic functions, has been delegated the office of + putting in evidence their master's ability to pay. There is a marked + similarity in these respects between the apparel of women and that of + domestic servants, especially liveried servants. In both there is a very + elaborate show of unnecessary expensiveness, and in both cases there is + also a notable disregard of the physical comfort of the wearer. But the + attire of the lady goes farther in its elaborate insistence on the + idleness, if not on the physical infirmity of the wearer, than does that + of the domestic. And this is as it should be; for in theory, according to + the ideal scheme of the pecuniary culture, the lady of the house is the + chief menial of the household. + </p> + <p> + Besides servants, currently recognized as such, there is at least one + other class of persons whose garb assimilates them to the class of + servants and shows many of the features that go to make up the womanliness + of woman's dress. This is the priestly class. Priestly vestments show, in + accentuated form, all the features that have been shown to be evidence of + a servile status and a vicarious life. Even more strikingly than the + everyday habit of the priest, the vestments, properly so called, are + ornate, grotesque, inconvenient, and, at least ostensibly, comfortless to + the point of distress. The priest is at the same time expected to refrain + from useful effort and, when before the public eye, to present an + impassively disconsolate countenance, very much after the manner of a + well-trained domestic servant. The shaven face of the priest is a further + item to the same effect. This assimilation of the priestly class to the + class of body servants, in demeanor and apparel, is due to the similarity + of the two classes as regards economic function. In economic theory, the + priest is a body servant, constructively in attendance upon the person of + the divinity whose livery he wears. His livery is of a very expensive + character, as it should be in order to set forth in a beseeming manner the + dignity of his exalted master; but it is contrived to show that the + wearing of it contributes little or nothing to the physical comfort of the + wearer, for it is an item of vicarious consumption, and the repute which + accrues from its consumption is to be imputed to the absent master, not to + the servant. + </p> + <p> + The line of demarcation between the dress of women, priests, and servants, + on the one hand, and of men, on the other hand, is not always consistently + observed in practice, but it will scarcely be disputed that it is always + present in a more or less definite way in the popular habits of thought. + There are of course also free men, and not a few of them, who, in their + blind zeal for faultless reputable attire, transgress the theoretical line + between man's and woman's dress, to the extent of arraying themselves in + apparel that is obviously designed to vex the mortal frame; but everyone + recognizes without hesitation that such apparel for men is a departure + from the normal. We are in the habit of saying that such dress is + "effeminate"; and one sometimes hears the remark that such or such an + exquisitely attired gentleman is as well dressed as a footman. + </p> + <p> + Certain apparent discrepancies under this theory of dress merit a more + detailed examination, especially as they mark a more or less evident trend + in the later and maturer development of dress. The vogue of the corset + offers an apparent exception from the rule of which it has here been cited + as an illustration. A closer examination, however, will show that this + apparent exception is really a verification of the rule that the vogue of + any given element or feature in dress rests on its utility as an evidence + of pecuniary standing. It is well known that in the industrially more + advanced communities the corset is employed only within certain fairly + well defined social strata. The women of the poorer classes, especially of + the rural population, do not habitually use it, except as a holiday + luxury. Among these classes the women have to work hard, and it avails + them little in the way of a pretense of leisure to so crucify the flesh in + everyday life. The holiday use of the contrivance is due to imitation of a + higher-class canon of decency. Upwards from this low level of indigence + and manual labor, the corset was until within a generation or two nearly + indispensable to a socially blameless standing for all women, including + the wealthiest and most reputable. This rule held so long as there still + was no large class of people wealthy enough to be above the imputation of + any necessity for manual labor and at the same time large enough to form a + self-sufficient, isolated social body whose mass would afford a foundation + for special rules of conduct within the class, enforced by the current + opinion of the class alone. But now there has grown up a large enough + leisure class possessed of such wealth that any aspersion on the score of + enforced manual employment would be idle and harmless calumny; and the + corset has therefore in large measure fallen into disuse within this + class. The exceptions under this rule of exemption from the corset are + more apparent than real. They are the wealthy classes of countries with a + lower industrial structure—nearer the archaic, quasi-industrial type—together + with the later accessions of the wealthy classes in the more advanced + industrial communities. The latter have not yet had time to divest + themselves of the plebeian canons of taste and of reputability carried + over from their former, lower pecuniary grade. Such survival of the corset + is not infrequent among the higher social classes of those American + cities, for instance, which have recently and rapidly risen into opulence. + If the word be used as a technical term, without any odious implication, + it may be said that the corset persists in great measure through the + period of snobbery—the interval of uncertainty and of transition + from a lower to the upper levels of pecuniary culture. That is to say, in + all countries which have inherited the corset it continues in use wherever + and so long as it serves its purpose as an evidence of honorific leisure + by arguing physical disability in the wearer. The same rule of course + applies to other mutilations and contrivances for decreasing the visible + efficiency of the individual. + </p> + <p> + Something similar should hold true with respect to divers items of + conspicuous consumption, and indeed something of the kind does seem to + hold to a slight degree of sundry features of dress, especially if such + features involve a marked discomfort or appearance of discomfort to the + wearer. During the past one hundred years there is a tendency perceptible, + in the development of men's dress especially, to discontinue methods of + expenditure and the use of symbols of leisure which must have been + irksome, which may have served a good purpose in their time, but the + continuation of which among the upper classes today would be a work of + supererogation; as, for instance, the use of powdered wigs and of gold + lace, and the practice of constantly shaving the face. There has of late + years been some slight recrudescence of the shaven face in polite society, + but this is probably a transient and unadvised mimicry of the fashion + imposed upon body servants, and it may fairly be expected to go the way of + the powdered wig of our grandfathers. + </p> + <p> + These indices and others which resemble them in point of the boldness with + which they point out to all observers the habitual uselessness of those + persons who employ them, have been replaced by other, more dedicate + methods of expressing the same fact; methods which are no less evident to + the trained eyes of that smaller, select circle whose good opinion is + chiefly sought. The earlier and cruder method of advertisement held its + ground so long as the public to which the exhibitor had to appeal + comprised large portions of the community who were not trained to detect + delicate variations in the evidences of wealth and leisure. The method of + advertisement undergoes a refinement when a sufficiently large wealthy + class has developed, who have the leisure for acquiring skill in + interpreting the subtler signs of expenditure. "Loud" dress becomes + offensive to people of taste, as evincing an undue desire to reach and + impress the untrained sensibilities of the vulgar. To the individual of + high breeding, it is only the more honorific esteem accorded by the + cultivated sense of the members of his own high class that is of material + consequence. Since the wealthy leisure class has grown so large, or the + contact of the leisure-class individual with members of his own class has + grown so wide, as to constitute a human environment sufficient for the + honorific purpose, there arises a tendency to exclude the baser elements + of the population from the scheme even as spectators whose applause or + mortification should be sought. The result of all this is a refinement of + methods, a resort to subtler contrivances, and a spiritualization of the + scheme of symbolism in dress. And as this upper leisure class sets the + pace in all matters of decency, the result for the rest of society also is + a gradual amelioration of the scheme of dress. As the community advances + in wealth and culture, the ability to pay is put in evidence by means + which require a progressively nicer discrimination in the beholder. This + nicer discrimination between advertising media is in fact a very large + element of the higher pecuniary culture. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter Eight ~~ Industrial Exemption and Conservatism + </h2> + <p> + The life of man in society, just like the life of other species, is a + struggle for existence, and therefore it is a process of selective + adaptation. The evolution of social structure has been a process of + natural selection of institutions. The progress which has been and is + being made in human institutions and in human character may be set down, + broadly, to a natural selection of the fittest habits of thought and to a + process of enforced adaptation of individuals to an environment which has + progressively changed with the growth of the community and with the + changing institutions under which men have lived. Institutions are not + only themselves the result of a selective and adaptive process which + shapes the prevailing or dominant types of spiritual attitude and + aptitudes; they are at the same time special methods of life and of human + relations, and are therefore in their turn efficient factors of selection. + So that the changing institutions in their turn make for a further + selection of individuals endowed with the fittest temperament, and a + further adaptation of individual temperament and habits to the changing + environment through the formation of new institutions. + </p> + <p> + The forces which have shaped the development of human life and of social + structure are no doubt ultimately reducible to terms of living tissue and + material environment; but proximately for the purpose in hand, these + forces may best be stated in terms of an environment, partly human, partly + non-human, and a human subject with a more or less definite physical and + intellectual constitution. Taken in the aggregate or average, this human + subject is more or less variable; chiefly, no doubt, under a rule of + selective conservation of favorable variations. The selection of favorable + variations is perhaps in great measure a selective conservation of ethnic + types. In the life history of any community whose population is made up of + a mixture of divers ethnic elements, one or another of several persistent + and relatively stable types of body and of temperament rises into + dominance at any given point. The situation, including the institutions in + force at any given time, will favor the survival and dominance of one type + of character in preference to another; and the type of man so selected to + continue and to further elaborate the institutions handed down from the + past will in some considerable measure shape these institutions in his own + likeness. But apart from selection as between relatively stable types of + character and habits of mind, there is no doubt simultaneously going on a + process of selective adaptation of habits of thought within the general + range of aptitudes which is characteristic of the dominant ethnic type or + types. There may be a variation in the fundamental character of any + population by selection between relatively stable types; but there is also + a variation due to adaptation in detail within the range of the type, and + to selection between specific habitual views regarding any given social + relation or group of relations. + </p> + <p> + For the present purpose, however, the question as to the nature of the + adaptive process—whether it is chiefly a selection between stable + types of temperament and character, or chiefly an adaptation of men's + habits of thought to changing circumstances—is of less importance + than the fact that, by one method or another, institutions change and + develop. Institutions must change with changing circumstances, since they + are of the nature of an habitual method of responding to the stimuli which + these changing circumstances afford. The development of these institutions + is the development of society. The institutions are, in substance, + prevalent habits of thought with respect to particular relations and + particular functions of the individual and of the community; and the + scheme of life, which is made up of the aggregate of institutions in force + at a given time or at a given point in the development of any society, + may, on the psychological side, be broadly characterized as a prevalent + spiritual attitude or a prevalent theory of life. As regards its generic + features, this spiritual attitude or theory of life is in the last + analysis reducible to terms of a prevalent type of character. + </p> + <p> + The situation of today shapes the institutions of tomorrow through a + selective, coercive process, by acting upon men's habitual view of things, + and so altering or fortifying a point of view or a mental attitude handed + down from the past. The institutions—that is to say the habits of + thought—under the guidance of which men live are in this way + received from an earlier time; more or less remotely earlier, but in any + event they have been elaborated in and received from the past. + Institutions are products of the past process, are adapted to past + circumstances, and are therefore never in full accord with the + requirements of the present. In the nature of the case, this process of + selective adaptation can never catch up with the progressively changing + situation in which the community finds itself at any given time; for the + environment, the situation, the exigencies of life which enforce the + adaptation and exercise the selection, change from day to day; and each + successive situation of the community in its turn tends to obsolescence as + soon as it has been established. When a step in the development has been + taken, this step itself constitutes a change of situation which requires a + new adaptation; it becomes the point of departure for a new step in the + adjustment, and so on interminably. + </p> + <p> + It is to be noted then, although it may be a tedious truism, that the + institutions of today—the present accepted scheme of life—do + not entirely fit the situation of today. At the same time, men's present + habits of thought tend to persist indefinitely, except as circumstances + enforce a change. These institutions which have thus been handed down, + these habits of thought, points of view, mental attitudes and aptitudes, + or what not, are therefore themselves a conservative factor. This is the + factor of social inertia, psychological inertia, conservatism. Social + structure changes, develops, adapts itself to an altered situation, only + through a change in the habits of thought of the several classes of the + community, or in the last analysis, through a change in the habits of + thought of the individuals which make up the community. The evolution of + society is substantially a process of mental adaptation on the part of + individuals under the stress of circumstances which will no longer + tolerate habits of thought formed under and conforming to a different set + of circumstances in the past. For the immediate purpose it need not be a + question of serious importance whether this adaptive process is a process + of selection and survival of persistent ethnic types or a process of + individual adaptation and an inheritance of acquired traits. + </p> + <p> + Social advance, especially as seen from the point of view of economic + theory, consists in a continued progressive approach to an approximately + exact "adjustment of inner relations to outer relations", but this + adjustment is never definitively established, since the "outer relations" + are subject to constant change as a consequence of the progressive change + going on in the "inner relations." But the degree of approximation may be + greater or less, depending on the facility with which an adjustment is + made. A readjustment of men's habits of thought to conform with the + exigencies of an altered situation is in any case made only tardily and + reluctantly, and only under the coercion exercised by a stipulation which + has made the accredited views untenable. The readjustment of institutions + and habitual views to an altered environment is made in response to + pressure from without; it is of the nature of a response to stimulus. + Freedom and facility of readjustment, that is to say capacity for growth + in social structure, therefore depends in great measure on the degree of + freedom with which the situation at any given time acts on the individual + members of the community-the degree of exposure of the individual members + to the constraining forces of the environment. If any portion or class of + society is sheltered from the action of the environment in any essential + respect, that portion of the community, or that class, will adapt its + views and its scheme of life more tardily to the altered general + situation; it will in so far tend to retard the process of social + transformation. The wealthy leisure class is in such a sheltered position + with respect to the economic forces that make for change and readjustment. + And it may be said that the forces which make for a readjustment of + institutions, especially in the case of a modern industrial community, + are, in the last analysis, almost entirely of an economic nature. + </p> + <p> + Any community may be viewed as an industrial or economic mechanism, the + structure of which is made up of what is called its economic institutions. + These institutions are habitual methods of carrying on the life process of + the community in contact with the material environment in which it lives. + When given methods of unfolding human activity in this given environment + have been elaborated in this way, the life of the community will express + itself with some facility in these habitual directions. The community will + make use of the forces of the environment for the purposes of its life + according to methods learned in the past and embodied in these + institutions. But as population increases, and as men's knowledge and + skill in directing the forces of nature widen, the habitual methods of + relation between the members of the group, and the habitual method of + carrying on the life process of the group as a whole, no longer give the + same result as before; nor are the resulting conditions of life + distributed and apportioned in the same manner or with the same effect + among the various members as before. If the scheme according to which the + life process of the group was carried on under the earlier conditions gave + approximately the highest attainable result—under the circumstances—in + the way of efficiency or facility of the life process of the group; then + the same scheme of life unaltered will not yield the highest result + attainable in this respect under the altered conditions. Under the altered + conditions of population, skill, and knowledge, the facility of life as + carried on according to the traditional scheme may not be lower than under + the earlier conditions; but the chances are always that it is less than + might be if the scheme were altered to suit the altered conditions. + </p> + <p> + The group is made up of individuals, and the group's life is the life of + individuals carried on in at least ostensible severalty. The group's + accepted scheme of life is the consensus of views held by the body of + these individuals as to what is right, good, expedient, and beautiful in + the way of human life. In the redistribution of the conditions of life + that comes of the altered method of dealing with the environment, the + outcome is not an equable change in the facility of life throughout the + group. The altered conditions may increase the facility of life for the + group as a whole, but the redistribution will usually result in a decrease + of facility or fullness of life for some members of the group. An advance + in technical methods, in population, or in industrial organization will + require at least some of the members of the community to change their + habits of life, if they are to enter with facility and effect into the + altered industrial methods; and in doing so they will be unable to live up + to the received notions as to what are the right and beautiful habits of + life. + </p> + <p> + Any one who is required to change his habits of life and his habitual + relations to his fellow men will feel the discrepancy between the method + of life required of him by the newly arisen exigencies, and the + traditional scheme of life to which he is accustomed. It is the + individuals placed in this position who have the liveliest incentive to + reconstruct the received scheme of life and are most readily persuaded to + accept new standards; and it is through the need of the means of + livelihood that men are placed in such a position. The pressure exerted by + the environment upon the group, and making for a readjustment of the + group's scheme of life, impinges upon the members of the group in the form + of pecuniary exigencies; and it is owing to this fact—that external + forces are in great part translated into the form of pecuniary or economic + exigencies—it is owing to this fact that we can say that the forces + which count toward a readjustment of institutions in any modern industrial + community are chiefly economic forces; or more specifically, these forces + take the form of pecuniary pressure. Such a readjustment as is here + contemplated is substantially a change in men's views as to what is good + and right, and the means through which a change is wrought in men's + apprehension of what is good and right is in large part the pressure of + pecuniary exigencies. + </p> + <p> + Any change in men's views as to what is good and right in human life make + its way but tardily at the best. Especially is this true of any change in + the direction of what is called progress; that is to say, in the direction + of divergence from the archaic position—from the position which may + be accounted the point of departure at any step in the social evolution of + the community. Retrogression, reapproach to a standpoint to which the race + has been long habituated in the past, is easier. This is especially true + in case the development away from this past standpoint has not been due + chiefly to a substitution of an ethnic type whose temperament is alien to + the earlier standpoint. The cultural stage which lies immediately back of + the present in the life history of Western civilization is what has here + been called the quasi-peaceable stage. At this quasi-peaceable stage the + law of status is the dominant feature in the scheme of life. There is no + need of pointing out how prone the men of today are to revert to the + spiritual attitude of mastery and of personal subservience which + characterizes that stage. It may rather be said to be held in an uncertain + abeyance by the economic exigencies of today, than to have been definitely + supplanted by a habit of mind that is in full accord with these + later-developed exigencies. The predatory and quasi-peaceable stages of + economic evolution seem to have been of long duration in life history of + all the chief ethnic elements which go to make up the populations of the + Western culture. The temperament and the propensities proper to those + cultural stages have, therefore, attained such a persistence as to make a + speedy reversion to the broad features of the corresponding psychological + constitution inevitable in the case of any class or community which is + removed from the action of those forces that make for a maintenance of the + later-developed habits of thought. + </p> + <p> + It is a matter of common notoriety that when individuals, or even + considerable groups of men, are segregated from a higher industrial + culture and exposed to a lower cultural environment, or to an economic + situation of a more primitive character, they quickly show evidence of + reversion toward the spiritual features which characterize the predatory + type; and it seems probable that the dolicho-blond type of European man is + possessed of a greater facility for such reversion to barbarism than the + other ethnic elements with which that type is associated in the Western + culture. Examples of such a reversion on a small scale abound in the later + history of migration and colonization. Except for the fear of offending + that chauvinistic patriotism which is so characteristic a feature of the + predatory culture, and the presence of which is frequently the most + striking mark of reversion in modern communities, the case of the American + colonies might be cited as an example of such a reversion on an unusually + large scale, though it was not a reversion of very large scope. + </p> + <p> + The leisure class is in great measure sheltered from the stress of those + economic exigencies which prevail in any modern, highly organized + industrial community. The exigencies of the struggle for the means of life + are less exacting for this class than for any other; and as a consequence + of this privileged position we should expect to find it one of the least + responsive of the classes of society to the demands which the situation + makes for a further growth of institutions and a readjustment to an + altered industrial situation. The leisure class is the conservative class. + The exigencies of the general economic situation of the community do not + freely or directly impinge upon the members of this class. They are not + required under penalty of forfeiture to change their habits of life and + their theoretical views of the external world to suit the demands of an + altered industrial technique, since they are not in the full sense an + organic part of the industrial community. Therefore these exigencies do + not readily produce, in the members of this class, that degree of + uneasiness with the existing order which alone can lead any body of men to + give up views and methods of life that have become habitual to them. The + office of the leisure class in social evolution is to retard the movement + and to conserve what is obsolescent. This proposition is by no means + novel; it has long been one of the commonplaces of popular opinion. + </p> + <p> + The prevalent conviction that the wealthy class is by nature conservative + has been popularly accepted without much aid from any theoretical view as + to the place and relation of that class in the cultural development. When + an explanation of this class conservatism is offered, it is commonly the + invidious one that the wealthy class opposes innovation because it has a + vested interest, of an unworthy sort, in maintaining the present + conditions. The explanation here put forward imputes no unworthy motive. + The opposition of the class to changes in the cultural scheme is + instinctive, and does not rest primarily on an interested calculation of + material advantages; it is an instinctive revulsion at any departure from + the accepted way of doing and of looking at things—a revulsion + common to all men and only to be overcome by stress of circumstances. All + change in habits of life and of thought is irksome. The difference in this + respect between the wealthy and the common run of mankind lies not so much + in the motive which prompts to conservatism as in the degree of exposure + to the economic forces that urge a change. The members of the wealthy + class do not yield to the demand for innovation as readily as other men + because they are not constrained to do so. + </p> + <p> + This conservatism of the wealthy class is so obvious a feature that it has + even come to be recognized as a mark of respectability. Since conservatism + is a characteristic of the wealthier and therefore more reputable portion + of the community, it has acquired a certain honorific or decorative value. + It has become prescriptive to such an extent that an adherence to + conservative views is comprised as a matter of course in our notions of + respectability; and it is imperatively incumbent on all who would lead a + blameless life in point of social repute. Conservatism, being an + upper-class characteristic, is decorous; and conversely, innovation, being + a lower-class phenomenon, is vulgar. The first and most unreflected + element in that instinctive revulsion and reprobation with which we turn + from all social innovators is this sense of the essential vulgarity of the + thing. So that even in cases where one recognizes the substantial merits + of the case for which the innovator is spokesman—as may easily + happen if the evils which he seeks to remedy are sufficiently remote in + point of time or space or personal contact—still one cannot but be + sensible of the fact that the innovator is a person with whom it is at + least distasteful to be associated, and from whose social contact one must + shrink. Innovation is bad form. + </p> + <p> + The fact that the usages, actions, and views of the well-to-do leisure + class acquire the character of a prescriptive canon of conduct for the + rest of society, gives added weight and reach to the conservative + influence of that class. It makes it incumbent upon all reputable people + to follow their lead. So that, by virtue of its high position as the + avatar of good form, the wealthier class comes to exert a retarding + influence upon social development far in excess of that which the simple + numerical strength of the class would assign it. Its prescriptive example + acts to greatly stiffen the resistance of all other classes against any + innovation, and to fix men's affections upon the good institutions handed + down from an earlier generation. There is a second way in which the + influence of the leisure class acts in the same direction, so far as + concerns hindrance to the adoption of a conventional scheme of life more + in accord with the exigencies of the time. This second method of + upper-class guidance is not in strict consistency to be brought under the + same category as the instinctive conservatism and aversion to new modes of + thought just spoken of; but it may as well be dealt with here, since it + has at least this much in common with the conservative habit of mind that + it acts to retard innovation and the growth of social structure. The code + of proprieties, conventionalities, and usages in vogue at any given time + and among any given people has more or less of the character of an organic + whole; so that any appreciable change in one point of the scheme involves + something of a change or readjustment at other points also, if not a + reorganization all along the line. When a change is made which immediately + touches only a minor point in the scheme, the consequent derangement of + the structure of conventionalities may be inconspicuous; but even in such + a case it is safe to say that some derangement of the general scheme, more + or less far-reaching, will follow. On the other hand, when an attempted + reform involves the suppression or thorough-going remodelling of an + institution of first-rate importance in the conventional scheme, it is + immediately felt that a serious derangement of the entire scheme would + result; it is felt that a readjustment of the structure to the new form + taken on by one of its chief elements would be a painful and tedious, if + not a doubtful process. + </p> + <p> + In order to realize the difficulty which such a radical change in any one + feature of the conventional scheme of life would involve, it is only + necessary to suggest the suppression of the monogamic family, or of the + agnatic system of consanguinity, or of private property, or of the + theistic faith, in any country of the Western civilization; or suppose the + suppression of ancestor worship in China, or of the caste system in india, + or of slavery in Africa, or the establishment of equality of the sexes in + Mohammedan countries. It needs no argument to show that the derangement of + the general structure of conventionalities in any of these cases would be + very considerable. In order to effect such an innovation a very + far-reaching alteration of men's habits of thought would be involved also + at other points of the scheme than the one immediately in question. The + aversion to any such innovation amounts to a shrinking from an essentially + alien scheme of life. + </p> + <p> + The revulsion felt by good people at any proposed departure from the + accepted methods of life is a familiar fact of everyday experience. It is + not unusual to hear those persons who dispense salutary advice and + admonition to the community express themselves forcibly upon the + far-reaching pernicious effects which the community would suffer from such + relatively slight changes as the disestablishment of the Anglican Church, + an increased facility of divorce, adoption of female suffrage, prohibition + of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating beverages, abolition or + restriction of inheritances, etc. Any one of these innovations would, we + are told, "shake the social structure to its base," "reduce society to + chaos," "subvert the foundations of morality," "make life intolerable," + "confound the order of nature," etc. These various locutions are, no + doubt, of the nature of hyperbole; but, at the same time, like all + overstatement, they are evidence of a lively sense of the gravity of the + consequences which they are intended to describe. The effect of these and + like innovations in deranging the accepted scheme of life is felt to be of + much graver consequence than the simple alteration of an isolated item in + a series of contrivances for the convenience of men in society. What is + true in so obvious a degree of innovations of first-rate importance is + true in a less degree of changes of a smaller immediate importance. The + aversion to change is in large part an aversion to the bother of making + the readjustment which any given change will necessitate; and this + solidarity of the system of institutions of any given culture or of any + given people strengthens the instinctive resistance offered to any change + in men's habits of thought, even in matters which, taken by themselves, + are of minor importance. A consequence of this increased reluctance, due + to the solidarity of human institutions, is that any innovation calls for + a greater expenditure of nervous energy in making the necessary + readjustment than would otherwise be the case. It is not only that a + change in established habits of thought is distasteful. The process of + readjustment of the accepted theory of life involves a degree of mental + effort—a more or less protracted and laborious effort to find and to + keep one's bearings under the altered circumstances. This process requires + a certain expenditure of energy, and so presumes, for its successful + accomplishment, some surplus of energy beyond that absorbed in the daily + struggle for subsistence. Consequently it follows that progress is + hindered by underfeeding and excessive physical hardship, no less + effectually than by such a luxurious life as will shut out discontent by + cutting off the occasion for it. The abjectly poor, and all those persons + whose energies are entirely absorbed by the struggle for daily sustenance, + are conservative because they cannot afford the effort of taking thought + for the day after tomorrow; just as the highly prosperous are conservative + because they have small occasion to be discontented with the situation as + it stands today. + </p> + <p> + From this proposition it follows that the institution of a leisure class + acts to make the lower classes conservative by withdrawing from them as + much as it may of the means of sustenance, and so reducing their + consumption, and consequently their available energy, to such a point as + to make them incapable of the effort required for the learning and + adoption of new habits of thought. The accumulation of wealth at the upper + end of the pecuniary scale implies privation at the lower end of the + scale. It is a commonplace that, wherever it occurs, a considerable degree + of privation among the body of the people is a serious obstacle to any + innovation. + </p> + <p> + This direct inhibitory effect of the unequal distribution of wealth is + seconded by an indirect effect tending to the same result. As has already + been seen, the imperative example set by the upper class in fixing the + canons of reputability fosters the practice of conspicuous consumption. + The prevalence of conspicuous consumption as one of the main elements in + the standard of decency among all classes is of course not traceable + wholly to the example of the wealthy leisure class, but the practice and + the insistence on it are no doubt strengthened by the example of the + leisure class. The requirements of decency in this matter are very + considerable and very imperative; so that even among classes whose + pecuniary position is sufficiently strong to admit a consumption of goods + considerably in excess of the subsistence minimum, the disposable surplus + left over after the more imperative physical needs are satisfied is not + infrequently diverted to the purpose of a conspicuous decency, rather than + to added physical comfort and fullness of life. Moreover, such surplus + energy as is available is also likely to be expended in the acquisition of + goods for conspicuous consumption or conspicuous boarding. The result is + that the requirements of pecuniary reputability tend (1) to leave but a + scanty subsistence minimum available for other than conspicuous + consumption, and (2) to absorb any surplus energy which may be available + after the bare physical necessities of life have been provided for. The + outcome of the whole is a strengthening of the general conservative + attitude of the community. The institution of a leisure class hinders + cultural development immediately (1) by the inertia proper to the class + itself, (2) through its prescriptive example of conspicuous waste and of + conservatism, and (3) indirectly through that system of unequal + distribution of wealth and sustenance on which the institution itself + rests. To this is to be added that the leisure class has also a material + interest in leaving things as they are. Under the circumstances prevailing + at any given time this class is in a privileged position, and any + departure from the existing order may be expected to work to the detriment + of the class rather than the reverse. The attitude of the class, simply as + influenced by its class interest, should therefore be to let well-enough + alone. This interested motive comes in to supplement the strong + instinctive bias of the class, and so to render it even more consistently + conservative than it otherwise would be. + </p> + <p> + All this, of course, has nothing to say in the way of eulogy or + deprecation of the office of the leisure class as an exponent and vehicle + of conservatism or reversion in social structure. The inhibition which it + exercises may be salutary or the reverse. Wether it is the one or the + other in any given case is a question of casuistry rather than of general + theory. There may be truth in the view (as a question of policy) so often + expressed by the spokesmen of the conservative element, that without some + such substantial and consistent resistance to innovation as is offered by + the conservative well-to-do classes, social innovation and experiment + would hurry the community into untenable and intolerable situations; the + only possible result of which would be discontent and disastrous reaction. + All this, however, is beside the present argument. + </p> + <p> + But apart from all deprecation, and aside from all question as to the + indispensability of some such check on headlong innovation, the leisure + class, in the nature of things, consistently acts to retard that + adjustment to the environment which is called social advance or + development. The characteristic attitude of the class may be summed up in + the maxim: "Whatever is, is right" whereas the law of natural selection, + as applied to human institutions, gives the axiom: "Whatever is, is + wrong." Not that the institutions of today are wholly wrong for the + purposes of the life of today, but they are, always and in the nature of + things, wrong to some extent. They are the result of a more or less + inadequate adjustment of the methods of living to a situation which + prevailed at some point in the past development; and they are therefore + wrong by something more than the interval which separates the present + situation from that of the past. "Right" and "wrong" are of course here + used without conveying any rejection as to what ought or ought not to be. + They are applied simply from the (morally colorless) evolutionary + standpoint, and are intended to designate compatibility or incompatibility + with the effective evolutionary process. The institution of a leisure + class, by force or class interest and instinct, and by precept and + prescriptive example, makes for the perpetuation of the existing + maladjustment of institutions, and even favors a reversion to a somewhat + more archaic scheme of life; a scheme which would be still farther out of + adjustment with the exigencies of life under the existing situation even + than the accredited, obsolescent scheme that has come down from the + immediate past. + </p> + <p> + But after all has been said on the head of conservation of the good old + ways, it remains true that institutions change and develop. There is a + cumulative growth of customs and habits of thought; a selective adaptation + of conventions and methods of life. Something is to be said of the office + of the leisure class in guiding this growth as well as in retarding it; + but little can be said here of its relation to institutional growth except + as it touches the institutions that are primarily and immediately of an + economic character. These institutions—the economic structure—may + be roughly distinguished into two classes or categories, according as they + serve one or the other of two divergent purposes of economic life. + </p> + <p> + To adapt the classical terminology, they are institutions of acquisition + or of production; or to revert to terms already employed in a different + connection in earlier chapters, they are pecuniary or industrial + institutions; or in still other terms, they are institutions serving + either the invidious or the non-invidious economic interest. The former + category have to do with "business," the latter with industry, taking the + latter word in the mechanical sense. The latter class are not often + recognized as institutions, in great part because they do not immediately + concern the ruling class, and are, therefore, seldom the subject of + legislation or of deliberate convention. When they do receive attention + they are commonly approached from the pecuniary or business side; that + being the side or phase of economic life that chiefly occupies men's + deliberations in our time, especially the deliberations of the upper + classes. These classes have little else than a business interest in things + economic, and on them at the same time it is chiefly incumbent to + deliberate upon the community's affairs. + </p> + <p> + The relation of the leisure (that is, propertied non-industrial) class to + the economic process is a pecuniary relation—a relation of + acquisition, not of production; of exploitation, not of serviceability. + Indirectly their economic office may, of course, be of the utmost + importance to the economic life process; and it is by no means here + intended to depreciate the economic function of the propertied class or of + the captains of industry. The purpose is simply to point out what is the + nature of the relation of these classes to the industrial process and to + economic institutions. Their office is of a parasitic character, and their + interest is to divert what substance they may to their own use, and to + retain whatever is under their hand. The conventions of the business world + have grown up under the selective surveillance of this principle of + predation or parasitism. They are conventions of ownership; derivatives, + more or less remote, of the ancient predatory culture. But these pecuniary + institutions do not entirely fit the situation of today, for they have + grown up under a past situation differing somewhat from the present. Even + for effectiveness in the pecuniary way, therefore, they are not as apt as + might be. The changed industrial life requires changed methods of + acquisition; and the pecuniary classes have some interest in so adapting + the pecuniary institutions as to give them the best effect for acquisition + of private gain that is compatible with the continuance of the industrial + process out of which this gain arises. Hence there is a more or less + consistent trend in the leisure-class guidance of institutional growth, + answering to the pecuniary ends which shape leisure-class economic life. + </p> + <p> + The effect of the pecuniary interest and the pecuniary habit of mind upon + the growth of institutions is seen in those enactments and conventions + that make for security of property, enforcement of contracts, facility of + pecuniary transactions, vested interests. Of such bearing are changes + affecting bankruptcy and receiverships, limited liability, banking and + currency, coalitions of laborers or employers, trusts and pools. The + community's institutional furniture of this kind is of immediate + consequence only to the propertied classes, and in proportion as they are + propertied; that is to say, in proportion as they are to be ranked with + the leisure class. But indirectly these conventions of business life are + of the gravest consequence for the industrial process and for the life of + the community. And in guiding the institutional growth in this respect, + the pecuniary classes, therefore, serve a purpose of the most serious + importance to the community, not only in the conservation of the accepted + social scheme, but also in shaping the industrial process proper. The + immediate end of this pecuniary institutional structure and of its + amelioration is the greater facility of peaceable and orderly + exploitation; but its remoter effects far outrun this immediate object. + Not only does the more facile conduct of business permit industry and + extra-industrial life to go on with less perturbation; but the resulting + elimination of disturbances and complications calling for an exercise of + astute discrimination in everyday affairs acts to make the pecuniary class + itself superfluous. As fast as pecuniary transactions are reduced to + routine, the captain of industry can be dispensed with. This consummation, + it is needless to say, lies yet in the indefinite future. The + ameliorations wrought in favor of the pecuniary interest in modern + institutions tend, in another field, to substitute the "soulless" + joint-stock corporation for the captain, and so they make also for the + dispensability, of the great leisure-class function of ownership. + Indirectly, therefore, the bent given to the growth of economic + institutions by the leisure-class influence is of very considerable + industrial consequence. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter Nine ~~ The Conservation of Archaic Traits + </h2> + <p> + The institution of a leisure class has an effect not only upon social + structure but also upon the individual character of the members of + society. So soon as a given proclivity or a given point of view has won + acceptance as an authoritative standard or norm of life it will react upon + the character of the members of the society which has accepted it as a + norm. It will to some extent shape their habits of thought and will + exercise a selective surveillance over the development of men's aptitudes + and inclinations. This effect is wrought partly by a coercive, educational + adaptation of the habits of all individuals, partly by a selective + elimination of the unfit individuals and lines of descent. Such human + material as does not lend itself to the methods of life imposed by the + accepted scheme suffers more or less elimination as well as repression. + The principles of pecuniary emulation and of industrial exemption have in + this way been erected into canons of life, and have become coercive + factors of some importance in the situation to which men have to adapt + themselves. + </p> + <p> + These two broad principles of conspicuous waste and industrial exemption + affect the cultural development both by guiding men's habits of thought, + and so controlling the growth of institutions, and by selectively + conserving certain traits of human nature that conduce to facility of life + under the leisure-class scheme, and so controlling the effective temper of + the community. The proximate tendency of the institution of a leisure + class in shaping human character runs in the direction of spiritual + survival and reversion. Its effect upon the temper of a community is of + the nature of an arrested spiritual development. In the later culture + especially, the institution has, on the whole, a conservative trend. This + proposition is familiar enough in substance, but it may to many have the + appearance of novelty in its present application. Therefore a summary + review of its logical grounds may not be uncalled for, even at the risk of + some tedious repetition and formulation of commonplaces. + </p> + <p> + Social evolution is a process of selective adaptation of temperament and + habits of thought under the stress of the circumstances of associated + life. The adaptation of habits of thought is the growth of institutions. + But along with the growth of institutions has gone a change of a more + substantial character. Not only have the habits of men changed with the + changing exigencies of the situation, but these changing exigencies have + also brought about a correlative change in human nature. The human + material of society itself varies with the changing conditions of life. + This variation of human nature is held by the later ethnologists to be a + process of selection between several relatively stable and persistent + ethnic types or ethnic elements. Men tend to revert or to breed true, more + or less closely, to one or another of certain types of human nature that + have in their main features been fixed in approximate conformity to a + situation in the past which differed from the situation of today. There + are several of these relatively stable ethnic types of mankind comprised + in the populations of the Western culture. These ethnic types survive in + the race inheritance today, not as rigid and invariable moulds, each of a + single precise and specific pattern, but in the form of a greater or + smaller number of variants. Some variation of the ethnic types has + resulted under the protracted selective process to which the several types + and their hybrids have been subjected during the prehistoric and historic + growth of culture. + </p> + <p> + This necessary variation of the types themselves, due to a selective + process of considerable duration and of a consistent trend, has not been + sufficiently noticed by the writers who have discussed ethnic survival. + The argument is here concerned with two main divergent variants of human + nature resulting from this, relatively late, selective adaptation of the + ethnic types comprised in the Western culture; the point of interest being + the probable effect of the situation of today in furthering variation + along one or the other of these two divergent lines. + </p> + <p> + The ethnological position may be briefly summed up; and in order to avoid + any but the most indispensable detail the schedule of types and variants + and the scheme of reversion and survival in which they are concerned are + here presented with a diagrammatic meagerness and simplicity which would + not be admissible for any other purpose. The man of our industrial + communities tends to breed true to one or the other of three main ethic + types; the dolichocephalic-blond, the brachycephalic-brunette, and the + Mediterranean—disregarding minor and outlying elements of our + culture. But within each of these main ethnic types the reversion tends to + one or the other of at least two main directions of variation; the + peaceable or antepredatory variant and the predatory variant. The former + of these two characteristic variants is nearer to the generic type in each + case, being the reversional representative of its type as it stood at the + earliest stage of associated life of which there is available evidence, + either archaeological or psychological. This variant is taken to represent + the ancestors of existing civilized man at the peaceable, savage phase of + life which preceded the predatory culture, the regime of status, and the + growth of pecuniary emulation. The second or predatory variant of the + types is taken to be a survival of a more recent modification of the main + ethnic types and their hybrids—of these types as they were modified, + mainly by a selective adaptation, under the discipline of the predatory + culture and the latter emulative culture of the quasi-peaceable stage, or + the pecuniary culture proper. + </p> + <p> + Under the recognized laws of heredity there may be a survival from a more + or less remote past phase. In the ordinary, average, or normal case, if + the type has varied, the traits of the type are transmitted approximately + as they have stood in the recent past—which may be called the + hereditary present. For the purpose in hand this hereditary present is + represented by the later predatory and the quasi-peaceable culture. + </p> + <p> + It is to the variant of human nature which is characteristic of this + recent—hereditarily still existing—predatory or + quasi-predatory culture that the modern civilized man tends to breed true + in the common run of cases. This proposition requires some qualification + so far as concerns the descendants of the servile or repressed classes of + barbarian times, but the qualification necessary is probably not so great + as might at first thought appear. Taking the population as a whole, this + predatory, emulative variant does not seem to have attained a high degree + of consistency or stability. That is to say, the human nature inherited by + modern Occidental man is not nearly uniform in respect of the range or the + relative strength of the various aptitudes and propensities which go to + make it up. The man of the hereditary present is slightly archaic as + judged for the purposes of the latest exigencies of associated life. And + the type to which the modern man chiefly tends to revert under the law of + variation is a somewhat more archaic human nature. On the other hand, to + judge by the reversional traits which show themselves in individuals that + vary from the prevailing predatory style of temperament, the + ante-predatory variant seems to have a greater stability and greater + symmetry in the distribution or relative force of its temperamental + elements. + </p> + <p> + This divergence of inherited human nature, as between an earlier and a + later variant of the ethnic type to which the individual tends to breed + true, is traversed and obscured by a similar divergence between the two or + three main ethnic types that go to make up the Occidental populations. The + individuals in these communities are conceived to be, in virtually every + instance, hybrids of the prevailing ethnic elements combined in the most + varied proportions; with the result that they tend to take back to one or + the other of the component ethnic types. These ethnic types differ in + temperament in a way somewhat similar to the difference between the + predatory and the antepredatory variants of the types; the dolicho-blond + type showing more of the characteristics of the predatory temperament—or + at least more of the violent disposition—than the + brachycephalic-brunette type, and especially more than the Mediterranean. + When the growth of institutions or of the effective sentiment of a given + community shows a divergence from the predatory human nature, therefore, + it is impossible to say with certainty that such a divergence indicates a + reversion to the ante-predatory variant. It may be due to an increasing + dominance of the one or the other of the "lower" ethnic elements in the + population. Still, although the evidence is not as conclusive as might be + desired, there are indications that the variations in the effective + temperament of modern communities is not altogether due to a selection + between stable ethnic types. It seems to be to some appreciable extent a + selection between the predatory and the peaceable variants of the several + types. This conception of contemporary human evolution is not + indispensable to the discussion. The general conclusions reached by the + use of these concepts of selective adaptation would remain substantially + true if the earlier, Darwinian and Spencerian, terms and concepts were + substituted. Under the circumstances, some latitude may be admissible in + the use of terms. The word "type" is used loosely, to denote variations of + temperament which the ethnologists would perhaps recognize only as trivial + variants of the type rather than as distinct ethnic types. Wherever a + closer discrimination seems essential to the argument, the effort to make + such a closer discrimination will be evident from the context. + </p> + <p> + The ethnic types of today, then, are variants of the primitive racial + types. They have suffered some alteration, and have attained some degree + of fixity in their altered form, under the discipline of the barbarian + culture. The man of the hereditary present is the barbarian variant, + servile or aristocratic, of the ethnic elements that constitute him. But + this barbarian variant has not attained the highest degree of homogeneity + or of stability. The barbarian culture—the predatory and + quasi-peaceable cultural stages—though of great absolute duration, + has been neither protracted enough nor invariable enough in character to + give an extreme fixity of type. Variations from the barbarian human nature + occur with some frequency, and these cases of variation are becoming more + noticeable today, because the conditions of modern life no longer act + consistently to repress departures from the barbarian normal. The + predatory temperament does not lead itself to all the purposes of modern + life, and more especially not to modern industry. + </p> + <p> + Departures from the human nature of the hereditary present are most + frequently of the nature of reversions to an earlier variant of the type. + This earlier variant is represented by the temperament which characterizes + the primitive phase of peaceable savagery. The circumstances of life and + the ends of effort that prevailed before the advent of the barbarian + culture, shaped human nature and fixed it as regards certain fundamental + traits. And it is to these ancient, generic features that modern men are + prone to take back in case of variation from the human nature of the + hereditary present. The conditions under which men lived in the most + primitive stages of associated life that can properly be called human, + seem to have been of a peaceful kind; and the character—the + temperament and spiritual attitude of men under these early conditions or + environment and institutions seems to have been of a peaceful and + unaggressive, not to say an indolent, cast. For the immediate purpose this + peaceable cultural stage may be taken to mark the initial phase of social + development. So far as concerns the present argument, the dominant + spiritual feature of this presumptive initial phase of culture seems to + have been an unreflecting, unformulated sense of group solidarity, largely + expressing itself in a complacent, but by no means strenuous, sympathy + with all facility of human life, and an uneasy revulsion against + apprehended inhibition or futility of life. Through its ubiquitous + presence in the habits of thought of the ante-predatory savage man, this + pervading but uneager sense of the generically useful seems to have + exercised an appreciable constraining force upon his life and upon the + manner of his habitual contact with other members of the group. + </p> + <p> + The traces of this initial, undifferentiated peaceable phase of culture + seem faint and doubtful if we look merely to such categorical evidence of + its existence as is afforded by usages and views in vogue within the + historical present, whether in civilized or in rude communities; but less + dubious evidence of its existence is to be found in psychological + survivals, in the way of persistent and pervading traits of human + character. These traits survive perhaps in an especial degree among those + ethic elements which were crowded into the background during the predatory + culture. Traits that were suited to the earlier habits of life then became + relatively useless in the individual struggle for existence. And those + elements of the population, or those ethnic groups, which were by + temperament less fitted to the predatory life were repressed and pushed + into the background. On the transition to the predatory culture the + character of the struggle for existence changed in some degree from a + struggle of the group against a non-human environment to a struggle + against a human environment. This change was accompanied by an increasing + antagonism and consciousness of antagonism between the individual members + of the group. The conditions of success within the group, as well as the + conditions of the survival of the group, changed in some measure; and the + dominant spiritual attitude for the group gradually changed, and brought a + different range of aptitudes and propensities into the position of + legitimate dominance in the accepted scheme of life. Among these archaic + traits that are to be regarded as survivals from the peaceable cultural + phase, are that instinct of race solidarity which we call conscience, + including the sense of truthfulness and equity, and the instinct of + workmanship, in its naive, non-invidious expression. + </p> + <p> + Under the guidance of the later biological and psychological science, + human nature will have to be restated in terms of habit; and in the + restatement, this, in outline, appears to be the only assignable place and + ground of these traits. These habits of life are of too pervading a + character to be ascribed to the influence of a late or brief discipline. + The ease with which they are temporarily overborne by the special + exigencies of recent and modern life argues that these habits are the + surviving effects of a discipline of extremely ancient date, from the + teachings of which men have frequently been constrained to depart in + detail under the altered circumstances of a later time; and the almost + ubiquitous fashion in which they assert themselves whenever the pressure + of special exigencies is relieved, argues that the process by which the + traits were fixed and incorporated into the spiritual make-up of the type + must have lasted for a relatively very long time and without serious + intermission. The point is not seriously affected by any question as to + whether it was a process of habituation in the old-fashioned sense of the + word or a process of selective adaptation of the race. + </p> + <p> + The character and exigencies of life, under that regime of status and of + individual and class antithesis which covers the entire interval from the + beginning of predatory culture to the present, argue that the traits of + temperament here under discussion could scarcely have arisen and acquired + fixity during that interval. It is entirely probable that these traits + have come down from an earlier method of life, and have survived through + the interval of predatory and quasi-peaceable culture in a condition of + incipient, or at least imminent, desuetude, rather than that they have + been brought out and fixed by this later culture. They appear to be + hereditary characteristics of the race, and to have persisted in spite of + the altered requirements of success under the predatory and the later + pecuniary stages of culture. They seem to have persisted by force of the + tenacity of transmission that belongs to an hereditary trait that is + present in some degree in every member of the species, and which therefore + rests on a broad basis of race continuity. + </p> + <p> + Such a generic feature is not readily eliminated, even under a process of + selection so severe and protracted as that to which the traits here under + discussion were subjected during the predatory and quasi-peaceable stages. + These peaceable traits are in great part alien to the methods and the + animus of barbarian life. The salient characteristic of the barbarian + culture is an unremitting emulation and antagonism between classes and + between individuals. This emulative discipline favors those individuals + and lines of descent which possess the peaceable savage traits in a + relatively slight degree. It therefore tends to eliminate these traits, + and it has apparently weakened them, in an appreciable degree, in the + populations that have been subject to it. Even where the extreme penalty + for non-conformity to the barbarian type of temperament is not paid, there + results at least a more or less consistent repression of the + non-conforming individuals and lines of descent. Where life is largely a + struggle between individuals within the group, the possession of the + ancient peaceable traits in a marked degree would hamper an individual in + the struggle for life. + </p> + <p> + Under any known phase of culture, other or later than the presumptive + initial phase here spoken of, the gifts of good-nature, equity, and + indiscriminate sympathy do not appreciably further the life of the + individual. Their possession may serve to protect the individual from hard + usage at the hands of a majority that insists on a modicum of these + ingredients in their ideal of a normal man; but apart from their indirect + and negative effect in this way, the individual fares better under the + regime of competition in proportion as he has less of these gifts. Freedom + from scruple, from sympathy, honesty and regard for life, may, within + fairly wide limits, be said to further the success of the individual in + the pecuniary culture. The highly successful men of all times have + commonly been of this type; except those whose success has not been scored + in terms of either wealth or power. It is only within narrow limits, and + then only in a Pickwickian sense, that honesty is the best policy. + </p> + <p> + As seen from the point of view of life under modern civilized conditions + in an enlightened community of the Western culture, the primitive, + ante-predatory savage, whose character it has been attempted to trace in + outline above, was not a great success. Even for the purposes of that + hypothetical culture to which his type of human nature owes what stability + it has—even for the ends of the peaceable savage group—this + primitive man has quite as many and as conspicuous economic failings as he + has economic virtues—as should be plain to any one whose sense of + the case is not biased by leniency born of a fellow-feeling. At his best + he is "a clever, good-for-nothing fellow." The shortcomings of this + presumptively primitive type of character are weakness, inefficiency, lack + of initiative and ingenuity, and a yielding and indolent amiability, + together with a lively but inconsequential animistic sense. Along with + these traits go certain others which have some value for the collective + life process, in the sense that they further the facility of life in the + group. These traits are truthfulness, peaceableness, good-will, and a + non-emulative, non-invidious interest in men and things. + </p> + <p> + With the advent of the predatory stage of life there comes a change in the + requirements of the successful human character. Men's habits of life are + required to adapt themselves to new exigencies under a new scheme of human + relations. The same unfolding of energy, which had previously found + expression in the traits of savage life recited above, is now required to + find expression along a new line of action, in a new group of habitual + responses to altered stimuli. The methods which, as counted in terms of + facility of life, answered measurably under the earlier conditions, are no + longer adequate under the new conditions. The earlier situation was + characterized by a relative absence of antagonism or differentiation of + interests, the later situation by an emulation constantly increasing in + relative absence of antagonism or differentiation of interests, the later + situation by an emulation constantly increasing in intensity and narrowing + in scope. The traits which characterize the predatory and subsequent + stages of culture, and which indicate the types of man best fitted to + survive under the regime of status, are (in their primary expression) + ferocity, self-seeking, clannishness, and disingenuousness—a free + resort to force and fraud. + </p> + <p> + Under the severe and protracted discipline of the regime of competition, + the selection of ethnic types has acted to give a somewhat pronounced + dominance to these traits of character, by favoring the survival of those + ethnic elements which are most richly endowed in these respects. At the + same time the earlier—acquired, more generic habits of the race have + never ceased to have some usefulness for the purpose of the life of the + collectivity and have never fallen into definitive abeyance. It may be + worth while to point out that the dolicho-blond type of European man seems + to owe much of its dominating influence and its masterful position in the + recent culture to its possessing the characteristics of predatory man in + an exceptional degree. These spiritual traits, together with a large + endowment of physical energy—itself probably a result of selection + between groups and between lines of descent—chiefly go to place any + ethnic element in the position of a leisure or master class, especially + during the earlier phases of the development of the institution of a + leisure class. This need not mean that precisely the same complement of + aptitudes in any individual would insure him an eminent personal success. + Under the competitive regime, the conditions of success for the individual + are not necessarily the same as those for a class. The success of a class + or party presumes a strong element of clannishness, or loyalty to a chief, + or adherence to a tenet; whereas the competitive individual can best + achieve his ends if he combines the barbarian's energy, initiative, + self-seeking and disingenuousness with the savage's lack of loyalty or + clannishness. It may be remarked by the way, that the men who have scored + a brilliant (Napoleonic) success on the basis of an impartial self-seeking + and absence of scruple, have not uncommonly shown more of the physical + characteristics of the brachycephalic-brunette than of the dolicho-blond. + The greater proportion of moderately successful individuals, in a + self-seeking way, however, seem, in physique, to belong to the last-named + ethnic element. + </p> + <p> + The temperament induced by the predatory habit of life makes for the + survival and fullness of life of the individual under a regime of + emulation; at the same time it makes for the survival and success of the + group if the group's life as a collectivity is also predominantly a life + of hostile competition with other groups. But the evolution of economic + life in the industrially more mature communities has now begun to take + such a turn that the interest of the community no longer coincides with + the emulative interests of the individual. In their corporate capacity, + these advanced industrial communities are ceasing to be competitors for + the means of life or for the right to live—except in so far as the + predatory propensities of their ruling classes keep up the tradition of + war and rapine. These communities are no longer hostile to one another by + force of circumstances, other than the circumstances of tradition and + temperament. Their material interests—apart, possibly, from the + interests of the collective good fame—are not only no longer + incompatible, but the success of any one of the communities unquestionably + furthers the fullness of life of any other community in the group, for the + present and for an incalculable time to come. No one of them any longer + has any material interest in getting the better of any other. The same is + not true in the same degree as regards individuals and their relations to + one another. + </p> + <p> + The collective interests of any modern community center in industrial + efficiency. The individual is serviceable for the ends of the community + somewhat in proportion to his efficiency in the productive employments + vulgarly so called. This collective interest is best served by honesty, + diligence, peacefulness, good-will, an absence of self-seeking, and an + habitual recognition and apprehension of causal sequence, without + admixture of animistic belief and without a sense of dependence on any + preternatural intervention in the course of events. Not much is to be said + for the beauty, moral excellence, or general worthiness and reputability + of such a prosy human nature as these traits imply; and there is little + ground of enthusiasm for the manner of collective life that would result + from the prevalence of these traits in unmitigated dominance. But that is + beside the point. The successful working of a modern industrial community + is best secured where these traits concur, and it is attained in the + degree in which the human material is characterized by their possession. + Their presence in some measure is required in order to have a tolerable + adjustment to the circumstances of the modern industrial situation. The + complex, comprehensive, essentially peaceable, and highly organized + mechanism of the modern industrial community works to the best advantage + when these traits, or most of them, are present in the highest practicable + degree. These traits are present in a markedly less degree in the man of + the predatory type than is useful for the purposes of the modern + collective life. + </p> + <p> + On the other hand, the immediate interest of the individual under the + competitive regime is best served by shrewd trading and unscrupulous + management. The characteristics named above as serving the interests of + the community are disserviceable to the individual, rather than otherwise. + The presence of these aptitudes in his make-up diverts his energies to + other ends than those of pecuniary gain; and also in his pursuit of gain + they lead him to seek gain by the indirect and ineffectual channels of + industry, rather than by a free and unfaltering career of sharp practice. + The industrial aptitudes are pretty consistently a hindrance to the + individual. Under the regime of emulation the members of a modern + industrial community are rivals, each of whom will best attain his + individual and immediate advantage if, through an exceptional exemption + from scruple, he is able serenely to overreach and injure his fellows when + the chance offers. + </p> + <p> + It has already been noticed that modern economic institutions fall into + two roughly distinct categories—the pecuniary and the industrial. + The like is true of employments. Under the former head are employments + that have to do with ownership or acquisition; under the latter head, + those that have to do with workmanship or production. As was found in + speaking of the growth of institutions, so with regard to employments. The + economic interests of the leisure class lie in the pecuniary employments; + those of the working classes lie in both classes of employments, but + chiefly in the industrial. Entrance to the leisure class lies through the + pecuniary employments. + </p> + <p> + These two classes of employment differ materially in respect of the + aptitudes required for each; and the training which they give similarly + follows two divergent lines. The discipline of the pecuniary employments + acts to conserve and to cultivate certain of the predatory aptitudes and + the predatory animus. It does this both by educating those individuals and + classes who are occupied with these employments and by selectively + repressing and eliminating those individuals and lines of descent that are + unfit in this respect. So far as men's habits of thought are shaped by the + competitive process of acquisition and tenure; so far as their economic + functions are comprised within the range of ownership of wealth as + conceived in terms of exchange value, and its management and financiering + through a permutation of values; so far their experience in economic life + favors the survival and accentuation of the predatory temperament and + habits of thought. Under the modern, peaceable system, it is of course the + peaceable range of predatory habits and aptitudes that is chiefly fostered + by a life of acquisition. That is to say, the pecuniary employments give + proficiency in the general line of practices comprised under fraud, rather + than in those that belong under the more archaic method of forcible + seizure. + </p> + <p> + These pecuniary employments, tending to conserve the predatory + temperament, are the employments which have to do with ownership—the + immediate function of the leisure class proper—and the subsidiary + functions concerned with acquisition and accumulation. These cover the + class of persons and that range of duties in the economic process which + have to do with the ownership of enterprises engaged in competitive + industry; especially those fundamental lines of economic management which + are classed as financiering operations. To these may be added the greater + part of mercantile occupations. In their best and clearest development + these duties make up the economic office of the "captain of industry." The + captain of industry is an astute man rather than an ingenious one, and his + captaincy is a pecuniary rather than an industrial captaincy. Such + administration of industry as he exercises is commonly of a permissive + kind. The mechanically effective details of production and of industrial + organization are delegated to subordinates of a less "practical" turn of + mind—men who are possessed of a gift for workmanship rather than + administrative ability. So far as regards their tendency in shaping human + nature by education and selection, the common run of non-economic + employments are to be classed with the pecuniary employments. Such are + politics and ecclesiastical and military employments. + </p> + <p> + The pecuniary employments have also the sanction of reputability in a much + higher degree than the industrial employments. In this way the + leisure-class standards of good repute come in to sustain the prestige of + those aptitudes that serve the invidious purpose; and the leisure-class + scheme of decorous living, therefore, also furthers the survival and + culture of the predatory traits. Employments fall into a hierarchical + gradation of reputability. Those which have to do immediately with + ownership on a large scale are the most reputable of economic employments + proper. Next to these in good repute come those employments that are + immediately subservient to ownership and financiering—such as + banking and the law. Banking employments also carry a suggestion of large + ownership, and this fact is doubtless accountable for a share of the + prestige that attaches to the business. The profession of the law does not + imply large ownership; but since no taint of usefulness, for other than + the competitive purpose, attaches to the lawyer's trade, it grades high in + the conventional scheme. The lawyer is exclusively occupied with the + details of predatory fraud, either in achieving or in checkmating + chicanery, and success in the profession is therefore accepted as marking + a large endowment of that barbarian astuteness which has always commanded + men's respect and fear. Mercantile pursuits are only half-way reputable, + unless they involve a large element of ownership and a small element of + usefulness. They grade high or low somewhat in proportion as they serve + the higher or the lower needs; so that the business of retailing the + vulgar necessaries of life descends to the level of the handicrafts and + factory labor. Manual labor, or even the work of directing mechanical + processes, is of course on a precarious footing as regards respectability. + A qualification is necessary as regards the discipline given by the + pecuniary employments. As the scale of industrial enterprise grows larger, + pecuniary management comes to bear less of the character of chicanery and + shrewd competition in detail. That is to say, for an ever-increasing + proportion of the persons who come in contact with this phase of economic + life, business reduces itself to a routine in which there is less + immediate suggestion of overreaching or exploiting a competitor. The + consequent exemption from predatory habits extends chiefly to subordinates + employed in business. The duties of ownership and administration are + virtually untouched by this qualification. The case is different as + regards those individuals or classes who are immediately occupied with the + technique and manual operations of production. Their daily life is not in + the same degree a course of habituation to the emulative and invidious + motives and maneuvers of the pecuniary side of industry. They are + consistently held to the apprehension and coordination of mechanical facts + and sequences, and to their appreciation and utilization for the purposes + of human life. So far as concerns this portion of the population, the + educative and selective action of the industrial process with which they + are immediately in contact acts to adapt their habits of thought to the + non-invidious purposes of the collective life. For them, therefore, it + hastens the obsolescence of the distinctively predatory aptitudes and + propensities carried over by heredity and tradition from the barbarian + past of the race. + </p> + <p> + The educative action of the economic life of the community, therefore, is + not of a uniform kind throughout all its manifestations. That range of + economic activities which is concerned immediately with pecuniary + competition has a tendency to conserve certain predatory traits; while + those industrial occupations which have to do immediately with the + production of goods have in the main the contrary tendency. But with + regard to the latter class of employments it is to be noticed in + qualification that the persons engaged in them are nearly all to some + extent also concerned with matters of pecuniary competition (as, for + instance, in the competitive fixing of wages and salaries, in the purchase + of goods for consumption, etc.). Therefore the distinction here made + between classes of employments is by no means a hard and fast distinction + between classes of persons. + </p> + <p> + The employments of the leisure classes in modern industry are such as to + keep alive certain of the predatory habits and aptitudes. So far as the + members of those classes take part in the industrial process, their + training tends to conserve in them the barbarian temperament. But there is + something to be said on the other side. Individuals so placed as to be + exempt from strain may survive and transmit their characteristics even if + they differ widely from the average of the species both in physique and in + spiritual make-up. The chances for a survival and transmission of + atavistic traits are greatest in those classes that are most sheltered + from the stress of circumstances. The leisure class is in some degree + sheltered from the stress of the industrial situation, and should, + therefore, afford an exceptionally great proportion of reversions to the + peaceable or savage temperament. It should be possible for such aberrant + or atavistic individuals to unfold their life activity on ante-predatory + lines without suffering as prompt a repression or elimination as in the + lower walks of life. + </p> + <p> + Something of the sort seems to be true in fact. There is, for instance, an + appreciable proportion of the upper classes whose inclinations lead them + into philanthropic work, and there is a considerable body of sentiment in + the class going to support efforts of reform and amelioration. And much of + this philanthropic and reformatory effort, moreover, bears the marks of + that amiable "cleverness" and incoherence that is characteristic of the + primitive savage. But it may still be doubtful whether these facts are + evidence of a larger proportion of reversions in the higher than in the + lower strata, even if the same inclinations were present in the + impecunious classes, it would not as easily find expression there; since + those classes lack the means and the time and energy to give effect to + their inclinations in this respect. The prima facie evidence of the facts + can scarcely go unquestioned. + </p> + <p> + In further qualification it is to be noted that the leisure class of today + is recruited from those who have been successful in a pecuniary way, and + who, therefore, are presumably endowed with more than an even complement + of the predatory traits. Entrance into the leisure class lies through the + pecuniary employments, and these employments, by selection and adaptation, + act to admit to the upper levels only those lines of descent that are + pecuniarily fit to survive under the predatory test. And so soon as a case + of reversion to non-predatory human nature shows itself on these upper + levels, it is commonly weeded out and thrown back to the lower pecuniary + levels. In order to hold its place in the class, a stock must have the + pecuniary temperament; otherwise its fortune would be dissipated and it + would presently lose caste. Instances of this kind are sufficiently + frequent. The constituency of the leisure class is kept up by a continual + selective process, whereby the individuals and lines of descent that are + eminently fitted for an aggressive pecuniary competition are withdrawn + from the lower classes. In order to reach the upper levels the aspirant + must have, not only a fair average complement of the pecuniary aptitudes, + but he must have these gifts in such an eminent degree as to overcome very + material difficulties that stand in the way of his ascent. Barring + accidents, the nouveaux arrivés are a picked body. + </p> + <p> + This process of selective admission has, of course, always been going on; + ever since the fashion of pecuniary emulation set in—which is much + the same as saying, ever since the institution of a leisure class was + first installed. But the precise ground of selection has not always been + the same, and the selective process has therefore not always given the + same results. In the early barbarian, or predatory stage proper, the test + of fitness was prowess, in the naive sense of the word. To gain entrance + to the class, the candidate had to be gifted with clannishness, + massiveness, ferocity, unscrupulousness, and tenacity of purpose. These + were the qualities that counted toward the accumulation and continued + tenure of wealth. The economic basis of the leisure class, then as later, + was the possession of wealth; but the methods of accumulating wealth, and + the gifts required for holding it, have changed in some degree since the + early days of the predatory culture. In consequence of the selective + process the dominant traits of the early barbarian leisure class were bold + aggression, an alert sense of status, and a free resort to fraud. The + members of the class held their place by tenure of prowess. In the later + barbarian culture society attained settled methods of acquisition and + possession under the quasi-peaceable regime of status. Simple aggression + and unrestrained violence in great measure gave place to shrewd practice + and chicanery, as the best approved method of accumulating wealth. A + different range of aptitudes and propensities would then be conserved in + the leisure class. Masterful aggression, and the correlative massiveness, + together with a ruthlessly consistent sense of status, would still count + among the most splendid traits of the class. These have remained in our + traditions as the typical "aristocratic virtues." But with these were + associated an increasing complement of the less obtrusive pecuniary + virtues; such as providence, prudence, and chicanery. As time has gone on, + and the modern peaceable stage of pecuniary culture has been approached, + the last-named range of aptitudes and habits has gained in relative + effectiveness for pecuniary ends, and they have counted for relatively + more in the selective process under which admission is gained and place is + held in the leisure class. + </p> + <p> + The ground of selection has changed, until the aptitudes which now qualify + for admission to the class are the pecuniary aptitudes only. What remains + of the predatory barbarian traits is the tenacity of purpose or + consistency of aim which distinguished the successful predatory barbarian + from the peaceable savage whom he supplanted. But this trait can not be + said characteristically to distinguish the pecuniarily successful + upper-class man from the rank and file of the industrial classes. The + training and the selection to which the latter are exposed in modern + industrial life give a similarly decisive weight to this trait. Tenacity + of purpose may rather be said to distinguish both these classes from two + others; the shiftless ne'er do-well and the lower-class delinquent. In + point of natural endowment the pecuniary man compares with the delinquent + in much the same way as the industrial man compares with the good-natured + shiftless dependent. The ideal pecuniary man is like the ideal delinquent + in his unscrupulous conversion of goods and persons to his own ends, and + in a callous disregard of the feelings and wishes of others and of the + remoter effects of his actions; but he is unlike him in possessing a + keener sense of status, and in working more consistently and farsightedly + to a remoter end. The kinship of the two types of temperament is further + shown in a proclivity to "sport" and gambling, and a relish of aimless + emulation. The ideal pecuniary man also shows a curious kinship with the + delinquent in one of the concomitant variations of the predatory human + nature. The delinquent is very commonly of a superstitious habit of mind; + he is a great believer in luck, spells, divination and destiny, and in + omens and shamanistic ceremony. Where circumstances are favorable, this + proclivity is apt to express itself in a certain servile devotional fervor + and a punctilious attention to devout observances; it may perhaps be + better characterized as devoutness than as religion. At this point the + temperament of the delinquent has more in common with the pecuniary and + leisure classes than with the industrial man or with the class of + shiftless dependents. + </p> + <p> + Life in a modern industrial community, or in other words life under the + pecuniary culture, acts by a process of selection to develop and conserve + a certain range of aptitudes and propensities. The present tendency of + this selective process is not simply a reversion to a given, immutable + ethnic type. It tends rather to a modification of human nature differing + in some respects from any of the types or variants transmitted out of the + past. The objective point of the evolution is not a single one. The + temperament which the evolution acts to establish as normal differs from + any one of the archaic variants of human nature in its greater stability + of aim—greater singleness of purpose and greater persistence in + effort. So far as concerns economic theory, the objective point of the + selective process is on the whole single to this extent; although there + are minor tendencies of considerable importance diverging from this line + of development. But apart from this general trend the line of development + is not single. As concerns economic theory, the development in other + respects runs on two divergent lines. So far as regards the selective + conservation of capacities or aptitudes in individuals, these two lines + may be called the pecuniary and the industrial. As regards the + conservation of propensities, spiritual attitude, or animus, the two may + be called the invidious or self-regarding and the non-invidious or + economical. As regards the intellectual or cognitive bent of the two + directions of growth, the former may be characterized as the personal + standpoint, of conation, qualitative relation, status, or worth; the + latter as the impersonal standpoint, of sequence, quantitative relation, + mechanical efficiency, or use. + </p> + <p> + The pecuniary employments call into action chiefly the former of these two + ranges of aptitudes and propensities, and act selectively to conserve them + in the population. The industrial employments, on the other hand, chiefly + exercise the latter range, and act to conserve them. An exhaustive + psychological analysis will show that each of these two ranges of + aptitudes and propensities is but the multiform expression of a given + temperamental bent. By force of the unity or singleness of the individual, + the aptitudes, animus, and interests comprised in the first-named range + belong together as expressions of a given variant of human nature. The + like is true of the latter range. The two may be conceived as alternative + directions of human life, in such a way that a given individual inclines + more or less consistently to the one or the other. The tendency of the + pecuniary life is, in a general way, to conserve the barbarian + temperament, but with the substitution of fraud and prudence, or + administrative ability, in place of that predilection for physical damage + that characterizes the early barbarian. This substitution of chicanery in + place of devastation takes place only in an uncertain degree. Within the + pecuniary employments the selective action runs pretty consistently in + this direction, but the discipline of pecuniary life, outside the + competition for gain, does not work consistently to the same effect. The + discipline of modern life in the consumption of time and goods does not + act unequivocally to eliminate the aristocratic virtues or to foster the + bourgeois virtues. The conventional scheme of decent living calls for a + considerable exercise of the earlier barbarian traits. Some details of + this traditional scheme of life, bearing on this point, have been noticed + in earlier chapters under the head of leisure, and further details will be + shown in later chapters. + </p> + <p> + From what has been said, it appears that the leisure-class life and the + leisure-class scheme of life should further the conservation of the + barbarian temperament; chiefly of the quasi-peaceable, or bourgeois, + variant, but also in some measure of the predatory variant. In the absence + of disturbing factors, therefore, it should be possible to trace a + difference of temperament between the classes of society. The aristocratic + and the bourgeois virtues—that is to say the destructive and + pecuniary traits—should be found chiefly among the upper classes, + and the industrial virtues—that is to say the peaceable traits—chiefly + among the classes given to mechanical industry. + </p> + <p> + In a general and uncertain way this holds true, but the test is not so + readily applied nor so conclusive as might be wished. There are several + assignable reasons for its partial failure. All classes are in a measure + engaged in the pecuniary struggle, and in all classes the possession of + the pecuniary traits counts towards the success and survival of the + individual. Wherever the pecuniary culture prevails, the selective process + by which men's habits of thought are shaped, and by which the survival of + rival lines of descent is decided, proceeds proximately on the basis of + fitness for acquisition. Consequently, if it were not for the fact that + pecuniary efficiency is on the whole incompatible with industrial + efficiency, the selective action of all occupations would tend to the + unmitigated dominance of the pecuniary temperament. The result would be + the installation of what has been known as the "economic man," as the + normal and definitive type of human nature. But the "economic man," whose + only interest is the self-regarding one and whose only human trait is + prudence is useless for the purposes of modern industry. + </p> + <p> + The modern industry requires an impersonal, non-invidious interest in the + work in hand. Without this the elaborate processes of industry would be + impossible, and would, indeed, never have been conceived. This interest in + work differentiates the workman from the criminal on the one hand, and + from the captain of industry on the other. Since work must be done in + order to the continued life of the community, there results a qualified + selection favoring the spiritual aptitude for work, within a certain range + of occupations. This much, however, is to be conceded, that even within + the industrial occupations the selective elimination of the pecuniary + traits is an uncertain process, and that there is consequently an + appreciable survival of the barbarian temperament even within these + occupations. On this account there is at present no broad distinction in + this respect between the leisure-class character and the character of the + common run of the population. + </p> + <p> + The whole question as to a class distinction in respect to spiritual + make-up is also obscured by the presence, in all classes of society, of + acquired habits of life that closely simulate inherited traits and at the + same time act to develop in the entire body of the population the traits + which they simulate. These acquired habits, or assumed traits of + character, are most commonly of an aristocratic cast. The prescriptive + position of the leisure class as the exemplar of reputability has imposed + many features of the leisure-class theory of life upon the lower classes; + with the result that there goes on, always and throughout society, a more + or less persistent cultivation of these aristocratic traits. On this + ground also these traits have a better chance of survival among the body + of the people than would be the case if it were not for the precept and + example of the leisure class. As one channel, and an important one, + through which this transfusion of aristocratic views of life, and + consequently more or less archaic traits of character goes on, may be + mentioned the class of domestic servants. These have their notions of what + is good and beautiful shaped by contact with the master class and carry + the preconceptions so acquired back among their low-born equals, and so + disseminate the higher ideals abroad through the community without the + loss of time which this dissemination might otherwise suffer. The saying + "Like master, like man," has a greater significance than is commonly + appreciated for the rapid popular acceptance of many elements of + upper-class culture. + </p> + <p> + There is also a further range of facts that go to lessen class differences + as regards the survival of the pecuniary virtues. The pecuniary struggle + produces an underfed class, of large proportions. This underfeeding + consists in a deficiency of the necessaries of life or of the necessaries + of a decent expenditure. In either case the result is a closely enforced + struggle for the means with which to meet the daily needs; whether it be + the physical or the higher needs. The strain of self-assertion against + odds takes up the whole energy of the individual; he bends his efforts to + compass his own invidious ends alone, and becomes continually more + narrowly self-seeking. The industrial traits in this way tend to + obsolescence through disuse. Indirectly, therefore, by imposing a scheme + of pecuniary decency and by withdrawing as much as may be of the means of + life from the lower classes, the institution of a leisure class acts to + conserve the pecuniary traits in the body of the population. The result is + an assimilation of the lower classes to the type of human nature that + belongs primarily to the upper classes only. It appears, therefore, that + there is no wide difference in temperament between the upper and the lower + classes; but it appears also that the absence of such a difference is in + good part due to the prescriptive example of the leisure class and to the + popular acceptance of those broad principles of conspicuous waste and + pecuniary emulation on which the institution of a leisure class rests. The + institution acts to lower the industrial efficiency of the community and + retard the adaptation of human nature to the exigencies of modern + industrial life. It affects the prevalent or effective human nature in a + conservative direction, (1) by direct transmission of archaic traits, + through inheritance within the class and wherever the leisure-class blood + is transfused outside the class, and (2) by conserving and fortifying the + traditions of the archaic regime, and so making the chances of survival of + barbarian traits greater also outside the range of transfusion of + leisure-class blood. + </p> + <p> + But little if anything has been done towards collecting or digesting data + that are of special significance for the question of survival or + elimination of traits in the modern populations. Little of a tangible + character can therefore be offered in support of the view here taken, + beyond a discursive review of such everyday facts as lie ready to hand. + Such a recital can scarcely avoid being commonplace and tedious, but for + all that it seems necessary to the completeness of the argument, even in + the meager outline in which it is here attempted. A degree of indulgence + may therefore fairly be bespoken for the succeeding chapters, which offer + a fragmentary recital of this kind. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter Ten ~~ Modern Survivals of Prowess + </h2> + <p> + The leisure class lives by the industrial community rather than in it. Its + relations to industry are of a pecuniary rather than an industrial kind. + Admission to the class is gained by exercise of the pecuniary aptitudes—aptitudes + for acquisition rather than for serviceability. There is, therefore, a + continued selective sifting of the human material that makes up the + leisure class, and this selection proceeds on the ground of fitness for + pecuniary pursuits. But the scheme of life of the class is in large part a + heritage from the past, and embodies much of the habits and ideals of the + earlier barbarian period. This archaic, barbarian scheme of life imposes + itself also on the lower orders, with more or less mitigation. In its turn + the scheme of life, of conventions, acts selectively and by education to + shape the human material, and its action runs chiefly in the direction of + conserving traits, habits, and ideals that belong to the early barbarian + age—the age of prowess and predatory life. + </p> + <p> + The most immediate and unequivocal expression of that archaic human nature + which characterizes man in the predatory stage is the fighting propensity + proper. In cases where the predatory activity is a collective one, this + propensity is frequently called the martial spirit, or, latterly, + patriotism. It needs no insistence to find assent to the proposition that + in the countries of civilized Europe the hereditary leisure class is + endowed with this martial spirit in a higher degree than the middle + classes. Indeed, the leisure class claims the distinction as a matter of + pride, and no doubt with some grounds. War is honorable, and warlike + prowess is eminently honorific in the eyes of the generality of men; and + this admiration of warlike prowess is itself the best voucher of a + predatory temperament in the admirer of war. The enthusiasm for war, and + the predatory temper of which it is the index, prevail in the largest + measure among the upper classes, especially among the hereditary leisure + class. Moreover, the ostensible serious occupation of the upper class is + that of government, which, in point of origin and developmental content, + is also a predatory occupation. + </p> + <p> + The only class which could at all dispute with the hereditary leisure + class the honor of an habitual bellicose frame of mind is that of the + lower-class delinquents. In ordinary times, the large body of the + industrial classes is relatively apathetic touching warlike interests. + When unexcited, this body of the common people, which makes up the + effective force of the industrial community, is rather averse to any other + than a defensive fight; indeed, it responds a little tardily even to a + provocation which makes for an attitude of defense. In the more civilized + communities, or rather in the communities which have reached an advanced + industrial development, the spirit of warlike aggression may be said to be + obsolescent among the common people. This does not say that there is not + an appreciable number of individuals among the industrial classes in whom + the martial spirit asserts itself obtrusively. Nor does it say that the + body of the people may not be fired with martial ardor for a time under + the stimulus of some special provocation, such as is seen in operation + today in more than one of the countries of Europe, and for the time in + America. But except for such seasons of temporary exaltation, and except + for those individuals who are endowed with an archaic temperament of the + predatory type, together with the similarly endowed body of individuals + among the higher and the lowest classes, the inertness of the mass of any + modern civilized community in this respect is probably so great as would + make war impracticable, except against actual invasion. The habits and + aptitudes of the common run of men make for an unfolding of activity in + other, less picturesque directions than that of war. + </p> + <p> + This class difference in temperament may be due in part to a difference in + the inheritance of acquired traits in the several classes, but it seems + also, in some measure, to correspond with a difference in ethnic + derivation. The class difference is in this respect visibly less in those + countries whose population is relatively homogeneous, ethnically, than in + the countries where there is a broader divergence between the ethnic + elements that make up the several classes of the community. In the same + connection it may be noted that the later accessions to the leisure class + in the latter countries, in a general way, show less of the martial spirit + than contemporary representatives of the aristocracy of the ancient line. + These nouveaux arrivés have recently emerged from the commonplace body of + the population and owe their emergence into the leisure class to the + exercise of traits and propensities which are not to be classed as prowess + in the ancient sense. + </p> + <p> + Apart from warlike activity proper, the institution of the duel is also an + expression of the same superior readiness for combat; and the duel is a + leisure-class institution. The duel is in substance a more or less + deliberate resort to a fight as a final settlement of a difference of + opinion. In civilized communities it prevails as a normal phenomenon only + where there is an hereditary leisure class, and almost exclusively among + that class. The exceptions are (1) military and naval officers who are + ordinarily members of the leisure class, and who are at the same time + specially trained to predatory habits of mind and (2) the lower-class + delinquents—who are by inheritance, or training, or both, of a + similarly predatory disposition and habit. It is only the high-bred + gentleman and the rowdy that normally resort to blows as the universal + solvent of differences of opinion. The plain man will ordinarily fight + only when excessive momentary irritation or alcoholic exaltation act to + inhibit the more complex habits of response to the stimuli that make for + provocation. He is then thrown back upon the simpler, less differentiated + forms of the instinct of self-assertion; that is to say, he reverts + temporarily and without reflection to an archaic habit of mind. + </p> + <p> + This institution of the duel as a mode of finally settling disputes and + serious questions of precedence shades off into the obligatory, unprovoked + private fight, as a social obligation due to one's good repute. As a + leisure-class usage of this kind we have, particularly, that bizarre + survival of bellicose chivalry, the German student duel. In the lower or + spurious leisure class of the delinquents there is in all countries a + similar, though less formal, social obligation incumbent on the rowdy to + assert his manhood in unprovoked combat with his fellows. And spreading + through all grades of society, a similar usage prevails among the boys of + the community. The boy usually knows to nicety, from day to day, how he + and his associates grade in respect of relative fighting capacity; and in + the community of boys there is ordinarily no secure basis of reputability + for any one who, by exception, will not or can not fight on invitation. + </p> + <p> + All this applies especially to boys above a certain somewhat vague limit + of maturity. The child's temperament does not commonly answer to this + description during infancy and the years of close tutelage, when the child + still habitually seeks contact with its mother at every turn of its daily + life. During this earlier period there is little aggression and little + propensity for antagonism. The transition from this peaceable temper to + the predaceous, and in extreme cases malignant, mischievousness of the boy + is a gradual one, and it is accomplished with more completeness, covering + a larger range of the individual's aptitudes, in some cases than in + others. In the earlier stage of his growth, the child, whether boy or + girl, shows less of initiative and aggressive self-assertion and less of + an inclination to isolate himself and his interests from the domestic + group in which he lives, and he shows more of sensitiveness to rebuke, + bashfulness, timidity, and the need of friendly human contact. In the + common run of cases this early temperament passes, by a gradual but + somewhat rapid obsolescence of the infantile features, into the + temperament of the boy proper; though there are also cases where the + predaceous futures of boy life do not emerge at all, or at the most emerge + in but a slight and obscure degree. + </p> + <p> + In girls the transition to the predaceous stage is seldom accomplished + with the same degree of completeness as in boys; and in a relatively large + proportion of cases it is scarcely undergone at all. In such cases the + transition from infancy to adolescence and maturity is a gradual and + unbroken process of the shifting of interest from infantile purposes and + aptitudes to the purposes, functions, and relations of adult life. In the + girls there is a less general prevalence of a predaceous interval in the + development; and in the cases where it occurs, the predaceous and + isolating attitude during the interval is commonly less accentuated. + </p> + <p> + In the male child the predaceous interval is ordinarily fairly well marked + and lasts for some time, but it is commonly terminated (if at all) with + the attainment of maturity. This last statement may need very material + qualification. The cases are by no means rare in which the transition from + the boyish to the adult temperament is not made, or is made only partially—understanding + by the "adult" temperament the average temperament of those adult + individuals in modern industrial life who have some serviceability for the + purposes of the collective life process, and who may therefore be said to + make up the effective average of the industrial community. + </p> + <p> + The ethnic composition of the European populations varies. In some cases + even the lower classes are in large measure made up of the + peace-disturbing dolicho-blond; while in others this ethnic element is + found chiefly among the hereditary leisure class. The fighting habit seems + to prevail to a less extent among the working-class boys in the latter + class of populations than among the boys of the upper classes or among + those of the populations first named. + </p> + <p> + If this generalization as to the temperament of the boy among the working + classes should be found true on a fuller and closer scrutiny of the field, + it would add force to the view that the bellicose temperament is in some + appreciable degree a race characteristic; it appears to enter more largely + into the make-up of the dominant, upper-class ethnic type—the + dolicho-blond—of the European countries than into the subservient, + lower-class types of man which are conceived to constitute the body of the + population of the same communities. + </p> + <p> + The case of the boy may seem not to bear seriously on the question of the + relative endowment of prowess with which the several classes of society + are gifted; but it is at least of some value as going to show that this + fighting impulse belongs to a more archaic temperament than that possessed + by the average adult man of the industrious classes. In this, as in many + other features of child life, the child reproduces, temporarily and in + miniature, some of the earlier phases of the development of adult man. + Under this interpretation, the boy's predilection for exploit and for + isolation of his own interest is to be taken as a transient reversion to + the human nature that is normal to the early barbarian culture—the + predatory culture proper. In this respect, as in much else, the + leisure-class and the delinquent-class character shows a persistence into + adult life of traits that are normal to childhood and youth, and that are + likewise normal or habitual to the earlier stages of culture. Unless the + difference is traceable entirely to a fundamental difference between + persistent ethnic types, the traits that distinguish the swaggering + delinquent and the punctilious gentleman of leisure from the common crowd + are, in some measure, marks of an arrested spiritual development. They + mark an immature phase, as compared with the stage of development attained + by the average of the adults in the modern industrial community. And it + will appear presently that the puerile spiritual make-up of these + representatives of the upper and the lowest social strata shows itself + also in the presence of other archaic traits than this proclivity to + ferocious exploit and isolation. + </p> + <p> + As if to leave no doubt about the essential immaturity of the fighting + temperament, we have, bridging the interval between legitimate boyhood and + adult manhood, the aimless and playful, but more or less systematic and + elaborate, disturbances of the peace in vogue among schoolboys of a + slightly higher age. In the common run of cases, these disturbances are + confined to the period of adolescence. They recur with decreasing + frequency and acuteness as youth merges into adult life, and so they + reproduce, in a general way, in the life of the individual, the sequence + by which the group has passed from the predatory to a more settled habit + of life. In an appreciable number of cases the spiritual growth of the + individual comes to a close before he emerges from this puerile phase; in + these cases the fighting temper persists through life. Those individuals + who in spiritual development eventually reach man's estate, therefore, + ordinarily pass through a temporary archaic phase corresponding to the + permanent spiritual level of the fighting and sporting men. Different + individuals will, of course, achieve spiritual maturity and sobriety in + this respect in different degrees; and those who fail of the average + remain as an undissolved residue of crude humanity in the modern + industrial community and as a foil for that selective process of + adaptation which makes for a heightened industrial efficiency and the + fullness of life of the collectivity. This arrested spiritual development + may express itself not only in a direct participation by adults in + youthful exploits of ferocity, but also indirectly in aiding and abetting + disturbances of this kind on the part of younger persons. It thereby + furthers the formation of habits of ferocity which may persist in the + later life of the growing generation, and so retard any movement in the + direction of a more peaceable effective temperament on the part of the + community. If a person so endowed with a proclivity for exploits is in a + position to guide the development of habits in the adolescent members of + the community, the influence which he exerts in the direction of + conservation and reversion to prowess may be very considerable. This is + the significance, for instance, of the fostering care latterly bestowed by + many clergymen and other pillars of society upon "boys' brigades" and + similar pseudo-military organizations. The same is true of the + encouragement given to the growth of "college spirit," college athletics, + and the like, in the higher institutions of learning. + </p> + <p> + These manifestations of the predatory temperament are all to be classed + under the head of exploit. They are partly simple and unreflected + expressions of an attitude of emulative ferocity, partly activities + deliberately entered upon with a view to gaining repute for prowess. + Sports of all kinds are of the same general character, including + prize-fights, bull-fights, athletics, shooting, angling, yachting, and + games of skill, even where the element of destructive physical efficiency + is not an obtrusive feature. Sports shade off from the basis of hostile + combat, through skill, to cunning and chicanery, without its being + possible to draw a line at any point. The ground of an addiction to sports + is an archaic spiritual constitution—the possession of the predatory + emulative propensity in a relatively high potency, a strong proclivity to + adventuresome exploit and to the infliction of damage is especially + pronounced in those employments which are in colloquial usage specifically + called sportsmanship. + </p> + <p> + It is perhaps truer, or at least more evident, as regards sports than as + regards the other expressions of predatory emulation already spoken of, + that the temperament which inclines men to them is essentially a boyish + temperament. The addiction to sports, therefore, in a peculiar degree + marks an arrested development of the man's moral nature. This peculiar + boyishness of temperament in sporting men immediately becomes apparent + when attention is directed to the large element of make-believe that is + present in all sporting activity. Sports share this character of + make-believe with the games and exploits to which children, especially + boys, are habitually inclined. Make-believe does not enter in the same + proportion into all sports, but it is present in a very appreciable degree + in all. It is apparently present in a larger measure in sportsmanship + proper and in athletic contests than in set games of skill of a more + sedentary character; although this rule may not be found to apply with any + great uniformity. It is noticeable, for instance, that even very + mild-mannered and matter-of-fact men who go out shooting are apt to carry + an excess of arms and accoutrements in order to impress upon their own + imagination the seriousness of their undertaking. These huntsmen are also + prone to a histrionic, prancing gait and to an elaborate exaggeration of + the motions, whether of stealth or of onslaught, involved in their deeds + of exploit. Similarly in athletic sports there is almost invariably + present a good share of rant and swagger and ostensible mystification—features + which mark the histrionic nature of these employments. In all this, of + course, the reminder of boyish make-believe is plain enough. The slang of + athletics, by the way, is in great part made up of extremely sanguinary + locutions borrowed from the terminology of warfare. Except where it is + adopted as a necessary means of secret communication, the use of a special + slang in any employment is probably to be accepted as evidence that the + occupation in question is substantially make-believe. + </p> + <p> + A further feature in which sports differ from the duel and similar + disturbances of the peace is the peculiarity that they admit of other + motives being assigned for them besides the impulses of exploit and + ferocity. There is probably little if any other motive present in any + given case, but the fact that other reasons for indulging in sports are + frequently assigned goes to say that other grounds are sometimes present + in a subsidiary way. Sportsmen—hunters and anglers—are more or + less in the habit of assigning a love of nature, the need of recreation, + and the like, as the incentives to their favorite pastime. These motives + are no doubt frequently present and make up a part of the attractiveness + of the sportsman's life; but these can not be the chief incentives. These + ostensible needs could be more readily and fully satisfied without the + accompaniment of a systematic effort to take the life of those creatures + that make up an essential feature of that "nature" that is beloved by the + sportsman. It is, indeed, the most noticeable effect of the sportsman's + activity to keep nature in a state of chronic desolation by killing off + all living thing whose destruction he can compass. + </p> + <p> + Still, there is ground for the sportsman's claim that under the existing + conventionalities his need of recreation and of contact with nature can + best be satisfied by the course which he takes. Certain canons of good + breeding have been imposed by the prescriptive example of a predatory + leisure class in the past and have been somewhat painstakingly conserved + by the usage of the latter-day representatives of that class; and these + canons will not permit him, without blame, to seek contact with nature on + other terms. From being an honorable employment handed down from the + predatory culture as the highest form of everyday leisure, sports have + come to be the only form of outdoor activity that has the full sanction of + decorum. Among the proximate incentives to shooting and angling, then, may + be the need of recreation and outdoor life. The remoter cause which + imposes the necessity of seeking these objects under the cover of + systematic slaughter is a prescription that can not be violated except at + the risk of disrepute and consequent lesion to one's self-respect. + </p> + <p> + The case of other kinds of sport is somewhat similar. Of these, athletic + games are the best example. Prescriptive usage with respect to what forms + of activity, exercise, and recreation are permissible under the code of + reputable living is of course present here also. Those who are addicted to + athletic sports, or who admire them, set up the claim that these afford + the best available means of recreation and of "physical culture." And + prescriptive usage gives countenance to the claim. The canons of reputable + living exclude from the scheme of life of the leisure class all activity + that can not be classed as conspicuous leisure. And consequently they tend + by prescription to exclude it also from the scheme of life of the + community generally. At the same time purposeless physical exertion is + tedious and distasteful beyond tolerance. As has been noticed in another + connection, recourse is in such a case had to some form of activity which + shall at least afford a colorable pretense of purpose, even if the object + assigned be only a make-believe. Sports satisfy these requirements of + substantial futility together with a colorable make-believe of purpose. In + addition to this they afford scope for emulation, and are attractive also + on that account. In order to be decorous, an employment must conform to + the leisure-class canon of reputable waste; at the same time all activity, + in order to be persisted in as an habitual, even if only partial, + expression of life, must conform to the generically human canon of + efficiency for some serviceable objective end. The leisure-class canon + demands strict and comprehensive futility, the instinct of workmanship + demands purposeful action. The leisure-class canon of decorum acts slowly + and pervasively, by a selective elimination of all substantially useful or + purposeful modes of action from the accredited scheme of life; the + instinct of workmanship acts impulsively and may be satisfied, + provisionally, with a proximate purpose. It is only as the apprehended + ulterior futility of a given line of action enters the reflective complex + of consciousness as an element essentially alien to the normally + purposeful trend of the life process that its disquieting and deterrent + effect on the consciousness of the agent is wrought. + </p> + <p> + The individual's habits of thought make an organic complex, the trend of + which is necessarily in the direction of serviceability to the life + process. When it is attempted to assimilate systematic waste or futility, + as an end in life, into this organic complex, there presently supervenes a + revulsion. But this revulsion of the organism may be avoided if the + attention can be confined to the proximate, unreflected purpose of + dexterous or emulative exertion. Sports—hunting, angling, athletic + games, and the like—afford an exercise for dexterity and for the + emulative ferocity and astuteness characteristic of predatory life. So + long as the individual is but slightly gifted with reflection or with a + sense of the ulterior trend of his actions so long as his life is + substantially a life of naive impulsive action—so long the immediate + and unreflected purposefulness of sports, in the way of an expression of + dominance, will measurably satisfy his instinct of workmanship. This is + especially true if his dominant impulses are the unreflecting emulative + propensities of the predaceous temperament. At the same time the canons of + decorum will commend sports to him as expressions of a pecuniarily + blameless life. It is by meeting these two requirements, of ulterior + wastefulness and proximate purposefulness, that any given employment holds + its place as a traditional and habitual mode of decorous recreation. In + the sense that other forms of recreation and exercise are morally + impossible to persons of good breeding and delicate sensibilities, then, + sports are the best available means of recreation under existing + circumstances. + </p> + <p> + But those members of respectable society who advocate athletic games + commonly justify their attitude on this head to themselves and to their + neighbors on the ground that these games serve as an invaluable means of + development. They not only improve the contestant's physique, but it is + commonly added that they also foster a manly spirit, both in the + participants and in the spectators. Football is the particular game which + will probably first occur to any one in this community when the question + of the serviceability of athletic games is raised, as this form of + athletic contest is at present uppermost in the mind of those who plead + for or against games as a means of physical or moral salvation. This + typical athletic sport may, therefore, serve to illustrate the bearing of + athletics upon the development of the contestant's character and physique. + It has been said, not inaptly, that the relation of football to physical + culture is much the same as that of the bull-fight to agriculture. + Serviceability for these lusory institutions requires sedulous training or + breeding. The material used, whether brute or human, is subjected to + careful selection and discipline, in order to secure and accentuate + certain aptitudes and propensities which are characteristic of the ferine + state, and which tend to obsolescence under domestication. This does not + mean that the result in either case is an all around and consistent + rehabilitation of the ferine or barbarian habit of mind and body. The + result is rather a one-sided return to barbarism or to the feroe natura—a + rehabilitation and accentuation of those ferine traits which make for + damage and desolation, without a corresponding development of the traits + which would serve the individual's self-preservation and fullness of life + in a ferine environment. The culture bestowed in football gives a product + of exotic ferocity and cunning. It is a rehabilitation of the early + barbarian temperament, together with a suppression of those details of + temperament, which, as seen from the standpoint of the social and economic + exigencies, are the redeeming features of the savage character. + </p> + <p> + The physical vigor acquired in the training for athletic games—so + far as the training may be said to have this effect—is of advantage + both to the individual and to the collectivity, in that, other things + being equal, it conduces to economic serviceability. The spiritual traits + which go with athletic sports are likewise economically advantageous to + the individual, as contradistinguished from the interests of the + collectivity. This holds true in any community where these traits are + present in some degree in the population. Modern competition is in large + part a process of self-assertion on the basis of these traits of predatory + human nature. In the sophisticated form in which they enter into the + modern, peaceable emulation, the possession of these traits in some + measure is almost a necessary of life to the civilized man. But while they + are indispensable to the competitive individual, they are not directly + serviceable to the community. So far as regards the serviceability of the + individual for the purposes of the collective life, emulative efficiency + is of use only indirectly if at all. Ferocity and cunning are of no use to + the community except in its hostile dealings with other communities; and + they are useful to the individual only because there is so large a + proportion of the same traits actively present in the human environment to + which he is exposed. Any individual who enters the competitive struggle + without the due endowment of these traits is at a disadvantage, somewhat + as a hornless steer would find himself at a disadvantage in a drove of + horned cattle. + </p> + <p> + The possession and the cultivation of the predatory traits of character + may, of course, be desirable on other than economic grounds. There is a + prevalent aesthetic or ethical predilection for the barbarian aptitudes, + and the traits in question minister so effectively to this predilection + that their serviceability in the aesthetic or ethical respect probably + offsets any economic unserviceability which they may give. But for the + present purpose that is beside the point. Therefore nothing is said here + as to the desirability or advisability of sports on the whole, or as to + their value on other than economic grounds. + </p> + <p> + In popular apprehension there is much that is admirable in the type of + manhood which the life of sport fosters. There is self-reliance and + good-fellowship, so termed in the somewhat loose colloquial use of the + words. From a different point of view the qualities currently so + characterized might be described as truculence and clannishness. The + reason for the current approval and admiration of these manly qualities, + as well as for their being called manly, is the same as the reason for + their usefulness to the individual. The members of the community, and + especially that class of the community which sets the pace in canons of + taste, are endowed with this range of propensities in sufficient measure + to make their absence in others felt as a shortcoming, and to make their + possession in an exceptional degree appreciated as an attribute of + superior merit. The traits of predatory man are by no means obsolete in + the common run of modern populations. They are present and can be called + out in bold relief at any time by any appeal to the sentiments in which + they express themselves—unless this appeal should clash with the + specific activities that make up our habitual occupations and comprise the + general range of our everyday interests. The common run of the population + of any industrial community is emancipated from these, economically + considered, untoward propensities only in the sense that, through partial + and temporary disuse, they have lapsed into the background of + sub-conscious motives. With varying degrees of potency in different + individuals, they remain available for the aggressive shaping of men's + actions and sentiments whenever a stimulus of more than everyday intensity + comes in to call them forth. And they assert themselves forcibly in any + case where no occupation alien to the predatory culture has usurped the + individual's everyday range of interest and sentiment. This is the case + among the leisure class and among certain portions of the population which + are ancillary to that class. Hence the facility with which any new + accessions to the leisure class take to sports; and hence the rapid growth + of sports and of the sporting sentient in any industrial community where + wealth has accumulated sufficiently to exempt a considerable part of the + population from work. + </p> + <p> + A homely and familiar fact may serve to show that the predaceous impulse + does not prevail in the same degree in all classes. Taken simply as a + feature of modern life, the habit of carrying a walking-stick may seem at + best a trivial detail; but the usage has a significance for the point in + question. The classes among whom the habit most prevails—the classes + with whom the walking-stick is associated in popular apprehension—are + the men of the leisure class proper, sporting men, and the lower-class + delinquents. To these might perhaps be added the men engaged in the + pecuniary employments. The same is not true of the common run of men + engaged in industry and it may be noted by the way that women do not carry + a stick except in case of infirmity, where it has a use of a different + kind. The practice is of course in great measure a matter of polite usage; + but the basis of polite usage is, in turn, the proclivities of the class + which sets the pace in polite usage. The walking-stick serves the purpose + of an advertisement that the bearer's hands are employed otherwise than in + useful effort, and it therefore has utility as an evidence of leisure. But + it is also a weapon, and it meets a felt need of barbarian man on that + ground. The handling of so tangible and primitive a means of offense is + very comforting to any one who is gifted with even a moderate share of + ferocity. The exigencies of the language make it impossible to avoid an + apparent implication of disapproval of the aptitudes, propensities, and + expressions of life here under discussion. It is, however, not intended to + imply anything in the way of deprecation or commendation of any one of + these phases of human character or of the life process. The various + elements of the prevalent human nature are taken up from the point of view + of economic theory, and the traits discussed are gauged and graded with + regard to their immediate economic bearing on the facility of the + collective life process. That is to say, these phenomena are here + apprehended from the economic point of view and are valued with respect to + their direct action in furtherance or hindrance of a more perfect + adjustment of the human collectivity to the environment and to the + institutional structure required by the economic situation of the + collectivity for the present and for the immediate future. For these + purposes the traits handed down from the predatory culture are less + serviceable than might be. Although even in this connection it is not to + be overlooked that the energetic aggressiveness and pertinacity of + predatory man is a heritage of no mean value. The economic value—with + some regard also to the social value in the narrower sense—of these + aptitudes and propensities is attempted to be passed upon without + reflecting on their value as seen from another point of view. When + contrasted with the prosy mediocrity of the latter-day industrial scheme + of life, and judged by the accredited standards of morality, and more + especially by the standards of aesthetics and of poetry, these survivals + from a more primitive type of manhood may have a very different value from + that here assigned them. But all this being foreign to the purpose in + hand, no expression of opinion on this latter head would be in place here. + All that is admissible is to enter the caution that these standards of + excellence, which are alien to the present purpose, must not be allowed to + influence our economic appreciation of these traits of human character or + of the activities which foster their growth. This applies both as regards + those persons who actively participate in sports and those whose sporting + experience consists in contemplation only. What is here said of the + sporting propensity is likewise pertinent to sundry reflections presently + to be made in this connection on what would colloquially be known as the + religious life. + </p> + <p> + The last paragraph incidentally touches upon the fact that everyday speech + can scarcely be employed in discussing this class of aptitudes and + activities without implying deprecation or apology. The fact is + significant as showing the habitual attitude of the dispassionate common + man toward the propensities which express themselves in sports and in + exploit generally. And this is perhaps as convenient a place as any to + discuss that undertone of deprecation which runs through all the + voluminous discourse in defense or in laudation of athletic sports, as + well as of other activities of a predominantly predatory character. The + same apologetic frame of mind is at least beginning to be observable in + the spokesmen of most other institutions handed down from the barbarian + phase of life. Among these archaic institutions which are felt to need + apology are comprised, with others, the entire existing system of the + distribution of wealth, together with the resulting class distinction of + status; all or nearly all forms of consumption that come under the head of + conspicuous waste; the status of women under the patriarchal system; and + many features of the traditional creeds and devout observances, especially + the exoteric expressions of the creed and the naive apprehension of + received observances. What is to be said in this connection of the + apologetic attitude taken in commending sports and the sporting character + will therefore apply, with a suitable change in phraseology, to the + apologies offered in behalf of these other, related elements of our social + heritage. + </p> + <p> + There is a feeling—usually vague and not commonly avowed in so many + words by the apologist himself, but ordinarily perceptible in the manner + of his discourse—that these sports, as well as the general range of + predaceous impulses and habits of thought which underlie the sporting + character, do not altogether commend themselves to common sense. "As to + the majority of murderers, they are very incorrect characters." This + aphorism offers a valuation of the predaceous temperament, and of the + disciplinary effects of its overt expression and exercise, as seen from + the moralist's point of view. As such it affords an indication of what is + the deliverance of the sober sense of mature men as to the degree of + availability of the predatory habit of mind for the purposes of the + collective life. It is felt that the presumption is against any activity + which involves habituation to the predatory attitude, and that the burden + of proof lies with those who speak for the rehabilitation of the + predaceous temper and for the practices which strengthen it. There is a + strong body of popular sentiment in favor of diversions and enterprises of + the kind in question; but there is at the same time present in the + community a pervading sense that this ground of sentiment wants + legitimation. The required legitimation is ordinarily sought by showing + that although sports are substantially of a predatory, socially + disintegrating effect; although their proximate effect runs in the + direction of reversion to propensities that are industrially + disserviceable; yet indirectly and remotely—by some not readily + comprehensible process of polar induction, or counter-irritation perhaps—sports + are conceived to foster a habit of mind that is serviceable for the social + or industrial purpose. That is to say, although sports are essentially of + the nature of invidious exploit, it is presumed that by some remote and + obscure effect they result in the growth of a temperament conducive to + non-invidious work. It is commonly attempted to show all this empirically + or it is rather assumed that this is the empirical generalization which + must be obvious to any one who cares to see it. In conducting the proof of + this thesis the treacherous ground of inference from cause to effect is + somewhat shrewdly avoided, except so far as to show that the "manly + virtues" spoken of above are fostered by sports. But since it is these + manly virtues that are (economically) in need of legitimation, the chain + of proof breaks off where it should begin. In the most general economic + terms, these apologies are an effort to show that, in spite of the logic + of the thing, sports do in fact further what may broadly be called + workmanship. So long as he has not succeeded in persuading himself or + others that this is their effect the thoughtful apologist for sports will + not rest content, and commonly, it is to be admitted, he does not rest + content. His discontent with his own vindication of the practice in + question is ordinarily shown by his truculent tone and by the eagerness + with which he heaps up asseverations in support of his position. But why + are apologies needed? If there prevails a body of popular sentient in + favor of sports, why is not that fact a sufficient legitimation? The + protracted discipline of prowess to which the race has been subjected + under the predatory and quasi-peaceable culture has transmitted to the men + of today a temperament that finds gratification in these expressions of + ferocity and cunning. So, why not accept these sports as legitimate + expressions of a normal and wholesome human nature? What other norm is + there that is to be lived up to than that given in the aggregate range of + propensities that express themselves in the sentiments of this generation, + including the hereditary strain of prowess? The ulterior norm to which + appeal is taken is the instinct of workmanship, which is an instinct more + fundamental, of more ancient prescription, than the propensity to + predatory emulation. The latter is but a special development of the + instinct of workmanship, a variant, relatively late and ephemeral in spite + of its great absolute antiquity. The emulative predatory impulse—or + the instinct of sportsmanship, as it might well be called—is + essentially unstable in comparison with the primordial instinct of + workmanship out of which it has been developed and differentiated. Tested + by this ulterior norm of life, predatory emulation, and therefore the life + of sports, falls short. + </p> + <p> + The manner and the measure in which the institution of a leisure class + conduces to the conservation of sports and invidious exploit can of course + not be succinctly stated. From the evidence already recited it appears + that, in sentient and inclinations, the leisure class is more favorable to + a warlike attitude and animus than the industrial classes. Something + similar seems to be true as regards sports. But it is chiefly in its + indirect effects, though the canons of decorous living, that the + institution has its influence on the prevalent sentiment with respect to + the sporting life. This indirect effect goes almost unequivocally in the + direction of furthering a survival of the predatory temperament and + habits; and this is true even with respect to those variants of the + sporting life which the higher leisure-class code of proprieties + proscribes; as, e.g., prize-fighting, cock-fighting, and other like vulgar + expressions of the sporting temper. Whatever the latest authenticated + schedule of detail proprieties may say, the accredited canons of decency + sanctioned by the institution say without equivocation that emulation and + waste are good and their opposites are disreputable. In the crepuscular + light of the social nether spaces the details of the code are not + apprehended with all the facility that might be desired, and these broad + underlying canons of decency are therefore applied somewhat + unreflectingly, with little question as to the scope of their competence + or the exceptions that have been sanctioned in detail. + </p> + <p> + Addiction to athletic sports, not only in the way of direct participation, + but also in the way of sentiment and moral support, is, in a more or less + pronounced degree, a characteristic of the leisure class; and it is a + trait which that class shares with the lower-class delinquents, and with + such atavistic elements throughout the body of the community as are + endowed with a dominant predaceous trend. Few individuals among the + populations of Western civilized countries are so far devoid of the + predaceous instinct as to find no diversion in contemplating athletic + sports and games, but with the common run of individuals among the + industrial classes the inclination to sports does not assert itself to the + extent of constituting what may fairly be called a sporting habit. With + these classes sports are an occasional diversion rather than a serious + feature of life. This common body of the people can therefore not be said + to cultivate the sporting propensity. Although it is not obsolete in the + average of them, or even in any appreciable number of individuals, yet the + predilection for sports in the commonplace industrial classes is of the + nature of a reminiscence, more or less diverting as an occasional + interest, rather than a vital and permanent interest that counts as a + dominant factor in shaping the organic complex of habits of thought into + which it enters. As it manifests itself in the sporting life of today, + this propensity may not appear to be an economic factor of grave + consequence. Taken simply by itself it does not count for a great deal in + its direct effects on the industrial efficiency or the consumption of any + given individual; but the prevalence and the growth of the type of human + nature of which this propensity is a characteristic feature is a matter of + some consequence. It affects the economic life of the collectivity both as + regards the rate of economic development and as regards the character of + the results attained by the development. For better or worse, the fact + that the popular habits of thought are in any degree dominated by this + type of character can not but greatly affect the scope, direction, + standards, and ideals of the collective economic life, as well as the + degree of adjustment of the collective life to the environment. + </p> + <p> + Something to a like effect is to be said of other traits that go to make + up the barbarian character. For the purposes of economic theory, these + further barbarian traits may be taken as concomitant variations of that + predaceous temper of which prowess is an expression. In great measure they + are not primarily of an economic character, nor do they have much direct + economic bearing. They serve to indicate the stage of economic evolution + to which the individual possessed of them is adapted. They are of + importance, therefore, as extraneous tests of the degree of adaptation of + the character in which they are comprised to the economic exigencies of + today, but they are also to some extent important as being aptitudes which + themselves go to increase or diminish the economic serviceability of the + individual. + </p> + <p> + As it finds expression in the life of the barbarian, prowess manifests + itself in two main directions—force and fraud. In varying degrees + these two forms of expression are similarly present in modern warfare, in + the pecuniary occupations, and in sports and games. Both lines of + aptitudes are cultivated and strengthened by the life of sport as well as + by the more serious forms of emulative life. Strategy or cunning is an + element invariably present in games, as also in warlike pursuits and in + the chase. In all of these employments strategy tends to develop into + finesse and chicanery. Chicanery, falsehood, browbeating, hold a + well-secured place in the method of procedure of any athletic contest and + in games generally. The habitual employment of an umpire, and the minute + technical regulations governing the limits and details of permissible + fraud and strategic advantage, sufficiently attest the fact that + fraudulent practices and attempts to overreach one's opponents are not + adventitious features of the game. In the nature of the case habituation + to sports should conduce to a fuller development of the aptitude for + fraud; and the prevalence in the community of that predatory temperament + which inclines men to sports connotes a prevalence of sharp practice and + callous disregard of the interests of others, individually and + collectively. Resort to fraud, in any guise and under any legitimation of + law or custom, is an expression of a narrowly self-regarding habit of + mind. It is needless to dwell at any length on the economic value of this + feature of the sporting character. + </p> + <p> + In this connection it is to be noted that the most obvious characteristic + of the physiognomy affected by athletic and other sporting men is that of + an extreme astuteness. The gifts and exploits of Ulysses are scarcely + second to those of Achilles, either in their substantial furtherance of + the game or in the éclat which they give the astute sporting man among his + associates. The pantomime of astuteness is commonly the first step in that + assimilation to the professional sporting man which a youth undergoes + after matriculation in any reputable school, of the secondary or the + higher education, as the case may be. And the physiognomy of astuteness, + as a decorative feature, never ceases to receive the thoughtful attention + of men whose serious interest lies in athletic games, races, or other + contests of a similar emulative nature. As a further indication of their + spiritual kinship, it may be pointed out that the members of the lower + delinquent class usually show this physiognomy of astuteness in a marked + degree, and that they very commonly show the same histrionic exaggeration + of it that is often seen in the young candidate for athletic honors. This, + by the way, is the most legible mark of what is vulgarly called + "toughness" in youthful aspirants for a bad name. + </p> + <p> + The astute man, it may be remarked, is of no economic value to the + community—unless it be for the purpose of sharp practice in dealings + with other communities. His functioning is not a furtherance of the + generic life process. At its best, in its direct economic bearing, it is a + conversion of the economic substance of the collectivity to a growth alien + to the collective life process—very much after the analogy of what + in medicine would be called a benign tumor, with some tendency to + transgress the uncertain line that divides the benign from the malign + growths. The two barbarian traits, ferocity and astuteness, go to make up + the predaceous temper or spiritual attitude. They are the expressions of a + narrowly self-regarding habit of mind. Both are highly serviceable for + individual expediency in a life looking to invidious success. Both also + have a high aesthetic value. Both are fostered by the pecuniary culture. + But both alike are of no use for the purposes of the collective life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter Eleven ~~ The Belief in Luck + </h2> + <p> + The gambling propensity is another subsidiary trait of the barbarian + temperament. It is a concomitant variation of character of almost + universal prevalence among sporting men and among men given to warlike and + emulative activities generally. This trait also has a direct economic + value. It is recognized to be a hindrance to the highest industrial + efficiency of the aggregate in any community where it prevails in an + appreciable degree. The gambling proclivity is doubtfully to be classed as + a feature belonging exclusively to the predatory type of human nature. The + chief factor in the gambling habit is the belief in luck; and this belief + is apparently traceable, at least in its elements, to a stage in human + evolution antedating the predatory culture. It may well have been under + the predatory culture that the belief in luck was developed into the form + in which it is present, as the chief element of the gambling proclivity, + in the sporting temperament. It probably owes the specific form under + which it occurs in the modern culture to the predatory discipline. But the + belief in luck is in substance a habit of more ancient date than the + predatory culture. It is one form of the artistic apprehension of things. + The belief seems to be a trait carried over in substance from an earlier + phase into the barbarian culture, and transmuted and transmitted through + that culture to a later stage of human development under a specific form + imposed by the predatory discipline. But in any case, it is to be taken as + an archaic trait, inherited from a more or less remote past, more or less + incompatible with the requirements of the modern industrial process, and + more or less of a hindrance to the fullest efficiency of the collective + economic life of the present. + </p> + <p> + While the belief in luck is the basis of the gambling habit, it is not the + only element that enters into the habit of betting. Betting on the issue + of contests of strength and skill proceeds on a further motive, without + which the belief in luck would scarcely come in as a prominent feature of + sporting life. This further motive is the desire of the anticipated + winner, or the partisan of the anticipated winning side, to heighten his + side's ascendency at the cost of the loser. Not only does the stronger + side score a more signal victory, and the losing side suffer a more + painful and humiliating defeat, in proportion as the pecuniary gain and + loss in the wager is large; although this alone is a consideration of + material weight. But the wager is commonly laid also with a view, not + avowed in words nor even recognized in set terms in petto, to enhancing + the chances of success for the contestant on which it is laid. It is felt + that substance and solicitude expended to this end can not go for naught + in the issue. There is here a special manifestation of the instinct of + workmanship, backed by an even more manifest sense that the animistic + congruity of things must decide for a victorious outcome for the side in + whose behalf the propensity inherent in events has been propitiated and + fortified by so much of conative and kinetic urging. This incentive to the + wager expresses itself freely under the form of backing one's favorite in + any contest, and it is unmistakably a predatory feature. It is as + ancillary to the predaceous impulse proper that the belief in luck + expresses itself in a wager. So that it may be set down that in so far as + the belief in luck comes to expression in the form of laying a wager, it + is to be accounted an integral element of the predatory type of character. + The belief is, in its elements, an archaic habit which belongs + substantially to early, undifferentiated human nature; but when this + belief is helped out by the predatory emulative impulse, and so is + differentiated into the specific form of the gambling habit, it is, in + this higher-developed and specific form, to be classed as a trait of the + barbarian character. + </p> + <p> + The belief in luck is a sense of fortuitous necessity in the sequence of + phenomena. In its various mutations and expressions, it is of very serious + importance for the economic efficiency of any community in which it + prevails to an appreciable extent. So much so as to warrant a more + detailed discussion of its origin and content and of the bearing of its + various ramifications upon economic structure and function, as well as a + discussion of the relation of the leisure class to its growth, + differentiation, and persistence. In the developed, integrated form in + which it is most readily observed in the barbarian of the predatory + culture or in the sporting man of modern communities, the belief comprises + at least two distinguishable elements—which are to be taken as two + different phases of the same fundamental habit of thought, or as the same + psychological factor in two successive phases of its evolution. The fact + that these two elements are successive phases of the same general line of + growth of belief does not hinder their coexisting in the habits of thought + of any given individual. The more primitive form (or the more archaic + phase) is an incipient animistic belief, or an animistic sense of + relations and things, that imputes a quasi-personal character to facts. To + the archaic man all the obtrusive and obviously consequential objects and + facts in his environment have a quasi-personal individuality. They are + conceived to be possessed of volition, or rather of propensities, which + enter into the complex of causes and affect events in an inscrutable + manner. The sporting man's sense of luck and chance, or of fortuitous + necessity, is an inarticulate or inchoate animism. It applies to objects + and situations, often in a very vague way; but it is usually so far + defined as to imply the possibility of propitiating, or of deceiving and + cajoling, or otherwise disturbing the holding of propensities resident in + the objects which constitute the apparatus and accessories of any game of + skill or chance. There are few sporting men who are not in the habit of + wearing charms or talismans to which more or less of efficacy is felt to + belong. And the proportion is not much less of those who instinctively + dread the "hoodooing" of the contestants or the apparatus engaged in any + contest on which they lay a wager; or who feel that the fact of their + backing a given contestant or side in the game does and ought to + strengthen that side; or to whom the "mascot" which they cultivate means + something more than a jest. + </p> + <p> + In its simple form the belief in luck is this instinctive sense of an + inscrutable teleological propensity in objects or situations. Objects or + events have a propensity to eventuate in a given end, whether this end or + objective point of the sequence is conceived to be fortuitously given or + deliberately sought. From this simple animism the belief shades off by + insensible gradations into the second, derivative form or phase above + referred to, which is a more or less articulate belief in an inscrutable + preternatural agency. The preternatural agency works through the visible + objects with which it is associated, but is not identified with these + objects in point of individuality. The use of the term "preternatural + agency" here carries no further implication as to the nature of the agency + spoken of as preternatural. This is only a farther development of + animistic belief. The preternatural agency is not necessarily conceived to + be a personal agent in the full sense, but it is an agency which partakes + of the attributes of personality to the extent of somewhat arbitrarily + influencing the outcome of any enterprise, and especially of any contest. + The pervading belief in the hamingia or gipta (gaefa, authna) which lends + so much of color to the Icelandic sagas specifically, and to early + Germanic folk-legends, is an illustration of this sense of an + extra-physical propensity in the course of events. + </p> + <p> + In this expression or form of the belief the propensity is scarcely + personified although to a varying extent an individuality is imputed to + it; and this individuated propensity is sometimes conceived to yield to + circumstances, commonly to circumstances of a spiritual or preternatural + character. A well-known and striking exemplification of the belief—in + a fairly advanced stage of differentiation and involving an + anthropomorphic personification of the preternatural agent appealed to—is + afforded by the wager of battle. Here the preternatural agent was + conceived to act on request as umpire, and to shape the outcome of the + contest in accordance with some stipulated ground of decision, such as the + equity or legality of the respective contestants' claims. The like sense + of an inscrutable but spiritually necessary tendency in events is still + traceable as an obscure element in current popular belief, as shown, for + instance, by the well-accredited maxim, "Thrice is he armed who knows his + quarrel just,"—a maxim which retains much of its significance for + the average unreflecting person even in the civilized communities of + today. The modern reminiscence of the belief in the hamingia, or in the + guidance of an unseen hand, which is traceable in the acceptance of this + maxim is faint and perhaps uncertain; and it seems in any case to be + blended with other psychological moments that are not clearly of an + animistic character. + </p> + <p> + For the purpose in hand it is unnecessary to look more closely into the + psychological process or the ethnological line of descent by which the + later of these two animistic apprehensions of propensity is derived from + the earlier. This question may be of the gravest importance to + folk-psychology or to the theory of the evolution of creeds and cults. The + same is true of the more fundamental question whether the two are related + at all as successive phases in a sequence of development. Reference is + here made to the existence of these questions only to remark that the + interest of the present discussion does not lie in that direction. So far + as concerns economic theory, these two elements or phases of the belief in + luck, or in an extra-causal trend or propensity in things, are of + substantially the same character. They have an economic significance as + habits of thought which affect the individual's habitual view of the facts + and sequences with which he comes in contact, and which thereby affect the + individual's serviceability for the industrial purpose. Therefore, apart + from all question of the beauty, worth, or beneficence of any animistic + belief, there is place for a discussion of their economic bearing on the + serviceability of the individual as an economic factor, and especially as + an industrial agent. + </p> + <p> + It has already been noted in an earlier connection, that in order to have + the highest serviceability in the complex industrial processes of today, + the individual must be endowed with the aptitude and the habit of readily + apprehending and relating facts in terms of causal sequence. Both as a + whole and in its details, the industrial process is a process of + quantitative causation. The "intelligence" demanded of the workman, as + well as of the director of an industrial process, is little else than a + degree of facility in the apprehension of and adaptation to a + quantitatively determined causal sequence. This facility of apprehension + and adaptation is what is lacking in stupid workmen, and the growth of + this facility is the end sought in their education—so far as their + education aims to enhance their industrial efficiency. + </p> + <p> + In so far as the individual's inherited aptitudes or his training incline + him to account for facts and sequences in other terms than those of + causation or matter-of-fact, they lower his productive efficiency or + industrial usefulness. This lowering of efficiency through a penchant for + animistic methods of apprehending facts is especially apparent when taken + in the mass-when a given population with an animistic turn is viewed as a + whole. The economic drawbacks of animism are more patent and its + consequences are more far-reaching under the modern system of large + industry than under any other. In the modern industrial communities, + industry is, to a constantly increasing extent, being organized in a + comprehensive system of organs and functions mutually conditioning one + another; and therefore freedom from all bias in the causal apprehension of + phenomena grows constantly more requisite to efficiency on the part of the + men concerned in industry. Under a system of handicraft an advantage in + dexterity, diligence, muscular force, or endurance may, in a very large + measure, offset such a bias in the habits of thought of the workmen. + </p> + <p> + Similarly in agricultural industry of the traditional kind, which closely + resembles handicraft in the nature of the demands made upon the workman. + In both, the workman is himself the prime mover chiefly depended upon, and + the natural forces engaged are in large part apprehended as inscrutable + and fortuitous agencies, whose working lies beyond the workman's control + or discretion. In popular apprehension there is in these forms of industry + relatively little of the industrial process left to the fateful swing of a + comprehensive mechanical sequence which must be comprehended in terms of + causation and to which the operations of industry and the movements of the + workmen must be adapted. As industrial methods develop, the virtues of the + handicraftsman count for less and less as an offset to scanty intelligence + or a halting acceptance of the sequence of cause and effect. The + industrial organization assumes more and more of the character of a + mechanism, in which it is man's office to discriminate and select what + natural forces shall work out their effects in his service. The workman's + part in industry changes from that of a prime mover to that of + discrimination and valuation of quantitative sequences and mechanical + facts. The faculty of a ready apprehension and unbiased appreciation of + causes in his environment grows in relative economic importance and any + element in the complex of his habits of thought which intrudes a bias at + variance with this ready appreciation of matter-of-fact sequence gains + proportionately in importance as a disturbing element acting to lower his + industrial usefulness. Through its cumulative effect upon the habitual + attitude of the population, even a slight or inconspicuous bias towards + accounting for everyday facts by recourse to other ground than that of + quantitative causation may work an appreciable lowering of the collective + industrial efficiency of a community. + </p> + <p> + The animistic habit of mind may occur in the early, undifferentiated form + of an inchoate animistic belief, or in the later and more highly + integrated phase in which there is an anthropomorphic personification of + the propensity imputed to facts. The industrial value of such a lively + animistic sense, or of such recourse to a preternatural agency or the + guidance of an unseen hand, is of course very much the same in either + case. As affects the industrial serviceability of the individual, the + effect is of the same kind in either case; but the extent to which this + habit of thought dominates or shapes the complex of his habits of thought + varies with the degree of immediacy, urgency, or exclusiveness with which + the individual habitually applies the animistic or anthropomorphic formula + in dealing with the facts of his environment. The animistic habit acts in + all cases to blur the appreciation of causal sequence; but the earlier, + less reflected, less defined animistic sense of propensity may be expected + to affect the intellectual processes of the individual in a more pervasive + way than the higher forms of anthropomorphism. Where the animistic habit + is present in the naive form, its scope and range of application are not + defined or limited. It will therefore palpably affect his thinking at + every turn of the person's life—wherever he has to do with the + material means of life. In the later, maturer development of animism, + after it has been defined through the process of anthropomorphic + elaboration, when its application has been limited in a somewhat + consistent fashion to the remote and the invisible, it comes about that an + increasing range of everyday facts are provisionally accounted for without + recourse to the preternatural agency in which a cultivated animism + expresses itself. A highly integrated, personified preternatural agency is + not a convenient means of handling the trivial occurrences of life, and a + habit is therefore easily fallen into of accounting for many trivial or + vulgar phenomena in terms of sequence. The provisional explanation so + arrived at is by neglect allowed to stand as definitive, for trivial + purposes, until special provocation or perplexity recalls the individual + to his allegiance. But when special exigencies arise, that is to say, when + there is peculiar need of a full and free recourse to the law of cause and + effect, then the individual commonly has recourse to the preternatural + agency as a universal solvent, if he is possessed of an anthropomorphic + belief. + </p> + <p> + The extra-causal propensity or agent has a very high utility as a recourse + in perplexity, but its utility is altogether of a non-economic kind. It is + especially a refuge and a fund of comfort where it has attained the degree + of consistency and specialization that belongs to an anthropomorphic + divinity. It has much to commend it even on other grounds than that of + affording the perplexed individual a means of escape from the difficulty + of accounting for phenomena in terms of causal sequence. It would scarcely + be in place here to dwell on the obvious and well-accepted merits of an + anthropomorphic divinity, as seen from the point of view of the aesthetic, + moral, or spiritual interest, or even as seen from the less remote + standpoint of political, military, or social policy. The question here + concerns the less picturesque and less urgent economic value of the belief + in such a preternatural agency, taken as a habit of thought which affects + the industrial serviceability of the believer. And even within this + narrow, economic range, the inquiry is perforce confined to the immediate + bearing of this habit of thought upon the believer's workmanlike + serviceability, rather than extended to include its remoter economic + effects. These remoter effects are very difficult to trace. The inquiry + into them is so encumbered with current preconceptions as to the degree in + which life is enhanced by spiritual contact with such a divinity, that any + attempt to inquire into their economic value must for the present be + fruitless. + </p> + <p> + The immediate, direct effect of the animistic habit of thought upon the + general frame of mind of the believer goes in the direction of lowering + his effective intelligence in the respect in which intelligence is of + especial consequence for modern industry. The effect follows, in varying + degree, whether the preternatural agent or propensity believed in is of a + higher or a lower cast. This holds true of the barbarian's and the + sporting man's sense of luck and propensity, and likewise of the somewhat + higher developed belief in an anthropomorphic divinity, such as is + commonly possessed by the same class. It must be taken to hold true also—though + with what relative degree of cogency is not easy to say—of the more + adequately developed anthropomorphic cults, such as appeal to the devout + civilized man. The industrial disability entailed by a popular adherence + to one of the higher anthropomorphic cults may be relatively slight, but + it is not to be overlooked. And even these high-class cults of the Western + culture do not represent the last dissolving phase of this human sense of + extra-causal propensity. Beyond these the same animistic sense shows + itself also in such attenuations of anthropomorphism as the + eighteenth-century appeal to an order of nature and natural rights, and in + their modern representative, the ostensibly post-Darwinian concept of a + meliorative trend in the process of evolution. This animistic explanation + of phenomena is a form of the fallacy which the logicians knew by the name + of ignava ratio. For the purposes of industry or of science it counts as a + blunder in the apprehension and valuation of facts. Apart from its direct + industrial consequences, the animistic habit has a certain significance + for economic theory on other grounds. (1) It is a fairly reliable + indication of the presence, and to some extent even of the degree of + potency, of certain other archaic traits that accompany it and that are of + substantial economic consequence; and (2) the material consequences of + that code of devout proprieties to which the animistic habit gives rise in + the development of an anthropomorphic cult are of importance both (a) as + affecting the community's consumption of goods and the prevalent canons of + taste, as already suggested in an earlier chapter, and (b) by inducing and + conserving a certain habitual recognition of the relation to a superior, + and so stiffening the current sense of status and allegiance. + </p> + <p> + As regards the point last named (b), that body of habits of thought which + makes up the character of any individual is in some sense an organic + whole. A marked variation in a given direction at any one point carries + with it, as its correlative, a concomitant variation in the habitual + expression of life in other directions or other groups of activities. + These various habits of thought, or habitual expressions of life, are all + phases of the single life sequence of the individual; therefore a habit + formed in response to a given stimulus will necessarily affect the + character of the response made to other stimuli. A modification of human + nature at any one point is a modification of human nature as a whole. On + this ground, and perhaps to a still greater extent on obscurer grounds + that can not be discussed here, there are these concomitant variations as + between the different traits of human nature. So, for instance, barbarian + peoples with a well-developed predatory scheme of life are commonly also + possessed of a strong prevailing animistic habit, a well-formed + anthropomorphic cult, and a lively sense of status. On the other hand, + anthropomorphism and the realizing sense of an animistic propensity in + material are less obtrusively present in the life of the peoples at the + cultural stages which precede and which follow the barbarian culture. The + sense of status is also feebler; on the whole, in peaceable communities. + It is to be remarked that a lively, but slightly specialized, animistic + belief is to be found in most if not all peoples living in the + ante-predatory, savage stage of culture. The primitive savage takes his + animism less seriously than the barbarian or the degenerate savage. With + him it eventuates in fantastic myth-making, rather than in coercive + superstition. The barbarian culture shows sportsmanship, status, and + anthropomorphism. There is commonly observable a like concomitance of + variations in the same respects in the individual temperament of men in + the civilized communities of today. Those modern representatives of the + predaceous barbarian temper that make up the sporting element are commonly + believers in luck; at least they have a strong sense of an animistic + propensity in things, by force of which they are given to gambling. So + also as regards anthropomorphism in this class. Such of them as give in + their adhesion to some creed commonly attach themselves to one of the + naively and consistently anthropomorphic creeds; there are relatively few + sporting men who seek spiritual comfort in the less anthropomorphic cults, + such as the Unitarian or the Universalist. + </p> + <p> + Closely bound up with this correlation of anthropomorphism and prowess is + the fact that anthropomorphic cults act to conserve, if not to initiate, + habits of mind favorable to a regime of status. As regards this point, it + is quite impossible to say where the disciplinary effect of the cult ends + and where the evidence of a concomitance of variations in inherited traits + begins. In their finest development, the predatory temperament, the sense + of status, and the anthropomorphic cult all together belong to the + barbarian culture; and something of a mutual causal relation subsists + between the three phenomena as they come into sight in communities on that + cultural level. The way in which they recur in correlation in the habits + and attitudes of individuals and classes today goes far to imply a like + causal or organic relation between the same psychological phenomena + considered as traits or habits of the individual. It has appeared at an + earlier point in the discussion that the relation of status, as a feature + of social structure, is a consequence of the predatory habit of life. As + regards its line of derivation, it is substantially an elaborated + expression of the predatory attitude. On the other hand, an + anthropomorphic cult is a code of detailed relations of status + superimposed upon the concept of a preternatural, inscrutable propensity + in material things. So that, as regards the external facts of its + derivation, the cult may be taken as an outgrowth of archaic man's + pervading animistic sense, defined and in some degree transformed by the + predatory habit of life, the result being a personified preternatural + agency, which is by imputation endowed with a full complement of the + habits of thought that characterize the man of the predatory culture. + </p> + <p> + The grosser psychological features in the case, which have an immediate + bearing on economic theory and are consequently to be taken account of + here, are therefore: (a) as has appeared in an earlier chapter, the + predatory, emulative habit of mind here called prowess is but the + barbarian variant of the generically human instinct of workmanship, which + has fallen into this specific form under the guidance of a habit of + invidious comparison of persons; (b) the relation of status is a formal + expression of such an invidious comparison duly gauged and graded + according to a sanctioned schedule; (c) an anthropomorphic cult, in the + days of its early vigor at least, is an institution the characteristic + element of which is a relation of status between the human subject as + inferior and the personified preternatural agency as superior. With this + in mind, there should be no difficulty in recognizing the intimate + relation which subsists between these three phenomena of human nature and + of human life; the relation amounts to an identity in some of their + substantial elements. On the one hand, the system of status and the + predatory habit of life are an expression of the instinct of workmanship + as it takes form under a custom of invidious comparison; on the other + hand, the anthropomorphic cult and the habit of devout observances are an + expression of men's animistic sense of a propensity in material things, + elaborated under the guidance of substantially the same general habit of + invidious comparison. The two categories—the emulative habit of life + and the habit of devout observances—are therefore to be taken as + complementary elements of the barbarian type of human nature and of its + modern barbarian variants. They are expressions of much the same range of + aptitudes, made in response to different sets of stimuli. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter Twelve ~~ Devout Observances + </h2> + <p> + A discoursive rehearsal of certain incidents of modern life will show the + organic relation of the anthropomorphic cults to the barbarian culture and + temperament. It will likewise serve to show how the survival and efficacy + of the cults and he prevalence of their schedule of devout observances are + related to the institution of a leisure class and to the springs of action + underlying that institution. Without any intention to commend or to + deprecate the practices to be spoken of under the head of devout + observances, or the spiritual and intellectual traits of which these + observances are the expression, the everyday phenomena of current + anthropomorphic cults may be taken up from the point of view of the + interest which they have for economic theory. What can properly be spoken + of here are the tangible, external features of devout observances. The + moral, as well as the devotional value of the life of faith lies outside + of the scope of the present inquiry. Of course no question is here + entertained as to the truth or beauty of the creeds on which the cults + proceed. And even their remoter economic bearing can not be taken up here; + the subject is too recondite and of too grave import to find a place in so + slight a sketch. + </p> + <p> + Something has been said in an earlier chapter as to the influence which + pecuniary standards of value exert upon the processes of valuation carried + out on other bases, not related to the pecuniary interest. The relation is + not altogether one-sided. The economic standards or canons of valuation + are in their turn influenced by extra-economic standards of value. Our + judgments of the economic bearing of facts are to some extent shaped by + the dominant presence of these weightier interests. There is a point of + view, indeed, from which the economic interest is of weight only as being + ancillary to these higher, non-economic interests. For the present + purpose, therefore, some thought must be taken to isolate the economic + interest or the economic hearing of these phenomena of anthropomorphic + cults. It takes some effort to divest oneself of the more serious point of + view, and to reach an economic appreciation of these facts, with as little + as may be of the bias due to higher interests extraneous to economic + theory. In the discussion of the sporting temperament, it has appeared + that the sense of an animistic propensity in material things and events is + what affords the spiritual basis of the sporting man's gambling habit. For + the economic purpose, this sense of propensity is substantially the same + psychological element as expresses itself, under a variety of forms, in + animistic beliefs and anthropomorphic creeds. So far as concerns those + tangible psychological features with which economic theory has to deal, + the gambling spirit which pervades the sporting element shades off by + insensible gradations into that frame of mind which finds gratification in + devout observances. As seen from the point of view of economic theory, the + sporting character shades off into the character of a religious devotee. + Where the betting man's animistic sense is helped out by a somewhat + consistent tradition, it has developed into a more or less articulate + belief in a preternatural or hyperphysical agency, with something of an + anthropomorphic content. And where this is the case, there is commonly a + perceptible inclination to make terms with the preternatural agency by + some approved method of approach and conciliation. This element of + propitiation and cajoling has much in common with the crasser forms of + worship—if not in historical derivation, at least in actual + psychological content. It obviously shades off in unbroken continuity into + what is recognized as superstitious practice and belief, and so asserts + its claim to kinship with the grosser anthropomorphic cults. + </p> + <p> + The sporting or gambling temperament, then, comprises some of the + substantial psychological elements that go to make a believer in creeds + and an observer of devout forms, the chief point of coincidence being the + belief in an inscrutable propensity or a preternatural interposition in + the sequence of events. For the purpose of the gambling practice the + belief in preternatural agency may be, and ordinarily is, less closely + formulated, especially as regards the habits of thought and the scheme of + life imputed to the preternatural agent; or, in other words, as regards + his moral character and his purposes in interfering in events. With + respect to the individuality or personality of the agency whose presence + as luck, or chance, or hoodoo, or mascot, etc., he feels and sometimes + dreads and endeavors to evade, the sporting man's views are also less + specific, less integrated and differentiated. The basis of his gambling + activity is, in great measure, simply an instinctive sense of the presence + of a pervasive extraphysical and arbitrary force or propensity in things + or situations, which is scarcely recognized as a personal agent. The + betting man is not infrequently both a believer in luck, in this naive + sense, and at the same time a pretty staunch adherent of some form of + accepted creed. He is especially prone to accept so much of the creed as + concerts the inscrutable power and the arbitrary habits of the divinity + which has won his confidence. In such a case he is possessed of two, or + sometimes more than two, distinguishable phases of animism. Indeed, the + complete series of successive phases of animistic belief is to be found + unbroken in the spiritual furniture of any sporting community. Such a + chain of animistic conceptions will comprise the most elementary form of + an instinctive sense of luck and chance and fortuitous necessity at one + end of the series, together with the perfectly developed anthropomorphic + divinity at the other end, with all intervening stages of integration. + Coupled with these beliefs in preternatural agency goes an instinctive + shaping of conduct to conform with the surmised requirements of the lucky + chance on the one hand, and a more or less devout submission to the + inscrutable decrees of the divinity on the other hand. + </p> + <p> + There is a relationship in this respect between the sporting temperament + and the temperament of the delinquent classes; and the two are related to + the temperament which inclines to an anthropomorphic cult. Both the + delinquent and the sporting man are on the average more apt to be + adherents of some accredited creed, and are also rather more inclined to + devout observances, than the general average of the community. It is also + noticeable that unbelieving members of these classes show more of a + proclivity to become proselytes to some accredited faith than the average + of unbelievers. This fact of observation is avowed by the spokesmen of + sports, especially in apologizing for the more naively predatory athletic + sports. Indeed, it is somewhat insistently claimed as a meritorious + feature of sporting life that the habitual participants in athletic games + are in some degree peculiarly given to devout practices. And it is + observable that the cult to which sporting men and the predaceous + delinquent classes adhere, or to which proselytes from these classes + commonly attach themselves, is ordinarily not one of the so-called higher + faiths, but a cult which has to do with a thoroughly anthropomorphic + divinity. Archaic, predatory human nature is not satisfied with abstruse + conceptions of a dissolving personality that shades off into the concept + of quantitative causal sequence, such as the speculative, esoteric creeds + of Christendom impute to the First Cause, Universal Intelligence, World + Soul, or Spiritual Aspect. As an instance of a cult of the character which + the habits of mind of the athlete and the delinquent require, may be cited + that branch of the church militant known as the Salvation Army. This is to + some extent recruited from the lower-class delinquents, and it appears to + comprise also, among its officers especially, a larger proportion of men + with a sporting record than the proportion of such men in the aggregate + population of the community. + </p> + <p> + College athletics afford a case in point. It is contended by exponents of + the devout element in college life—and there seems to be no ground + for disputing the claim—that the desirable athletic material + afforded by any student body in this country is at the same time + predominantly religious; or that it is at least given to devout + observances to a greater degree than the average of those students whose + interest in athletics and other college sports is less. This is what might + be expected on theoretical grounds. It may be remarked, by the way, that + from one point of view this is felt to reflect credit on the college + sporting life, on athletic games, and on those persons who occupy + themselves with these matters. It happens not frequently that college + sporting men devote themselves to religious propaganda, either as a + vocation or as a by-occupation; and it is observable that when this + happens they are likely to become propagandists of some one of the more + anthropomorphic cults. In their teaching they are apt to insist chiefly on + the personal relation of status which subsists between an anthropomorphic + divinity and the human subject. + </p> + <p> + This intimate relation between athletics and devout observance among + college men is a fact of sufficient notoriety; but it has a special + feature to which attention has not been called, although it is obvious + enough. The religious zeal which pervades much of the college sporting + element is especially prone to express itself in an unquestioning + devoutness and a naive and complacent submission to an inscrutable + Providence. It therefore by preference seeks affiliation with some one of + those lay religious organizations which occupy themselves with the spread + of the exoteric forms of faith—as, e.g., the Young Men's Christian + Association or the Young People's Society for Christian Endeavor. These + lay bodies are organized to further "practical" religion; and as if to + enforce the argument and firmly establish the close relationship between + the sporting temperament and the archaic devoutness, these lay religious + bodies commonly devote some appreciable portion of their energies to the + furtherance of athletic contests and similar games of chance and skill. It + might even be said that sports of this kind are apprehended to have some + efficacy as a means of grace. They are apparently useful as a means of + proselyting, and as a means of sustaining the devout attitude in converts + once made. That is to say, the games which give exercise to the animistic + sense and to the emulative propensity help to form and to conserve that + habit of mind to which the more exoteric cults are congenial. Hence, in + the hands of the lay organizations, these sporting activities come to do + duty as a novitiate or a means of induction into that fuller unfolding of + the life of spiritual status which is the privilege of the full + communicant along. + </p> + <p> + That the exercise of the emulative and lower animistic proclivities are + substantially useful for the devout purpose seems to be placed beyond + question by the fact that the priesthood of many denominations is + following the lead of the lay organizations in this respect. Those + ecclesiastical organizations especially which stand nearest the lay + organizations in their insistence on practical religion have gone some way + towards adopting these or analogous practices in connection with the + traditional devout observances. So there are "boys' brigades," and other + organizations, under clerical sanction, acting to develop the emulative + proclivity and the sense of status in the youthful members of the + congregation. These pseudo-military organizations tend to elaborate and + accentuate the proclivity to emulation and invidious comparison, and so + strengthen the native facility for discerning and approving the relation + of personal mastery and subservience. And a believer is eminently a person + who knows how to obey and accept chastisement with good grace. But the + habits of thought which these practices foster and conserve make up but + one half of the substance of the anthropomorphic cults. The other, + complementary element of devout life—the animistic habit of mind—is + recruited and conserved by a second range of practices organized under + clerical sanction. These are the class of gambling practices of which the + church bazaar or raffle may be taken as the type. As indicating the degree + of legitimacy of these practices in connection with devout observances + proper, it is to be remarked that these raffles, and the like trivial + opportunities for gambling, seem to appeal with more effect to the common + run of the members of religious organizations than they do to persons of a + less devout habit of mind. + </p> + <p> + All this seems to argue, on the one hand, that the same temperament + inclines people to sports as inclines them to the anthropomorphic cults, + and on the other hand that the habituation to sports, perhaps especially + to athletic sports, acts to develop the propensities which find + satisfaction in devout observances. Conversely; it also appears that + habituation to these observances favors the growth of a proclivity for + athletic sports and for all games that give play to the habit of invidious + comparison and of the appeal to luck. Substantially the same range of + propensities finds expression in both these directions of the spiritual + life. That barbarian human nature in which the predatory instinct and the + animistic standpoint predominate is normally prone to both. The predatory + habit of mind involves an accentuated sense of personal dignity and of the + relative standing of individuals. The social structure in which the + predatory habit has been the dominant factor in the shaping of + institutions is a structure based on status. The pervading norm in the + predatory community's scheme of life is the relation of superior and + inferior, noble and base, dominant and subservient persons and classes, + master and slave. The anthropomorphic cults have come down from that stage + of industrial development and have been shaped by the same scheme of + economic differentiation—a differentiation into consumer and + producer—and they are pervaded by the same dominant principle of + mastery and subservience. The cults impute to their divinity the habits of + thought answering to the stage of economic differentiation at which the + cults took shape. The anthropomorphic divinity is conceived to be + punctilious in all questions of precedence and is prone to an assertion of + mastery and an arbitrary exercise of power—an habitual resort to + force as the final arbiter. + </p> + <p> + In the later and maturer formulations of the anthropomorphic creed this + imputed habit of dominance on the part of a divinity of awful presence and + inscrutable power is chastened into "the fatherhood of God." The spiritual + attitude and the aptitudes imputed to the preternatural agent are still + such as belong under the regime of status, but they now assume the + patriarchal cast characteristic of the quasi-peaceable stage of culture. + Still it is to be noted that even in this advanced phase of the cult the + observances in which devoutness finds expression consistently aim to + propitiate the divinity by extolling his greatness and glory and by + professing subservience and fealty. The act of propitiation or of worship + is designed to appeal to a sense of status imputed to the inscrutable + power that is thus approached. The propitiatory formulas most in vogue are + still such as carry or imply an invidious comparison. A loyal attachment + to the person of an anthropomorphic divinity endowed with such an archaic + human nature implies the like archaic propensities in the devotee. For the + purposes of economic theory, the relation of fealty, whether to a physical + or to an extraphysical person, is to be taken as a variant of that + personal subservience which makes up so large a share of the predatory and + the quasi-peaceable scheme of life. + </p> + <p> + The barbarian conception of the divinity, as a warlike chieftain inclined + to an overbearing manner of government, has been greatly softened through + the milder manners and the soberer habits of life that characterize those + cultural phases which lie between the early predatory stage and the + present. But even after this chastening of the devout fancy, and the + consequent mitigation of the harsher traits of conduct and character that + are currently imputed to the divinity, there still remains in the popular + apprehension of the divine nature and temperament a very substantial + residue of the barbarian conception. So it comes about, for instance, that + in characterizing the divinity and his relations to the process of human + life, speakers and writers are still able to make effective use of similes + borrowed from the vocabulary of war and of the predatory manner of life, + as well as of locutions which involve an invidious comparison. Figures of + speech of this import are used with good effect even in addressing the + less warlike modern audiences, made up of adherents of the blander + variants of the creed. This effective use of barbarian epithets and terms + of comparison by popular speakers argues that the modern generation has + retained a lively appreciation of the dignity and merit of the barbarian + virtues; and it argues also that there is a degree of congruity between + the devout attitude and the predatory habit of mind. It is only on second + thought, if at all, that the devout fancy of modern worshippers revolts at + the imputation of ferocious and vengeful emotions and actions to the + object of their adoration. It is a matter of common observation that + sanguinary epithets applied to the divinity have a high aesthetic and + honorific value in the popular apprehension. That is to say, suggestions + which these epithets carry are very acceptable to our unreflecting + apprehension. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: + He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; + He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword; + His truth is marching on. +</pre> + <p> + The guiding habits of thought of a devout person move on the plane of an + archaic scheme of life which has outlived much of its usefulness for the + economic exigencies of the collective life of today. In so far as the + economic organization fits the exigencies of the collective life of today, + it has outlived the regime of status, and has no use and no place for a + relation of personal subserviency. So far as concerns the economic + efficiency of the community, the sentiment of personal fealty, and the + general habit of mind of which that sentiment is an expression, are + survivals which cumber the ground and hinder an adequate adjustment of + human institutions to the existing situation. The habit of mind which best + lends itself to the purposes of a peaceable, industrial community, is that + matter-of-fact temper which recognizes the value of material facts simply + as opaque items in the mechanical sequence. It is that frame of mind which + does not instinctively impute an animistic propensity to things, nor + resort to preternatural intervention as an explanation of perplexing + phenomena, nor depend on an unseen hand to shape the course of events to + human use. To meet the requirements of the highest economic efficiency + under modern conditions, the world process must habitually be apprehended + in terms of quantitative, dispassionate force and sequence. + </p> + <p> + As seen from the point of view of the later economic exigencies, + devoutness is, perhaps in all cases, to be looked upon as a survival from + an earlier phase of associated life—a mark of arrested spiritual + development. Of course it remains true that in a community where the + economic structure is still substantially a system of status; where the + attitude of the average of persons in the community is consequently shaped + by and adapted to the relation of personal dominance and personal + subservience; or where for any other reason—of tradition or of + inherited aptitude—the population as a whole is strongly inclined to + devout observances; there a devout habit of mind in any individual, not in + excess of the average of the community, must be taken simply as a detail + of the prevalent habit of life. In this light, a devout individual in a + devout community can not be called a case of reversion, since he is + abreast of the average of the community. But as seen from the point of + view of the modern industrial situation, exceptional devoutness—devotional + zeal that rises appreciably above the average pitch of devoutness in the + community—may safely be set down as in all cases an atavistic trait. + </p> + <p> + It is, of course, equally legitimate to consider these phenomena from a + different point of view. They may be appreciated for a different purpose, + and the characterization here offered may be turned about. In speaking + from the point of view of the devotional interest, or the interest of + devout taste, it may, with equal cogency, be said that the spiritual + attitude bred in men by the modern industrial life is unfavorable to a + free development of the life of faith. It might fairly be objected to the + later development of the industrial process that its discipline tends to + "materialism," to the elimination of filial piety. From the aesthetic + point of view, again, something to a similar purport might be said. But, + however legitimate and valuable these and the like reflections may be for + their purpose, they would not be in place in the present inquiry, which is + exclusively concerned with the valuation of these phenomena from the + economic point of view. + </p> + <p> + The grave economic significance of the anthropomorphic habit of mind and + of the addiction to devout observances must serve as apology for speaking + further on a topic which it can not but be distasteful to discuss at all + as an economic phenomenon in a community so devout as ours. Devout + observances are of economic importance as an index of a concomitant + variation of temperament, accompanying the predatory habit of mind and so + indicating the presence of industrially disserviceable traits. They + indicate the presence of a mental attitude which has a certain economic + value of its own by virtue of its influence upon the industrial + serviceability of the individual. But they are also of importance more + directly, in modifying the economic activities of the community, + especially as regards the distribution and consumption of goods. + </p> + <p> + The most obvious economic bearing of these observances is seen in the + devout consumption of goods and services. The consumption of ceremonial + paraphernalia required by any cult, in the way of shrines, temples, + churches, vestments, sacrifices, sacraments, holiday attire, etc., serves + no immediate material end. All this material apparatus may, therefore, + without implying deprecation, be broadly characterized as items of + conspicuous waste. The like is true in a general way of the personal + service consumed under this head; such as priestly education, priestly + service, pilgrimages, fasts, holidays, household devotions, and the like. + At the same time the observances in the execution of which this + consumption takes place serve to extend and protract the vogue of those + habits of thought on which an anthropomorphic cult rests. That is to say, + they further the habits of thought characteristic of the regime of status. + They are in so far an obstruction to the most effective organization of + industry under modern circumstances; and are, in the first instance, + antagonistic to the development of economic institutions in the direction + required by the situation of today. For the present purpose, the indirect + as well as the direct effects of this consumption are of the nature of a + curtailment of the community's economic efficiency. In economic theory, + then, and considered in its proximate consequences, the consumption of + goods and effort in the service of an anthropomorphic divinity means a + lowering of the vitality of the community. What may be the remoter, + indirect, moral effects of this class of consumption does not admit of a + succinct answer, and it is a question which can not be taken up here. + </p> + <p> + It will be to the point, however, to note the general economic character + of devout consumption, in comparison with consumption for other purposes. + An indication of the range of motives and purposes from which devout + consumption of goods proceeds will help toward an appreciation of the + value both of this consumption itself and of the general habit of mind to + which it is congenial. There is a striking parallelism, if not rather a + substantial identity of motive, between the consumption which goes to the + service of an anthropomorphic divinity and that which goes to the service + of a gentleman of leisure chieftain or patriarch—in the upper class + of society during the barbarian culture. Both in the case of the chieftain + and in that of the divinity there are expensive edifices set apart for the + behoof of the person served. These edifices, as well as the properties + which supplement them in the service, must not be common in kind or grade; + they always show a large element of conspicuous waste. It may also be + noted that the devout edifices are invariably of an archaic cast in their + structure and fittings. So also the servants, both of the chieftain and of + the divinity, must appear in the presence clothed in garments of a + special, ornate character. The characteristic economic feature of this + apparel is a more than ordinarily accentuated conspicuous waste, together + with the secondary feature—more accentuated in the case of the + priestly servants than in that of the servants or courtiers of the + barbarian potentate—that this court dress must always be in some + degree of an archaic fashion. Also the garments worn by the lay members of + the community when they come into the presence, should be of a more + expensive kind than their everyday apparel. Here, again, the parallelism + between the usage of the chieftain's audience hall and that of the + sanctuary is fairly well marked. In this respect there is required a + certain ceremonial "cleanness" of attire, the essential feature of which, + in the economic respect, is that the garments worn on these occasions + should carry as little suggestion as may be of any industrial occupation + or of any habitual addiction to such employments as are of material use. + </p> + <p> + This requirement of conspicuous waste and of ceremonial cleanness from the + traces of industry extends also to the apparel, and in a less degree to + the food, which is consumed on sacred holidays; that is to say, on days + set apart—tabu—for the divinity or for some member of the + lower ranks of the preternatural leisure class. In economic theory, sacred + holidays are obviously to be construed as a season of vicarious leisure + performed for the divinity or saint in whose name the tabu is imposed and + to whose good repute the abstention from useful effort on these days is + conceived to inure. The characteristic feature of all such seasons of + devout vicarious leisure is a more or less rigid tabu on all activity that + is of human use. In the case of fast-days the conspicuous abstention from + gainful occupations and from all pursuits that (materially) further human + life is further accentuated by compulsory abstinence from such consumption + as would conduce to the comfort or the fullness of life of the consumer. + </p> + <p> + It may be remarked, parenthetically, that secular holidays are of the same + origin, by slightly remoter derivation. They shade off by degrees from the + genuinely sacred days, through an intermediate class of semi-sacred + birthdays of kings and great men who have been in some measure canonized, + to the deliberately invented holiday set apart to further the good repute + of some notable event or some striking fact, to which it is intended to do + honor, or the good fame of which is felt to be in need of repair. The + remoter refinement in the employment of vicarious leisure as a means of + augmenting the good repute of a phenomenon or datum is seen at its best in + its very latest application. A day of vicarious leisure has in some + communities been set apart as Labor Day. This observance is designed to + augment the prestige of the fact of labor, by the archaic, predatory + method of a compulsory abstention from useful effort. To this datum of + labor-in-general is imputed the good repute attributable to the pecuniary + strength put in evidence by abstaining from labor. Sacred holidays, and + holidays generally, are of the nature of a tribute levied on the body of + the people. The tribute is paid in vicarious leisure, and the honorific + effect which emerges is imputed to the person or the fact for whose good + repute the holiday has been instituted. Such a tithe of vicarious leisure + is a perquisite of all members of the preternatural leisure class and is + indispensable to their good fame. Un saint qu'on ne chôme pas is indeed a + saint fallen on evil days. + </p> + <p> + Besides this tithe of vicarious leisure levied on the laity, there are + also special classes of persons—the various grades of priests and + hierodules—whose time is wholly set apart for a similar service. It + is not only incumbent on the priestly class to abstain from vulgar labor, + especially so far as it is lucrative or is apprehended to contribute to + the temporal well-being of mankind. The tabu in the case of the priestly + class goes farther and adds a refinement in the form of an injunction + against their seeking worldly gain even where it may be had without + debasing application to industry. It is felt to be unworthy of the servant + of the divinity, or rather unworthy the dignity of the divinity whose + servant he is, that he should seek material gain or take thought for + temporal matters. "Of all contemptible things a man who pretends to be a + priest of God and is a priest to his own comforts and ambitions is the + most contemptible." There is a line of discrimination, which a cultivated + taste in matters of devout observance finds little difficulty in drawing, + between such actions and conduct as conduce to the fullness of human life + and such as conduce to the good fame of the anthropomorphic divinity; and + the activity of the priestly class, in the ideal barbarian scheme, falls + wholly on the hither side of this line. What falls within the range of + economics falls below the proper level of solicitude of the priesthood in + its best estate. Such apparent exceptions to this rule as are afforded, + for instance, by some of the medieval orders of monks (the members of + which actually labored to some useful end), scarcely impugn the rule. + These outlying orders of the priestly class are not a sacerdotal element + in the full sense of the term. And it is noticeable also that these + doubtfully sacerdotal orders, which countenanced their members in earning + a living, fell into disrepute through offending the sense of propriety in + the communities where they existed. + </p> + <p> + The priest should not put his hand to mechanically productive work; but he + should consume in large measure. But even as regards his consumption it is + to be noted that it should take such forms as do not obviously conduce to + his own comfort or fullness of life; it should conform to the rules + governing vicarious consumption, as explained under that head in an + earlier chapter. It is not ordinarily in good form for the priestly class + to appear well fed or in hilarious spirits. Indeed, in many of the more + elaborate cults the injunction against other than vicarious consumption by + this class frequently goes so far as to enjoin mortification of the flesh. + And even in those modern denominations which have been organized under the + latest formulations of the creed, in a modern industrial community, it is + felt that all levity and avowed zest in the enjoyment of the good things + of this world is alien to the true clerical decorum. Whatever suggests + that these servants of an invisible master are living a life, not of + devotion to their master's good fame, but of application to their own + ends, jars harshly on our sensibilities as something fundamentally and + eternally wrong. They are a servant class, although, being servants of a + very exalted master, they rank high in the social scale by virtue of this + borrowed light. Their consumption is vicarious consumption; and since, in + the advanced cults, their master has no need of material gain, their + occupation is vicarious leisure in the full sense. "Whether therefore ye + eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." It may be + added that so far as the laity is assimilated to the priesthood in the + respect that they are conceived to be servants of the divinity. So far + this imputed vicarious character attaches also to the layman's life. The + range of application of this corollary is somewhat wide. It applies + especially to such movements for the reform or rehabilitation of the + religious life as are of an austere, pietistic, ascetic cast—where + the human subject is conceived to hold his life by a direct servile tenure + from his spiritual sovereign. That is to say, where the institution of the + priesthood lapses, or where there is an exceptionally lively sense of the + immediate and masterful presence of the divinity in the affairs of life, + there the layman is conceived to stand in an immediate servile relation to + the divinity, and his life is construed to be a performance of vicarious + leisure directed to the enhancement of his master's repute. In such cases + of reversion there is a return to the unmediated relation of subservience, + as the dominant fact of the devout attitude. The emphasis is thereby thrown + oon austere and discomforting vicarious leisure, to the neglect of + conspicuous consumption as a means of grace. + </p> + <p> + A doubt will present itself as to the full legitimacy of this + characterization of the sacerdotal scheme of life, on the ground that a + considerable proportion of the modern priesthood departs from the scheme + in many details. The scheme does not hold good for the clergy of those + denominations which have in some measure diverged from the old established + schedule of beliefs or observances. These take thought, at least + ostensibly or permissively, for the temporal welfare of the laity, as well + as for their own. Their manner of life, not only in the privacy of their + own household, but often even before the public, does not differ in an + extreme degree from that of secular-minded persons, either in its + ostensible austerity or in the archaism of its apparatus. This is truest + for those denominations that have wandered the farthest. To this objection + it is to be said that we have here to do not with a discrepancy in the + theory of sacerdotal life, but with an imperfect conformity to the scheme + on the part of this body of clergy. They are but a partial and imperfect + representative of the priesthood, and must not be taken as exhibiting the + sacerdotal scheme of life in an authentic and competent manner. The clergy + of the sects and denominations might be characterized as a half-caste + priesthood, or a priesthood in process of becoming or of reconstitution. + Such a priesthood may be expected to show the characteristics of the + sacerdotal office only as blended and obscured with alien motives and + traditions, due to the disturbing presence of other factors than those of + animism and status in the purposes of the organizations to which this + non-conforming fraction of the priesthood belongs. + </p> + <p> + Appeal may be taken direct to the taste of any person with a + discriminating and cultivated sense of the sacerdotal proprieties, or to + the prevalent sense of what constitutes clerical decorum in any community + at all accustomed to think or to pass criticism on what a clergyman may or + may not do without blame. Even in the most extremely secularized + denominations, there is some sense of a distinction that should be + observed between the sacerdotal and the lay scheme of life. There is no + person of sensibility but feels that where the members of this + denominational or sectarian clergy depart from traditional usage, in the + direction of a less austere or less archaic demeanor and apparel, they are + departing from the ideal of priestly decorum. There is probably no + community and no sect within the range of the Western culture in which the + bounds of permissible indulgence are not drawn appreciably closer for the + incumbent of the priestly office than for the common layman. If the + priest's own sense of sacerdotal propriety does not effectually impose a + limit, the prevalent sense of the proprieties on the part of the community + will commonly assert itself so obtrusively as to lead to his conformity or + his retirement from office. + </p> + <p> + Few if any members of any body of clergy, it may be added, would avowedly + seek an increase of salary for gain's sake; and if such avowal were openly + made by a clergyman, it would be found obnoxious to the sense of propriety + among his congregation. It may also be noted in this connection that no + one but the scoffers and the very obtuse are not instinctively grieved + inwardly at a jest from the pulpit; and that there are none whose respect + for their pastor does not suffer through any mark of levity on his part in + any conjuncture of life, except it be levity of a palpably histrionic kind—a + constrained unbending of dignity. The diction proper to the sanctuary and + to the priestly office should also carry little if any suggestion of + effective everyday life, and should not draw upon the vocabulary of modern + trade or industry. Likewise, one's sense of the proprieties is readily + offended by too detailed and intimate a handling of industrial and other + purely human questions at the hands of the clergy. There is a certain + level of generality below which a cultivated sense of the proprieties in + homiletical discourse will not permit a well-bred clergyman to decline in + his discussion of temporal interests. These matters that are of human and + secular consequence simply, should properly be handled with such a degree + of generality and aloofness as may imply that the speaker represents a + master whose interest in secular affairs goes only so far as to + permissively countenance them. + </p> + <p> + It is further to be noticed that the non-conforming sects and variants + whose priesthood is here under discussion, vary among themselves in the + degree of their conformity to the ideal scheme of sacerdotal life. In a + general way it will be found that the divergence in this respect is widest + in the case of the relatively young denominations, and especially in the + case of such of the newer denominations as have chiefly a lower + middle-class constituency. They commonly show a large admixture of + humanitarian, philanthropic, or other motives which can not be classed as + expressions of the devotional attitude; such as the desire of learning or + of conviviality, which enter largely into the effective interest shown by + members of these organizations. The non-conforming or sectarian movements + have commonly proceeded from a mixture of motives, some of which are at + variance with that sense of status on which the priestly office rests. + Sometimes, indeed, the motive has been in good part a revulsion against a + system of status. Where this is the case the institution of the priesthood + has broken down in the transition, at least partially. The spokesman of + such an organization is at the outset a servant and representative of the + organization, rather than a member of a special priestly class and the + spokesman of a divine master. And it is only by a process of gradual + specialization that, in succeeding generations, this spokesman regains the + position of priest, with a full investiture of sacerdotal authority, and + with its accompanying austere, archaic and vicarious manner of life. The + like is true of the breakdown and redintegration of devout ritual after + such a revulsion. The priestly office, the scheme of sacerdotal life, and + the schedule of devout observances are rehabilitated only gradually, + insensibly, and with more or less variation in details, as a persistent + human sense of devout propriety reasserts its primacy in questions + touching the interest in the preternatural—and it may be added, as + the organization increases in wealth, and so acquires more of the point of + view and the habits of thought of a leisure class. + </p> + <p> + Beyond the priestly class, and ranged in an ascending hierarchy, + ordinarily comes a superhuman vicarious leisure class of saints, angels, + etc.—or their equivalents in the ethnic cults. These rise in grade, + one above another, according to elaborate system of status. The principle + of status runs through the entire hierarchical system, both visible and + invisible. The good fame of these several orders of the supernatural + hierarchy also commonly requires a certain tribute of vicarious + consumption and vicarious leisure. In many cases they accordingly have + devoted to their service sub-orders of attendants or dependents who + perform a vicarious leisure for them, after much the same fashion as was + found in an earlier chapter to be true of the dependent leisure class + under the patriarchal system. + </p> + <p> + It may not appear without reflection how these devout observances and the + peculiarity of temperament which they imply, or the consumption of goods + and services which is comprised in the cult, stand related to the leisure + class of a modern community, or to the economic motives of which that + class is the exponent in the modern scheme of life to this end a summary + review of certain facts bearing on this relation will be useful. It + appears from an earlier passage in this discussion that for the purpose of + the collective life of today, especially so far as concerns the industrial + efficiency of the modern community, the characteristic traits of the + devout temperament are a hindrance rather than a help. It should + accordingly be found that the modern industrial life tends selectively to + eliminate these traits of human nature from the spiritual constitution of + the classes that are immediately engaged in the industrial process. It + should hold true, approximately, that devoutness is declining or tending + to obsolescence among the members of what may be called the effective + industrial community. At the same time it should appear that this aptitude + or habit survives in appreciably greater vigor among those classes which + do not immediately or primarily enter into the community's life process as + an industrial factor. + </p> + <p> + It has already been pointed out that these latter classes, which live by, + rather than in, the industrial process, are roughly comprised under two + categories (1) the leisure class proper, which is shielded from the stress + of the economic situation; and (2) the indigent classes, including the + lower-class delinquents, which are unduly exposed to the stress. In the + case of the former class an archaic habit of mind persists because no + effectual economic pressure constrains this class to an adaptation of its + habits of thought to the changing situation; while in the latter the + reason for a failure to adjust their habits of thought to the altered + requirements of industrial efficiency is innutrition, absence of such + surplus of energy as is needed in order to make the adjustment with + facility, together with a lack of opportunity to acquire and become + habituated to the modern point of view. The trend of the selective process + runs in much the same direction in both cases. + </p> + <p> + From the point of view which the modern industrial life inculcates, + phenomena are habitually subsumed under the quantitative relation of + mechanical sequence. The indigent classes not only fall short of the + modicum of leisure necessary in order to appropriate and assimilate the + more recent generalizations of science which this point of view involves, + but they also ordinarily stand in such a relation of personal dependence + or subservience to their pecuniary superiors as materially to retard their + emancipation from habits of thought proper to the regime of status. The + result is that these classes in some measure retain that general habit of + mind the chief expression of which is a strong sense of personal status, + and of which devoutness is one feature. + </p> + <p> + In the older communities of the European culture, the hereditary leisure + class, together with the mass of the indigent population, are given to + devout observances in an appreciably higher degree than the average of the + industrious middle class, wherever a considerable class of the latter + character exists. But in some of these countries, the two categories of + conservative humanity named above comprise virtually the whole population. + Where these two classes greatly preponderate, their bent shapes popular + sentiment to such an extent as to bear down any possible divergent + tendency in the inconsiderable middle class, and imposes a devout attitude + upon the whole community. + </p> + <p> + This must, of course, not be construed to say that such communities or + such classes as are exceptionally prone to devout observances tend to + conform in any exceptional degree to the specifications of any code of + morals that we may be accustomed to associate with this or that confession + of faith. A large measure of the devout habit of mind need not carry with + it a strict observance of the injunctions of the Decalogue or of the + common law. Indeed, it is becoming somewhat of a commonplace with + observers of criminal life in European communities that the criminal and + dissolute classes are, if anything, rather more devout, and more naively + so, than the average of the population. It is among those who constitute + the pecuniary middle class and the body of law-abiding citizens that a + relative exemption from the devotional attitude is to be looked for. Those + who best appreciate the merits of the higher creeds and observances would + object to all this and say that the devoutness of the low-class + delinquents is a spurious, or at the best a superstitious devoutness; and + the point is no doubt well taken and goes directly and cogently to the + purpose intended. But for the purpose of the present inquiry these + extra-economic, extra-psychological distinctions must perforce be + neglected, however valid and however decisive they may be for the purpose + for which they are made. + </p> + <p> + What has actually taken place with regard to class emancipation from the + habit of devout observance is shown by the latter-day complaint of the + clergy—that the churches are losing the sympathy of the artisan + classes, and are losing their hold upon them. At the same time it is + currently believed that the middle class, commonly so called, is also + falling away in the cordiality of its support of the church, especially so + far as regards the adult male portion of that class. These are currently + recognized phenomena, and it might seem that a simple reference to these + facts should sufficiently substantiate the general position outlined. Such + an appeal to the general phenomena of popular church attendance and church + membership may be sufficiently convincing for the proposition here + advanced. But it will still be to the purpose to trace in some detail the + course of events and the particular forces which have wrought this change + in the spiritual attitude of the more advanced industrial communities of + today. It will serve to illustrate the manner in which economic causes + work towards a secularization of men's habits of thought. In this respect + the American community should afford an exceptionally convincing + illustration, since this community has been the least trammelled by + external circumstances of any equally important industrial aggregate. + </p> + <p> + After making due allowance for exceptions and sporadic departures from the + normal, the situation here at the present time may be summarized quite + briefly. As a general rule the classes that are low in economic + efficiency, or in intelligence, or both, are peculiarly devout—as, + for instance, the Negro population of the South, much of the lower-class + foreign population, much of the rural population, especially in those + sections which are backward in education, in the stage of development of + their industry, or in respect of their industrial contact with the rest of + the community. So also such fragments as we possess of a specialized or + hereditary indigent class, or of a segregated criminal or dissolute class; + although among these latter the devout habit of mind is apt to take the + form of a naive animistic belief in luck and in the efficacy of + shamanistic practices perhaps more frequently than it takes the form of a + formal adherence to any accredited creed. The artisan class, on the other + hand, is notoriously falling away from the accredited anthropomorphic + creeds and from all devout observances. This class is in an especial + degree exposed to the characteristic intellectual and spiritual stress of + modern organized industry, which requires a constant recognition of the + undisguised phenomena of impersonal, matter-of-fact sequence and an + unreserved conformity to the law of cause and effect. This class is at the + same time not underfed nor over-worked to such an extent as to leave no + margin of energy for the work of adaptation. + </p> + <p> + The case of the lower or doubtful leisure class in America—the + middle class commonly so called—is somewhat peculiar. It differs in + respect of its devotional life from its European counterpart, but it + differs in degree and method rather than in substance. The churches still + have the pecuniary support of this class; although the creeds to which the + class adheres with the greatest facility are relatively poor in + anthropomorphic content. At the same time the effective middle-class + congregation tends, in many cases, more or less remotely perhaps, to + become a congregation of women and minors. There is an appreciable lack of + devotional fervor among the adult males of the middle class, although to a + considerable extent there survives among them a certain complacent, + reputable assent to the outlines of the accredited creed under which they + were born. Their everyday life is carried on in a more or less close + contact with the industrial process. + </p> + <p> + This peculiar sexual differentiation, which tends to delegate devout + observances to the women and their children, is due, at least in part, to + the fact that the middle-class women are in great measure a (vicarious) + leisure class. The same is true in a less degree of the women of the + lower, artisan classes. They live under a regime of status handed down + from an earlier stage of industrial development, and thereby they preserve + a frame of mind and habits of thought which incline them to an archaic + view of things generally. At the same time they stand in no such direct + organic relation to the industrial process at large as would tend strongly + to break down those habits of thought which, for the modern industrial + purpose, are obsolete. That is to say, the peculiar devoutness of women is + a particular expression of that conservatism which the women of civilized + communities owe, in great measure, to their economic position. For the + modern man the patriarchal relation of status is by no means the dominant + feature of life; but for the women on the other hand, and for the upper + middle-class women especially, confined as they are by prescription and by + economic circumstances to their "domestic sphere," this relation is the + most real and most formative factor of life. Hence a habit of mind + favorable to devout observances and to the interpretation of the facts of + life generally in terms of personal status. The logic, and the logical + processes, of her everyday domestic life are carried over into the realm + of the supernatural, and the woman finds herself at home and content in a + range of ideas which to the man are in great measure alien and imbecile. + </p> + <p> + Still the men of this class are also not devoid of piety, although it is + commonly not piety of an aggressive or exuberant kind. The men of the + upper middle class commonly take a more complacent attitude towards devout + observances than the men of the artisan class. This may perhaps be + explained in part by saying that what is true of the women of the class is + true to a less extent also of the men. They are to an appreciable extent a + sheltered class; and the patriarchal relation of status which still + persists in their conjugal life and in their habitual use of servants, may + also act to conserve an archaic habit of mind and may exercise a retarding + influence upon the process of secularization which their habits of thought + are undergoing. The relations of the American middle-class man to the + economic community, however, are usually pretty close and exacting; + although it may be remarked, by the way and in qualification, that their + economic activity frequently also partakes in some degree of the + patriarchal or quasi-predatory character. The occupations which are in + good repute among this class and which have most to do with shaping the + class habits of thought, are the pecuniary occupations which have been + spoken of in a similar connection in an earlier chapter. There is a good + deal of the relation of arbitrary command and submission, and not a little + of shrewd practice, remotely akin to predatory fraud. All this belongs on + the plane of life of the predatory barbarian, to whom a devotional + attitude is habitual. And in addition to this, the devout observances also + commend themselves to this class on the ground of reputability. But this + latter incentive to piety deserves treatment by itself and will be spoken + of presently. There is no hereditary leisure class of any consequence in + the American community, except in the South. This Southern leisure class + is somewhat given to devout observances; more so than any class of + corresponding pecuniary standing in other parts of the country. It is also + well known that the creeds of the South are of a more old-fashioned cast + than their counterparts in the North. Corresponding to this more archaic + devotional life of the South is the lower industrial development of that + section. The industrial organization of the South is at present, and + especially it has been until quite recently, of a more primitive character + than that of the American community taken as a whole. It approaches nearer + to handicraft, in the paucity and rudeness of its mechanical appliances, + and there is more of the element of mastery and subservience. It may also + be noted that, owing to the peculiar economic circumstances of this + section, the greater devoutness of the Southern population, both white and + black, is correlated with a scheme of life which in many ways recalls the + barbarian stages of industrial development. Among this population offenses + of an archaic character also are and have been relatively more prevalent + and are less deprecated than they are elsewhere; as, for example, duels, + brawls, feuds, drunkenness, horse-racing, cock-fighting, gambling, male + sexual incontinence (evidenced by the considerable number of mulattoes). + There is also a livelier sense of honor—an expression of + sportsmanship and a derivative of predatory life. + </p> + <p> + As regards the wealthier class of the North, the American leisure class in + the best sense of the term, it is, to begin with, scarcely possible to + speak of an hereditary devotional attitude. This class is of too recent + growth to be possessed of a well-formed transmitted habit in this respect, + or even of a special home-grown tradition. Still, it may be noted in + passing that there is a perceptible tendency among this class to give in + at least a nominal, and apparently something of a real, adherence to some + one of the accredited creeds. Also, weddings, funerals, and the like + honorific events among this class are pretty uniformly solemnized with + some especial degree of religious circumstance. It is impossible to say + how far this adherence to a creed is a bona fide reversion to a devout + habit of mind, and how far it is to be classed as a case of protective + mimicry assumed for the purpose of an outward assimilation to canons of + reputability borrowed from foreign ideals. Something of a substantial + devotional propensity seems to be present, to judge especially by the + somewhat peculiar degree of ritualistic observance which is in process of + development in the upper-class cults. There is a tendency perceptible + among the upper-class worshippers to affiliate themselves with those cults + which lay relatively great stress on ceremonial and on the spectacular + accessories of worship; and in the churches in which an upper-class + membership predominates, there is at the same time a tendency to + accentuate the ritualistic, at the cost of the intellectual features in + the service and in the apparatus of the devout observances. This holds + true even where the church in question belongs to a denomination with a + relatively slight general development of ritual and paraphernalia. This + peculiar development of the ritualistic element is no doubt due in part to + a predilection for conspicuously wasteful spectacles, but it probably also + in part indicates something of the devotional attitude of the worshippers. + So far as the latter is true, it indicates a relatively archaic form of + the devotional habit. The predominance of spectacular effects in devout + observances is noticeable in all devout communities at a relatively + primitive stage of culture and with a slight intellectual development. It + is especially characteristic of the barbarian culture. Here there is + pretty uniformly present in the devout observances a direct appeal to the + emotions through all the avenues of sense. And a tendency to return to + this naive, sensational method of appeal is unmistakable in the + upper-class churches of today. It is perceptible in a less degree in the + cults which claim the allegiance of the lower leisure class and of the + middle classes. There is a reversion to the use of colored lights and + brilliant spectacles, a freer use of symbols, orchestral music and + incense, and one may even detect in "processionals" and "recessionals" and + in richly varied genuflexional evolutions, an incipient reversion to so + antique an accessory of worship as the sacred dance. This reversion to + spectacular observances is not confined to the upper-class cults, although + it finds its best exemplification and its highest accentuation in the + higher pecuniary and social altitudes. The cults of the lower-class devout + portion of the community, such as the Southern Negroes and the backward + foreign elements of the population, of course also show a strong + inclination to ritual, symbolism, and spectacular effects; as might be + expected from the antecedents and the cultural level of those classes. + With these classes the prevalence of ritual and anthropomorphism are not + so much a matter of reversion as of continued development out of the past. + But the use of ritual and related features of devotion are also spreading + in other directions. In the early days of the American community the + prevailing denominations started out with a ritual and paraphernalia of an + austere simplicity; but it is a matter familiar to every one that in the + course of time these denominations have, in a varying degree, adopted much + of the spectacular elements which they once renounced. In a general way, + this development has gone hand in hand with the growth of the wealth and + the ease of life of the worshippers and has reached its fullest expression + among those classes which grade highest in wealth and repute. + </p> + <p> + The causes to which this pecuniary stratification of devoutness is due + have already been indicated in a general way in speaking of class + differences in habits of thought. Class differences as regards devoutness + are but a special expression of a generic fact. The lax allegiance of the + lower middle class, or what may broadly be called the failure of filial + piety among this class, is chiefly perceptible among the town populations + engaged in the mechanical industries. In a general way, one does not, at + the present time, look for a blameless filial piety among those classes + whose employment approaches that of the engineer and the mechanician. + These mechanical employments are in a degree a modern fact. The + handicraftsmen of earlier times, who served an industrial end of a + character similar to that now served by the mechanician, were not + similarly refractory under the discipline of devoutness. The habitual + activity of the men engaged in these branches of industry has greatly + changed, as regards its intellectual discipline, since the modern + industrial processes have come into vogue; and the discipline to which the + mechanician is exposed in his daily employment affects the methods and + standards of his thinking also on topics which lie outside his everyday + work. Familiarity with the highly organized and highly impersonal + industrial processes of the present acts to derange the animistic habits + of thought. The workman's office is becoming more and more exclusively + that of discretion and supervision in a process of mechanical, + dispassionate sequences. So long as the individual is the chief and + typical prime mover in the process; so long as the obtrusive feature of + the industrial process is the dexterity and force of the individual + handicraftsman; so long the habit of interpreting phenomena in terms of + personal motive and propensity suffers no such considerable and consistent + derangement through facts as to lead to its elimination. But under the + later developed industrial processes, when the prime movers and the + contrivances through which they work are of an impersonal, non-individual + character, the grounds of generalization habitually present in the + workman's mind and the point of view from which he habitually apprehends + phenomena is an enforced cognizance of matter-of-fact sequence. The + result, so far as concerts the workman's life of faith, is a proclivity to + undevout scepticism. + </p> + <p> + It appears, then, that the devout habit of mind attains its best + development under a relatively archaic culture; the term "devout" being of + course here used in its anthropological sense simply, and not as implying + anything with respect to the spiritual attitude so characterized, beyond + the fact of a proneness to devout observances. It appears also that this + devout attitude marks a type of human nature which is more in consonance + with the predatory mode of life than with the later-developed, more + consistently and organically industrial life process of the community. It + is in large measure an expression of the archaic habitual sense of + personal status—the relation of mastery and subservience—and + it therefore fits into the industrial scheme of the predatory and the + quasi-peaceable culture, but does not fit into the industrial scheme of + the present. It also appears that this habit persists with greatest + tenacity among those classes in the modern communities whose everyday life + is most remote from the mechanical processes of industry and which are the + most conservative also in other respects; while for those classes that are + habitually in immediate contact with modern industrial processes, and + whose habits of thought are therefore exposed to the constraining force of + technological necessities, that animistic interpretation of phenomena and + that respect of persons on which devout observance proceeds are in process + of obsolescence. And also—as bearing especially on the present + discussion—it appears that the devout habit to some extent + progressively gains in scope and elaboration among those classes in the + modern communities to whom wealth and leisure accrue in the most + pronounced degree. In this as in other relations, the institution of a + leisure class acts to conserve, and even to rehabilitate, that archaic + type of human nature and those elements of the archaic culture which the + industrial evolution of society in its later stages acts to eliminate. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter Thirteen ~~ Survivals of the Non-Invidious Interests + </h2> + <p> + In an increasing proportion as time goes on, the anthropomorphic cult, + with its code of devout observations, suffers a progressive disintegration + through the stress of economic exigencies and the decay of the system of + status. As this disintegration proceeds, there come to be associated and + blended with the devout attitude certain other motives and impulses that + are not always of an anthropomorphic origin, nor traceable to the habit of + personal subservience. Not all of these subsidiary impulses that blend + with the habit of devoutness in the later devotional life are altogether + congruous with the devout attitude or with the anthropomorphic + apprehension of the sequence of phenomena. The origin being not the same, + their action upon the scheme of devout life is also not in the same + direction. In many ways they traverse the underlying norm of subservience + or vicarious life to which the code of devout observations and the + ecclesiastical and sacerdotal institutions are to be traced as their + substantial basis. Through the presence of these alien motives the social + and industrial regime of status gradually disintegrates, and the canon of + personal subservience loses the support derived from an unbroken + tradition. Extraneous habits and proclivities encroach upon the field of + action occupied by this canon, and it presently comes about that the + ecclesiastical and sacerdotal structures are partially converted to other + uses, in some measure alien to the purposes of the scheme of devout life + as it stood in the days of the most vigorous and characteristic + development of the priesthood. + </p> + <p> + Among these alien motives which affect the devout scheme in its later + growth, may be mentioned the motives of charity and of social + good-fellowship, or conviviality; or, in more general terms, the various + expressions of the sense of human solidarity and sympathy. It may be added + that these extraneous uses of the ecclesiastical structure contribute + materially to its survival in name and form even among people who may be + ready to give up the substance of it. A still more characteristic and more + pervasive alien element in the motives which have gone to formally uphold + the scheme of devout life is that non-reverent sense of aesthetic + congruity with the environment, which is left as a residue of the + latter-day act of worship after elimination of its anthropomorphic + content. This has done good service for the maintenance of the sacerdotal + institution through blending with the motive of subservience. This sense + of impulse of aesthetic congruity is not primarily of an economic + character, but it has a considerable indirect effect in shaping the habit + of mind of the individual for economic purposes in the later stages of + industrial development; its most perceptible effect in this regard goes in + the direction of mitigating the somewhat pronounced self-regarding bias + that has been transmitted by tradition from the earlier, more competent + phases of the regime of status. The economic bearing of this impulse is + therefore seen to transverse that of the devout attitude; the former goes + to qualify, if not eliminate, the self-regarding bias, through sublation + of the antithesis or antagonism of self and not-self; while the latter, + being and expression of the sense of personal subservience and mastery, + goes to accentuate this antithesis and to insist upon the divergence + between the self-regarding interest and the interests of the generically + human life process. + </p> + <p> + This non-invidious residue of the religious life—the sense of + communion with the environment, or with the generic life process—as + well as the impulse of charity or of sociability, act in a pervasive way + to shape men's habits of thought for the economic purpose. But the action + of all this class of proclivities is somewhat vague, and their effects are + difficult to trace in detail. So much seems clear, however, as that the + action of this entire class of motives or aptitudes tends in a direction + contrary to the underlying principles of the institution of the leisure + class as already formulated. The basis of that institution, as well as of + the anthropomorphic cults associated with it in the cultural development, + is the habit of invidious comparison; and this habit is incongruous with + the exercise of the aptitudes now in question. The substantial canons of + the leisure-class scheme of life are a conspicuous waste of time and + substance and a withdrawal from the industrial process; while the + particular aptitudes here in question assert themselves, on the economic + side, in a deprecation of waste and of a futile manner of life, and in an + impulse to participation in or identification with the life process, + whether it be on the economic side or in any other of its phases or + aspects. + </p> + <p> + It is plain that these aptitudes and habits of life to which they give + rise where circumstances favor their expression, or where they assert + themselves in a dominant way, run counter to the leisure-class scheme of + life; but it is not clear that life under the leisure-class scheme, as + seen in the later stages of its development, tends consistently to the + repression of these aptitudes or to exemption from the habits of thought + in which they express themselves. The positive discipline of the + leisure-class scheme of life goes pretty much all the other way. In its + positive discipline, by prescription and by selective elimination, the + leisure-class scheme favors the all-pervading and all-dominating primacy + of the canons of waste and invidious comparison at every conjuncture of + life. But in its negative effects the tendency of the leisure-class + discipline is not so unequivocally true to the fundamental canons of the + scheme. In its regulation of human activity for the purpose of pecuniary + decency the leisure-class canon insists on withdrawal from the industrial + process. That is to say, it inhibits activity in the directions in which + the impecunious members of the community habitually put forth their + efforts. Especially in the case of women, and more particularly as regards + the upper-class and upper-middle-class women of advanced industrial + communities, this inhibition goes so far as to insist on withdrawal even + from the emulative process of accumulation by the quasi-predator methods + of the pecuniary occupations. + </p> + <p> + The pecuniary or the leisure-class culture, which set out as an emulative + variant of the impulse of workmanship, is in its latest development + beginning to neutralize its own ground, by eliminating the habit of + invidious comparison in respect of efficiency, or even of pecuniary + standing. On the other hand, the fact that members of the leisure class, + both men and women, are to some extent exempt from the necessity of + finding a livelihood in a competitive struggle with their fellows, makes + it possible for members of this class not only to survive, but even, + within bounds, to follow their bent in case they are not gifted with the + aptitudes which make for success in the competitive struggle. That is to + say, in the latest and fullest development of the institution, the + livelihood of members of this class does not depend on the possession and + the unremitting exercise of those aptitudes are therefore greater in the + higher grades of the leisure class than in the general average of a + population living under the competitive system. + </p> + <p> + In an earlier chapter, in discussing the conditions of survival of archaic + traits, it has appeared that the peculiar position of the leisure class + affords exceptionally favorable chances for the survival of traits which + characterize the type of human nature proper to an earlier and obsolete + cultural stage. The class is sheltered from the stress of economic + exigencies, and is in this sense withdrawn from the rude impact of forces + which make for adaptation to the economic situation. The survival in the + leisure class, and under the leisure-class scheme of life, of traits and + types that are reminiscent of the predatory culture has already been + discussed. These aptitudes and habits have an exceptionally favorable + chance of survival under the leisure-class regime. Not only does the + sheltered pecuniary position of the leisure class afford a situation + favorable to the survival of such individuals as are not gifted with the + complement of aptitudes required for serviceability in the modern + industrial process; but the leisure-class canons of reputability at the + same time enjoin the conspicuous exercise of certain predatory aptitudes. + The employments in which the predatory aptitudes find exercise serve as an + evidence of wealth, birth, and withdrawal from the industrial process. The + survival of the predatory traits under the leisure-class culture is + furthered both negatively, through the industrial exemption of the class, + and positively, through the sanction of the leisure-class canons of + decency. + </p> + <p> + With respect to the survival of traits characteristic of the + ante-predatory savage culture the case is in some degree different. The + sheltered position of the leisure class favors the survival also of these + traits; but the exercise of the aptitudes for peace and good-will does not + have the affirmative sanction of the code of proprieties. Individuals + gifted with a temperament that is reminiscent of the ante-predatory + culture are placed at something of an advantage within the leisure class, + as compared with similarly gifted individuals outside the class, in that + they are not under a pecuniary necessity to thwart these aptitudes that + make for a non-competitive life; but such individuals are still exposed to + something of a moral constraint which urges them to disregard these + inclinations, in that the code of proprieties enjoins upon them habits of + life based on the predatory aptitudes. So long as the system of status + remains intact, and so long as the leisure class has other lines of + non-industrial activity to take to than obvious killing of time in aimless + and wasteful fatigation, so long no considerable departure from the + leisure-class scheme of reputable life is to be looked for. The occurrence + of non-predatory temperament with the class at that stage is to be looked + upon as a case of sporadic reversion. But the reputable non-industrial + outlets for the human propensity to action presently fail, through the + advance of economic development, the disappearance of large game, the + decline of war, the obsolescence of proprietary government, and the decay + of the priestly office. When this happens, the situation begins to change. + Human life must seek expression in one direction if it may not in another; + and if the predatory outlet fails, relief is sought elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + As indicated above, the exemption from pecuniary stress has been carried + farther in the case of the leisure-class women of the advanced industrial + communities than in that of any other considerable group of persons. The + women may therefore be expected to show a more pronounced reversion to a + non-invidious temperament than the men. But there is also among men of the + leisure class a perceptible increase in the range and scope of activities + that proceed from aptitudes which are not to be classed as self-regarding, + and the end of which is not an invidious distinction. So, for instance, + the greater number of men who have to do with industry in the way of + pecuniarily managing an enterprise take some interest and some pride in + seeing that the work is well done and is industrially effective, and this + even apart from the profit which may result from any improvement of this + kind. The efforts of commercial clubs and manufacturers' organizations in + this direction of non-invidious advancement of industrial efficiency are + also well know. + </p> + <p> + The tendency to some other than an invidious purpose in life has worked + out in a multitude of organizations, the purpose of which is some work of + charity or of social amelioration. These organizations are often of a + quasi-religious or pseudo-religious character, and are participated in by + both men and women. Examples will present themselves in abundance on + reflection, but for the purpose of indicating the range of the + propensities in question and of characterizing them, some of the more + obvious concrete cases may be cited. Such, for instance, are the agitation + for temperance and similar social reforms, for prison reform, for the + spread of education, for the suppression of vice, and for the avoidance of + war by arbitration, disarmament, or other means; such are, in some + measure, university settlements, neighborhood guilds, the various + organizations typified by the Young Men's Christian Association and Young + People's Society for Christian Endeavor, sewing-clubs, art clubs, and even + commercial clubs; such are also, in some slight measure, the pecuniary + foundations of semi-public establishments for charity, education, or + amusement, whether they are endowed by wealthy individuals or by + contributions collected from persons of smaller means—in so far as + these establishments are not of a religious character. + </p> + <p> + It is of course not intended to say that these efforts proceed entirely + from other motives than those of a self-regarding kind. What can be + claimed is that other motives are present in the common run of cases, and + that the perceptibly greater prevalence of effort of this kind under the + circumstances of the modern industrial life than under the unbroken regime + of the principle of status, indicates the presence in modern life of an + effective scepticism with respect to the full legitimacy of an emulative + scheme of life. It is a matter of sufficient notoriety to have become a + commonplace jest that extraneous motives are commonly present among the + incentives to this class of work—motives of a self-regarding kind, + and especially the motive of an invidious distinction. To such an extent + is this true, that many ostensible works of disinterested public spirit + are no doubt initiated and carried on with a view primarily to the enhance + repute or even to the pecuniary gain, of their promoters. In the case of + some considerable groups of organizations or establishments of this kind + the invidious motive is apparently the dominant motive both with the + initiators of the work and with their supporters. This last remark would + hold true especially with respect to such works as lend distinction to + their doer through large and conspicuous expenditure; as, for example, the + foundation of a university or of a public library or museum; but it is + also, and perhaps equally, true of the more commonplace work of + participation in such organizations. These serve to authenticate the + pecuniary reputability of their members, as well as gratefully to keep + them in mind of their superior status by pointing the contrast between + themselves and the lower-lying humanity in whom the work of amelioration + is to be wrought; as, for example, the university settlement, which now + has some vogue. But after all allowances and deductions have been made, + there is left some remainder of motives of a non-emulative kind. The fact + itself that distinction or a decent good fame is sought by this method is + evidence of a prevalent sense of the legitimacy, and of the presumptive + effectual presence, of a non-emulative, non-invidious interest, as a + consistent factor in the habits of thought of modern communities. + </p> + <p> + In all this latter-day range of leisure-class activities that proceed on + the basis of a non-invidious and non-religious interest, it is to be noted + that the women participate more actively and more persistently than the + men—except, of course, in the case of such works as require a large + expenditure of means. The dependent pecuniary position of the women + disables them for work requiring large expenditure. As regards the general + range of ameliorative work, the members of the priesthood or clergy of the + less naively devout sects, or the secularized denominations, are + associated with the class of women. This is as the theory would have it. + In other economic relations, also, this clergy stands in a somewhat + equivocal position between the class of women and that of the men engaged + in economic pursuits. By tradition and by the prevalent sense of the + proprieties, both the clergy and the women of the well-to-do classes are + placed in the position of a vicarious leisure class; with both classes the + characteristic relation which goes to form the habits of thought of the + class is a relation of subservience—that is to say, an economic + relation conceived in personal terms; in both classes there is + consequently perceptible a special proneness to construe phenomena in + terms of personal relation rather than of causal sequence; both classes + are so inhibited by the canons of decency from the ceremonially unclean + processes of the lucrative or productive occupations as to make + participation in the industrial life process of today a moral + impossibility for them. The result of this ceremonial exclusion from + productive effort of the vulgar sort is to draft a relatively large share + of the energies of the modern feminine and priestly classes into the + service of other interests than the self-regarding one. The code leaves no + alternative direction in which the impulse to purposeful action may find + expression. The effect of a consistent inhibition on industrially useful + activity in the case of the leisure-class women shows itself in a restless + assertion of the impulse to workmanship in other directions than that of + business activity. As has been noticed already, the everyday life of the + well-to-do women and the clergy contains a larger element of status than + that of the average of the men, especially than that of the men engaged in + the modern industrial occupations proper. Hence the devout attitude + survives in a better state of preservation among these classes than among + the common run of men in the modern communities. Hence an appreciable + share of the energy which seeks expression in a non-lucrative employment + among these members of the vicarious leisure classes may be expected to + eventuate in devout observances and works of piety. Hence, in part, the + excess of the devout proclivity in women, spoken of in the last chapter. + But it is more to the present point to note the effect of this proclivity + in shaping the action and coloring the purposes of the non-lucrative + movements and organizations here under discussion. Where this devout + coloring is present it lowers the immediate efficiency of the + organizations for any economic end to which their efforts may be directed. + Many organizations, charitable and ameliorative, divide their attention + between the devotional and the secular well-being of the people whose + interests they aim to further. It can scarcely be doubted that if they + were to give an equally serious attention and effort undividedly to the + secular interests of these people, the immediate economic value of their + work should be appreciably higher than it is. It might of course similarly + be said, if this were the place to say it, that the immediate efficiency + of these works of amelioration for the devout might be greater if it were + not hampered with the secular motives and aims which are usually present. + </p> + <p> + Some deduction is to be made from the economic value of this class of + non-invidious enterprise, on account of the intrusion of the devotional + interest. But there are also deductions to be made on account of the + presence of other alien motives which more or less broadly traverse the + economic trend of this non-emulative expression of the instinct of + workmanship. To such an extent is this seen to be true on a closer + scrutiny, that, when all is told, it may even appear that this general + class of enterprises is of an altogether dubious economic value—as + measured in terms of the fullness or facility of life of the individuals + or classes to whose amelioration the enterprise is directed. For instance, + many of the efforts now in reputable vogue for the amelioration of the + indigent population of large cities are of the nature, in great part, of a + mission of culture. It is by this means sought to accelerate the rate of + speed at which given elements of the upper-class culture find acceptance + in the everyday scheme of life of the lower classes. The solicitude of + "settlements," for example, is in part directed to enhance the industrial + efficiency of the poor and to teach them the more adequate utilization of + the means at hand; but it is also no less consistently directed to the + inculcation, by precept and example, of certain punctilios of upper-class + propriety in manners and customs. The economic substance of these + proprieties will commonly be found on scrutiny to be a conspicuous waste + of time and goods. Those good people who go out to humanize the poor are + commonly, and advisedly, extremely scrupulous and silently insistent in + matters of decorum and the decencies of life. They are commonly persons of + an exemplary life and gifted with a tenacious insistence on ceremonial + cleanness in the various items of their daily consumption. The cultural or + civilizing efficacy of this inculcation of correct habits of thought with + respect to the consumption of time and commodities is scarcely to be + overrated; nor is its economic value to the individual who acquires these + higher and more reputable ideals inconsiderable. Under the circumstances + of the existing pecuniary culture, the reputability, and consequently the + success, of the individual is in great measure dependent on his + proficiency in demeanor and methods of consumption that argue habitual + waste of time and goods. But as regards the ulterior economic bearing of + this training in worthier methods of life, it is to be said that the + effect wrought is in large part a substitution of costlier or less + efficient methods of accomplishing the same material results, in relations + where the material result is the fact of substantial economic value. The + propaganda of culture is in great part an inculcation of new tastes, or + rather of a new schedule of proprieties, which have been adapted to the + upper-class scheme of life under the guidance of the leisure-class + formulation of the principles of status and pecuniary decency. This new + schedule of proprieties is intruded into the lower-class scheme of life + from the code elaborated by an element of the population whose life lies + outside the industrial process; and this intrusive schedule can scarcely + be expected to fit the exigencies of life for these lower classes more + adequately than the schedule already in vogue among them, and especially + not more adequately than the schedule which they are themselves working + out under the stress of modern industrial life. + </p> + <p> + All this of course does not question the fact that the proprieties of the + substituted schedule are more decorous than those which they displace. The + doubt which presents itself is simply a doubt as to the economic + expediency of this work of regeneration—that is to say, the economic + expediency in that immediate and material bearing in which the effects of + the change can be ascertained with some degree of confidence, and as + viewed from the standpoint not of the individual but of the facility of + life of the collectivity. For an appreciation of the economic expediency + of these enterprises of amelioration, therefore, their effective work is + scarcely to be taken at its face value, even where the aim of the + enterprise is primarily an economic one and where the interest on which it + proceeds is in no sense self-regarding or invidious. The economic reform + wrought is largely of the nature of a permutation in the methods of + conspicuous waste. + </p> + <p> + But something further is to be said with respect to the character of the + disinterested motives and canons of procedure in all work of this class + that is affected by the habits of thought characteristic of the pecuniary + culture; and this further consideration may lead to a further + qualification of the conclusions already reached. As has been seen in an + earlier chapter, the canons of reputability or decency under the pecuniary + culture insist on habitual futility of effort as the mark of a pecuniarily + blameless life. There results not only a habit of disesteem of useful + occupations, but there results also what is of more decisive consequence + in guiding the action of any organized body of people that lays claim to + social good repute. There is a tradition which requires that one should + not be vulgarly familiar with any of the processes or details that have to + do with the material necessities of life. One may meritoriously show a + quantitative interest in the well-being of the vulgar, through + subscriptions or through work on managing committees and the like. One + may, perhaps even more meritoriously, show solicitude in general and in + detail for the cultural welfare of the vulgar, in the way of contrivances + for elevating their tastes and affording them opportunities for spiritual + amelioration. But one should not betray an intimate knowledge of the + material circumstances of vulgar life, or of the habits of thought of the + vulgar classes, such as would effectually direct the efforts of these + organizations to a materially useful end. This reluctance to avow an + unduly intimate knowledge of the lower-class conditions of life in detail + of course prevails in very different degrees in different individuals; but + there is commonly enough of it present collectively in any organization of + the kind in question profoundly to influence its course of action. By its + cumulative action in shaping the usage and precedents of any such body, + this shrinking from an imputation of unseemly familiarity with vulgar life + tends gradually to set aside the initial motives of the enterprise, in + favor of certain guiding principles of good repute, ultimately reducible + to terms of pecuniary merit. So that in an organization of long standing + the initial motive of furthering the facility of life in these classes + comes gradually to be an ostensible motive only, and the vulgarly + effective work of the organization tends to obsolescence. + </p> + <p> + What is true of the efficiency of organizations for non-invidious work in + this respect is true also as regards the work of individuals proceeding on + the same motives; though it perhaps holds true with more qualification for + individuals than for organized enterprises. The habit of gauging merit by + the leisure-class canons of wasteful expenditure and unfamiliarity with + vulgar life, whether on the side of production or of consumption, is + necessarily strong in the individuals who aspire to do some work of public + utility. And if the individual should forget his station and turn his + efforts to vulgar effectiveness, the common sense of the community-the + sense of pecuniary decency—would presently reject his work and set + him right. An example of this is seen in the administration of bequests + made by public-spirited men for the single purpose (at least ostensibly) + of furthering the facility of human life in some particular respect. The + objects for which bequests of this class are most frequently made at + present are schools, libraries, + hospitals, and asylums for the infirm or unfortunate. The avowed purpose + of the donor in these cases is the amelioration of human life in the + particular respect which is named in the bequest; but it will be found an + invariable rule that in the execution of the work not a little of other + motives, frequency incompatible with the initial motive, is present and + determines the particular disposition eventually made of a good share of + the means which have been set apart by the bequest. Certain funds, for + instance, may have been set apart as a foundation for a foundling asylum + or a retreat for invalids. The diversion of expenditure to honorific waste + in such cases is not uncommon enough to cause surprise or even to raise a + smile. An appreciable share of the funds is spent in the construction of + an edifice faced with some aesthetically objectionable but expensive + stone, covered with grotesque and incongruous details, and designed, in + its battlemented walls and turrets and its massive portals and strategic + approaches, to suggest certain barbaric methods of warfare. The interior + of the structure shows the same pervasive guidance of the canons of + conspicuous waste and predatory exploit. The windows, for instance, to go + no farther into detail, are placed with a view to impress their pecuniary + excellence upon the chance beholder from the outside, rather than with a + view to effectiveness for their ostensible end in the convenience or + comfort of the beneficiaries within; and the detail of interior + arrangement is required to conform itself as best it may to this alien but + imperious requirement of pecuniary beauty. + </p> + <p> + In all this, of course, it is not to be presumed that the donor would have + found fault, or that he would have done otherwise if he had taken control + in person; it appears that in those cases where such a personal direction + is exercised—where the enterprise is conducted by direct expenditure + and superintendence instead of by bequest—the aims and methods of + management are not different in this respect. Nor would the beneficiaries, + or the outside observers whose ease or vanity are not immediately touched, + be pleased with a different disposition of the funds. It would suit no one + to have the enterprise conducted with a view directly to the most + economical and effective use of the means at hand for the initial, + material end of the foundation. All concerned, whether their interest is + immediate and self-regarding, or contemplative only, agree that some + considerable share of the expenditure should go to the higher or spiritual + needs derived from the habit of an invidious comparison in predatory + exploit and pecuniary waste. But this only goes to say that the canons of + emulative and pecuniary reputability so far pervade the common sense of + the community as to permit no escape or evasion, even in the case of an + enterprise which ostensibly proceeds entirely on the basis of a + non-invidious interest. + </p> + <p> + It may even be that the enterprise owes its honorific virtue, as a means + of enhancing the donor's good repute, to the imputed presence of this + non-invidious motive; but that does not hinder the invidious interest from + guiding the expenditure. The effectual presence of motives of an emulative + or invidious origin in non-emulative works of this kind might be shown at + length and with detail, in any one of the classes of enterprise spoken of + above. Where these honorific details occur, in such cases, they commonly + masquerade under designations that belong in the field of the aesthetic, + ethical or economic interest. These special motives, derived from the + standards and canons of the pecuniary culture, act surreptitiously to + divert effort of a non-invidious kind from effective service, without + disturbing the agent's sense of good intention or obtruding upon his + consciousness the substantial futility of his work. Their effect might be + traced through the entire range of that schedule of non-invidious, + meliorative enterprise that is so considerable a feature, and especially + so conspicuous a feature, in the overt scheme of life of the well-to-do. + But the theoretical bearing is perhaps clear enough and may require no + further illustration; especially as some detailed attention will be given + to one of these lines of enterprise—the establishments for the + higher learning—in another connection. + </p> + <p> + Under the circumstances of the sheltered situation in which the leisure + class is placed there seems, therefore, to be something of a reversion to + the range of non-invidious impulses that characterizes the ante-predatory + savage culture. The reversion comprises both the sense of workmanship and + the proclivity to indolence and good-fellowship. But in the modern scheme + of life canons of conduct based on pecuniary or invidious merit stand in + the way of a free exercise of these impulses; and the dominant presence of + these canons of conduct goes far to divert such efforts as are made on the + basis of the non-invidious interest to the service of that invidious + interest on which the pecuniary culture rests. The canons of pecuniary + decency are reducible for the present purpose to the principles of waste, + futility, and ferocity. The requirements of decency are imperiously + present in meliorative enterprise as in other lines of conduct, and + exercise a selective surveillance over the details of conduct and + management in any enterprise. By guiding and adapting the method in + detail, these canons of decency go far to make all non-invidious + aspiration or effort nugatory. The pervasive, impersonal, un-eager + principle of futility is at hand from day to day and works obstructively + to hinder the effectual expression of so much of the surviving + ante-predatory aptitudes as is to be classed under the instinct of + workmanship; but its presence does not preclude the transmission of those + aptitudes or the continued recurrence of an impulse to find expression for + them. + </p> + <p> + In the later and farther development of the pecuniary culture, the + requirement of withdrawal from the industrial process in order to avoid + social odium is carried so far as to comprise abstention from the + emulative employments. At this advanced stage the pecuniary culture + negatively favors the assertion of the non-invidious propensities by + relaxing the stress laid on the merit of emulative, predatory, or + pecuniary occupations, as compared with those of an industrial or + productive kind. As was noticed above, the requirement of such withdrawal + from all employment that is of human use applies more rigorously to the + upper-class women than to any other class, unless the priesthood of + certain cults might be cited as an exception, perhaps more apparent than + real, to this rule. The reason for the more extreme insistence on a futile + life for this class of women than for the men of the same pecuniary and + social grade lies in their being not only an upper-grade leisure class but + also at the same time a vicarious leisure class. There is in their case a + double ground for a consistent withdrawal from useful effort. + </p> + <p> + It has been well and repeatedly said by popular writers and speakers who + reflect the common sense of intelligent people on questions of social + structure and function that the position of woman in any community is the + most striking index of the level of culture attained by the community, and + it might be added, by any given class in the community. This remark is + perhaps truer as regards the stage of economic development than as regards + development in any other respect. At the same time the position assigned + to the woman in the accepted scheme of life, in any community or under any + culture, is in a very great degree an expression of traditions which have + been shaped by the circumstances of an earlier phase of development, and + which have been but partially adapted to the existing economic + circumstances, or to the existing exigencies of temperament and habits of + mind by which the women living under this modern economic situation are + actuated. + </p> + <p> + The fact has already been remarked upon incidentally in the course of the + discussion of the growth of economic institutions generally, and in + particular in speaking of vicarious leisure and of dress, that the + position of women in the modern economic scheme is more widely and more + consistently at variance with the promptings of the instinct of + workmanship than is the position of the men of the same classes. It is + also apparently true that the woman's temperament includes a larger share + of this instinct that approves peace and disapproves futility. It is + therefore not a fortuitous circumstance that the women of modern + industrial communities show a livelier sense of the discrepancy between + the accepted scheme of life and the exigencies of the economic situation. + </p> + <p> + The several phases of the "woman question" have brought out in + intelligible form the extent to which the life of women in modern society, + and in the polite circles especially, is regulated by a body of common + sense formulated under the economic circumstances of an earlier phase of + development. It is still felt that woman's life, in its civil, economic, + and social bearing, is essentially and normally a vicarious life, the + merit or demerit of which is, in the nature of things, to be imputed to + some other individual who stands in some relation of ownership or tutelage + to the woman. So, for instance, any action on the part of a woman which + traverses an injunction of the accepted schedule of proprieties is felt to + reflect immediately upon the honor of the man whose woman she is. There + may of course be some sense of incongruity in the mind of any one passing + an opinion of this kind on the woman's frailty or perversity; but the + common-sense judgment of the community in such matters is, after all, + delivered without much hesitation, and few men would question the + legitimacy of their sense of an outraged tutelage in any case that might + arise. On the other hand, relatively little discredit attaches to a woman + through the evil deeds of the man with whom her life is associated. + </p> + <p> + The good and beautiful scheme of life, then—that is to say the + scheme to which we are habituated—assigns to the woman a "sphere" + ancillary to the activity of the man; and it is felt that any departure + from the traditions of her assigned round of duties is unwomanly. If the + question is as to civil rights or the suffrage, our common sense in the + matter—that is to say the logical deliverance of our general scheme + of life upon the point in question—says that the woman should be + represented in the body politic and before the law, not immediately in her + own person, but through the mediation of the head of the household to + which she belongs. It is unfeminine in her to aspire to a self-directing, + self-centered life; and our common sense tells us that her direct + participation in the affairs of the community, civil or industrial, is a + menace to that social order which expresses our habits of thought as they + have been formed under the guidance of the traditions of the pecuniary + culture. "All this fume and froth of 'emancipating woman from the slavery + of man' and so on, is, to use the chaste and expressive language of + Elizabeth Cady Stanton inversely, 'utter rot.' The social relations of the + sexes are fixed by nature. Our entire civilization—that is whatever + is good in it—is based on the home." The "home" is the household + with a male head. This view, but commonly expressed even more chastely, is + the prevailing view of the woman's status, not only among the common run + of the men of civilized communities, but among the women as well. Women + have a very alert sense of what the scheme of proprieties requires, and + while it is true that many of them are ill at ease under the details which + the code imposes, there are few who do not recognize that the existing + moral order, of necessity and by the divine right of prescription, places + the woman in a position ancillary to the man. In the last analysis, + according to her own sense of what is good and beautiful, the woman's life + is, and in theory must be, an expression of the man's life at the second + remove. + </p> + <p> + But in spite of this pervading sense of what is the good and natural place + for the woman, there is also perceptible an incipient development of + sentiment to the effect that this whole arrangement of tutelage and + vicarious life and imputation of merit and demerit is somehow a mistake. + Or, at least, that even if it may be a natural growth and a good + arrangement in its time and place, and in spite of its patent aesthetic + value, still it does not adequately serve the more everyday ends of life + in a modern industrial community. Even that large and substantial body of + well-bred, upper and middle-class women to whose dispassionate, matronly + sense of the traditional proprieties this relation of status commends + itself as fundamentally and eternally right-even these, whose attitude is + conservative, commonly find some slight discrepancy in detail between + things as they are and things as they should be in this respect. But that + less manageable body of modern women who, by force of youth, education, or + temperament, are in some degree out of touch with the traditions of status + received from the barbarian culture, and in whom there is, perhaps, an + undue reversion to the impulse of self-expression and workmanship—these + are touched with a sense of grievance too vivid to leave them at rest. + </p> + <p> + In this "New-Woman" movement—as these blind and incoherent efforts + to rehabilitate the woman's pre-glacial standing have been named—there + are at least two elements discernible, both of which are of an economic + character. These two elements or motives are expressed by the double + watchword, "Emancipation" and "Work." Each of these words is recognized to + stand for something in the way of a wide-spread sense of grievance. The + prevalence of the sentiment is recognized even by people who do not see + that there is any real ground for a grievance in the situation as it + stands today. It is among the women of the well-to-do classes, in the + communities which are farthest advanced in industrial development, that + this sense of a grievance to be redressed is most alive and finds most + frequent expression. That is to say, in other words, there is a demand, + more or less serious, for emancipation from all relation of status, + tutelage, or vicarious life; and the revulsion asserts itself especially + among the class of women upon whom the scheme of life handed down from the + regime of status imposes with least litigation a vicarious life, and in + those communities whose economic development has departed farthest from + the circumstances to which this traditional scheme is adapted. The demand + comes from that portion of womankind which is excluded by the canons of + good repute from all effectual work, and which is closely reserved for a + life of leisure and conspicuous consumption. + </p> + <p> + More than one critic of this new-woman movement has misapprehended its + motive. The case of the American "new woman" has lately been summed up + with some warmth by a popular observer of social phenomena: "She is petted + by her husband, the most devoted and hard-working of husbands in the + world.... She is the superior of her husband in education, and in almost + every respect. She is surrounded by the most numerous and delicate + attentions. Yet she is not satisfied.... The Anglo-Saxon 'new woman' is + the most ridiculous production of modern times, and destined to be the + most ghastly failure of the century." Apart from the deprecation—perhaps + well placed—which is contained in this presentment, it adds nothing + but obscurity to the woman question. The grievance of the new woman is + made up of those things which this typical characterization of the + movement urges as reasons why she should be content. She is petted, and is + permitted, or even required, to consume largely and conspicuously—vicariously + for her husband or other natural guardian. She is exempted, or debarred, + from vulgarly useful employment—in order to perform leisure + vicariously for the good repute of her natural (pecuniary) guardian. These + offices are the conventional marks of the un-free, at the same time that + they are incompatible with the human impulse to purposeful activity. But + the woman is endowed with her share-which there is reason to believe is + more than an even share—of the instinct of workmanship, to which + futility of life or of expenditure is obnoxious. She must unfold her life + activity in response to the direct, unmediated stimuli of the economic + environment with which she is in contact. The impulse is perhaps stronger + upon the woman than upon the man to live her own life in her own way and + to enter the industrial process of the community at something nearer than + the second remove. + </p> + <p> + So long as the woman's place is consistently that of a drudge, she is, in + the average of cases, fairly contented with her lot. She not only has + something tangible and purposeful to do, but she has also no time or + thought to spare for a rebellious assertion of such human propensity to + self-direction as she has inherited. And after the stage of universal + female drudgery is passed, and a vicarious leisure without strenuous + application becomes the accredited employment of the women of the + well-to-do classes, the prescriptive force of the canon of pecuniary + decency, which requires the observance of ceremonial futility on their + part, will long preserve high-minded women from any sentimental leaning to + self-direction and a "sphere of usefulness." This is especially true + during the earlier phases of the pecuniary culture, while the leisure of + the leisure class is still in great measure a predatory activity, an + active assertion of mastery in which there is enough of tangible purpose + of an invidious kind to admit of its being taken seriously as an + employment to which one may without shame put one's hand. This condition + of things has obviously lasted well down into the present in some + communities. It continues to hold to a different extent for different + individuals, varying with the vividness of the sense of status and with + the feebleness of the impulse to workmanship with which the individual is + endowed. But where the economic structure of the community has so far + outgrown the scheme of life based on status that the relation of personal + subservience is no longer felt to be the sole "natural" human relation; + there the ancient habit of purposeful activity will begin to assert itself + in the less conformable individuals against the more recent, relatively + superficial, relatively ephemeral habits and views which the predatory and + the pecuniary culture have contributed to our scheme of life. These habits + and views begin to lose their coercive force for the community or the + class in question so soon as the habit of mind and the views of life due + to the predatory and the quasi-peaceable discipline cease to be in fairly + close accord with the later-developed economic situation. This is evident + in the case of the industrious classes of modern communities; for them the + leisure-class scheme of life has lost much of its binding force, + especially as regards the element of status. But it is also visibly being + verified in the case of the upper classes, though not in the same manner. + </p> + <p> + The habits derived from the predatory and quasi-peaceable culture are + relatively ephemeral variants of certain underlying propensities and + mental characteristics of the race; which it owes to the protracted + discipline of the earlier, proto-anthropoid cultural stage of peaceable, + relatively undifferentiated economic life carried on in contact with a + relatively simple and invariable material environment. When the habits + superinduced by the emulative method of life have ceased to enjoy the + section of existing economic exigencies, a process of disintegration sets + in whereby the habits of thought of more recent growth and of a less + generic character to some extent yield the ground before the more ancient + and more pervading spiritual characteristics of the race. + </p> + <p> + In a sense, then, the new-woman movement marks a reversion to a more + generic type of human character, or to a less differentiated expression of + human nature. It is a type of human nature which is to be characterized as + proto-anthropoid, and, as regards the substance if not the form of its + dominant traits, it belongs to a cultural stage that may be classed as + possibly sub-human. The particular movement or evolutional feature in + question of course shares this characterization with the rest of the later + social development, in so far as this social development shows evidence of + a reversion to the spiritual attitude that characterizes the earlier, + undifferentiated stage of economic revolution. Such evidence of a general + tendency to reversion from the dominance of the invidious interest is not + entirely wanting, although it is neither plentiful nor unquestionably + convincing. The general decay of the sense of status in modern industrial + communities goes some way as evidence in this direction; and the + perceptible return to a disapproval of futility in human life, and a + disapproval of such activities as serve only the individual gain at the + cost of the collectivity or at the cost of other social groups, is + evidence to a like effect. There is a perceptible tendency to deprecate + the infliction of pain, as well as to discredit all marauding enterprises, + even where these expressions of the invidious interest do not tangibly + work to the material detriment of the community or of the individual who + passes an opinion on them. It may even be said that in the modern + industrial communities the average, dispassionate sense of men says that + the ideal character is a character which makes for peace, good-will, and + economic efficiency, rather than for a life of self-seeking, force, fraud, + and mastery. + </p> + <p> + The influence of the leisure class is not consistently for or against the + rehabilitation of this proto-anthropoid human nature. So far as concerns + the chance of survival of individuals endowed with an exceptionally large + share of the primitive traits, the sheltered position of the class favors + its members directly by withdrawing them from the pecuniary struggle; but + indirectly, through the leisure-class canons of conspicuous waste of goods + and effort, the institution of a leisure class lessens the chance of + survival of such individuals in the entire body of the population. The + decent requirements of waste absorb the surplus energy of the population + in an invidious struggle and leave no margin for the non-invidious + expression of life. The remoter, less tangible, spiritual effects of the + discipline of decency go in the same direction and work perhaps more + effectually to the same end. The canons of decent life are an elaboration + of the principle of invidious comparison, and they accordingly act + consistently to inhibit all non-invidious effort and to inculcate the + self-regarding attitude. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter Fourteen ~~ The Higher Learning as an Expression of the Pecuniary + Culture + </h2> + <p> + To the end that suitable habits of thought on certain heads may be + conserved in the incoming generation, a scholastic discipline is + sanctioned by the common sense of the community and incorporated into the + accredited scheme of life. The habits of thought which are so formed under + the guidance of teachers and scholastic traditions have an economic value—a + value as affecting the serviceability of the individual—no less real + than the similar economic value of the habits of thought formed without + such guidance under the discipline of everyday life. Whatever + characteristics of the accredited scholastic scheme and discipline are + traceable to the predilections of the leisure class or to the guidance of + the canons of pecuniary merit are to be set down to the account of that + institution, and whatever economic value these features of the educational + scheme possess are the expression in detail of the value of that + institution. It will be in place, therefore, to point out any peculiar + features of the educational system which are traceable to the + leisure-class scheme of life, whether as regards the aim and method of the + discipline, or as regards the compass and character of the body of + knowledge inculcated. It is in learning proper, and more particularly in + the higher learning, that the influence of leisure-class ideals is most + patent; and since the purpose here is not to make an exhaustive collation + of data showing the effect of the pecuniary culture upon education, but + rather to illustrate the method and trend of the leisure-class influence + in education, a survey of certain salient features of the higher learning, + such as may serve this purpose, is all that will be attempted. + </p> + <p> + In point of derivation and early development, learning is somewhat closely + related to the devotional function of the community, particularly to the + body of observances in which the service rendered the supernatural leisure + class expresses itself. The service by which it is sought to conciliate + supernatural agencies in the primitive cults is not an industrially + profitable employment of the community's time and effort. It is, + therefore, in great part, to be classed as a vicarious leisure performed + for the supernatural powers with whom negotiations are carried on and + whose good-will the service and the professions of subservience are + conceived to procure. In great part, the early learning consisted in an + acquisition of knowledge and facility in the service of a supernatural + agent. It was therefore closely analogous in character to the training + required for the domestic service of a temporal master. To a great extent, + the knowledge acquired under the priestly teachers of the primitive + community was knowledge of ritual and ceremonial; that is to say, a + knowledge of the most proper, most effective, or most acceptable manner of + approaching and of serving the preternatural agents. What was learned was + how to make oneself indispensable to these powers, and so to put oneself + in a position to ask, or even to require, their intercession in the course + of events or their abstention from interference in any given enterprise. + Propitiation was the end, and this end was sought, in great part, by + acquiring facility in subservience. It appears to have been only gradually + that other elements than those of efficient service of the master found + their way into the stock of priestly or shamanistic instruction. + </p> + <p> + The priestly servitor of the inscrutable powers that move in the external + world came to stand in the position of a mediator between these powers and + the common run of unrestricted humanity; for he was possessed of a + knowledge of the supernatural etiquette which would admit him into the + presence. And as commonly happens with mediators between the vulgar and + their masters, whether the masters be natural or preternatural, he found + it expedient to have the means at hand tangibly to impress upon the vulgar + the fact that these inscrutable powers would do what he might ask of them. + Hence, presently, a knowledge of certain natural processes which could be + turned to account for spectacular effect, together with some sleight of + hand, came to be an integral part of priestly lore. Knowledge of this kind + passes for knowledge of the "unknowable", and it owes its serviceability + for the sacerdotal purpose to its recondite character. It appears to have + been from this source that learning, as an institution, arose, and its + differentiation from this its parent stock of magic ritual and shamanistic + fraud has been slow and tedious, and is scarcely yet complete even in the + most advanced of the higher seminaries of learning. + </p> + <p> + The recondite element in learning is still, as it has been in all ages, a + very attractive and effective element for the purpose of impressing, or + even imposing upon, the unlearned; and the standing of the savant in the + mind of the altogether unlettered is in great measure rated in terms of + intimacy with the occult forces. So, for instance, as a typical case, even + so late as the middle of this century, the Norwegian peasants have + instinctively formulated their sense of the superior erudition of such + doctors of divinity as Luther, Malanchthon, Peder Dass, and even so late a + scholar in divinity as Grundtvig, in terms of the Black Art. These, + together with a very comprehensive list of minor celebrities, both living + and dead, have been reputed masters in all magical arts; and a high + position in the ecclesiastical personnel has carried with it, in the + apprehension of these good people, an implication of profound familiarity + with magical practice and the occult sciences. There is a parallel fact + nearer home, similarly going to show the close relationship, in popular + apprehension, between erudition and the unknowable; and it will at the + same time serve to illustrate, in somewhat coarse outline, the bent which + leisure-class life gives to the cognitive interest. While the belief is by + no means confined to the leisure class, that class today comprises a + disproportionately large number of believers in occult sciences of all + kinds and shades. By those whose habits of thought are not shaped by + contact with modern industry, the knowledge of the unknowable is still + felt to the ultimate if not the only true knowledge. + </p> + <p> + Learning, then, set out by being in some sense a by-product of the + priestly vicarious leisure class; and, at least until a recent date, the + higher learning has since remained in some sense a by-product or + by-occupation of the priestly classes. As the body of systematized + knowledge increased, there presently arose a distinction, traceable very + far back in the history of education, between esoteric and exoteric + knowledge, the former—so far as there is a substantial difference + between the two—comprising such knowledge as is primarily of no + economic or industrial effect, and the latter comprising chiefly knowledge + of industrial processes and of natural phenomena which were habitually + turned to account for the material purposes of life. This line of + demarcation has in time become, at least in popular apprehension, the + normal line between the higher learning and the lower. + </p> + <p> + It is significant, not only as an evidence of their close affiliation with + the priestly craft, but also as indicating that their activity to a good + extent falls under that category of conspicuous leisure known as manners + and breeding, that the learned class in all primitive communities are + great sticklers for form, precedent, gradations of rank, ritual, + ceremonial vestments, and learned paraphernalia generally. This is of + course to be expected, and it goes to say that the higher learning, in its + incipient phase, is a leisure-class occupation—more specifically an + occupation of the vicarious leisure class employed in the service of the + supernatural leisure class. But this predilection for the paraphernalia of + learning goes also to indicate a further point of contact or of continuity + between the priestly office and the office of the savant. In point of + derivation, learning, as well as the priestly office, is largely an + outgrowth of sympathetic magic; and this magical apparatus of form and + ritual therefore finds its place with the learned class of the primitive + community as a matter of course. The ritual and paraphernalia have an + occult efficacy for the magical purpose; so that their presence as an + integral factor in the earlier phases of the development of magic and + science is a matter of expediency, quite as much as of affectionate regard + for symbolism simply. + </p> + <p> + This sense of the efficacy of symbolic ritual, and of sympathetic effect + to be wrought through dexterous rehearsal of the traditional accessories + of the act or end to be compassed, is of course present more obviously and + in larger measure in magical practice than in the discipline of the + sciences, even of the occult sciences. But there are, I apprehend, few + persons with a cultivated sense of scholastic merit to whom the + ritualistic accessories of science are altogether an idle matter. The very + great tenacity with which these ritualistic paraphernalia persist through + the later course of the development is evident to any one who will reflect + on what has been the history of learning in our civilization. Even today + there are such things in the usage of the learned community as the cap and + gown, matriculation, initiation, and graduation ceremonies, and the + conferring of scholastic degrees, dignities, and prerogatives in a way + which suggests some sort of a scholarly apostolic succession. The usage of + the priestly orders is no doubt the proximate source of all these features + of learned ritual, vestments, sacramental initiation, the transmission of + peculiar dignities and virtues by the imposition of hands, and the like; + but their derivation is traceable back of this point, to the source from + which the specialized priestly class proper came to be distinguished from + the sorcerer on the one hand and from the menial servant of a temporal + master on the other hand. So far as regards both their derivation and + their psychological content, these usages and the conceptions on which + they rest belong to a stage in cultural development no later than that of + the angekok and the rain-maker. Their place in the later phases of devout + observance, as well as in the higher educational system, is that of a + survival from a very early animistic phase of the development of human + nature. + </p> + <p> + These ritualistic features of the educational system of the present and of + the recent past, it is quite safe to say, have their place primarily in + the higher, liberal, and classic institutions and grades of learning, + rather than in the lower, technological, or practical grades, and branches + of the system. So far as they possess them, the lower and less reputable + branches of the educational scheme have evidently borrowed these things + from the higher grades; and their continued persistence among the + practical schools, without the sanction of the continued example of the + higher and classic grades, would be highly improbable, to say the least. + With the lower and practical schools and scholars, the adoption and + cultivation of these usages is a case of mimicry—due to a desire to + conform as far as may be to the standards of scholastic reputability + maintained by the upper grades and classes, who have come by these + accessory features legitimately, by the right of lineal devolution. + </p> + <p> + The analysis may even be safely carried a step farther. Ritualistic + survivals and reversions come out in fullest vigor and with the freest air + of spontaneity among those seminaries of learning which have to do + primarily with the education of the priestly and leisure classes. + Accordingly it should appear, and it does pretty plainly appear, on a + survey of recent developments in college and university life, that + wherever schools founded for the instruction of the lower classes in the + immediately useful branches of knowledge grow into institutions of the + higher learning, the growth of ritualistic ceremonial and paraphernalia + and of elaborate scholastic "functions" goes hand in hand with the + transition of the schools in question from the field of homely + practicality into the higher, classical sphere. The initial purpose of + these schools, and the work with which they have chiefly had to do at the + earlier of these two stages of their evolution, has been that of fitting + the young of the industrious classes for work. On the higher, classical + plane of learning to which they commonly tend, their dominant aim becomes + the preparation of the youth of the priestly and the leisure classes—or + of an incipient leisure class—for the consumption of goods, material + and immaterial, according to a conventionally accepted, reputable scope + and method. This happy issue has commonly been the fate of schools founded + by "friends of the people" for the aid of struggling young men, and where + this transition is made in good form there is commonly, if not invariably, + a coincident change to a more ritualistic life in the schools. + </p> + <p> + In the school life of today, learned ritual is in a general way best at + home in schools whose chief end is the cultivation of the "humanities". + This correlation is shown, perhaps more neatly than anywhere else, in the + life-history of the American colleges and universities of recent growth. + There may be many exceptions from the rule, especially among those schools + which have been founded by the typically reputable and ritualistic + churches, and which, therefore, started on the conservative and classical + plane or reached the classical position by a short-cut; but the general + rule as regards the colleges founded in the newer American communities + during the present century has been that so long as the constituency from + which the colleges have drawn their pupils has been dominated by habits of + industry and thrift, so long the reminiscences of the medicine-man have + found but a scant and precarious acceptance in the scheme of college life. + But so soon as wealth begins appreciably to accumulate in the community, + and so soon as a given school begins to lean on a leisure-class + constituency, there comes also a perceptibly increased insistence on + scholastic ritual and on conformity to the ancient forms as regards + vestments and social and scholastic solemnities. So, for instance, there + has been an approximate coincidence between the growth of wealth among the + constituency which supports any given college of the Middle West and the + date of acceptance—first into tolerance and then into imperative + vogue—of evening dress for men and of the décolleté for women, as + the scholarly vestments proper to occasions of learned solemnity or to the + seasons of social amenity within the college circle. Apart from the + mechanical difficulty of so large a task, it would scarcely be a difficult + matter to trace this correlation. The like is true of the vogue of the cap + and gown. + </p> + <p> + Cap and gown have been adopted as learned insignia by many colleges of + this section within the last few years; and it is safe to say that this + could scarcely have occurred at a much earlier date, or until there had + grown up a leisure-class sentiment of sufficient volume in the community + to support a strong movement of reversion towards an archaic view as to + the legitimate end of education. This particular item of learned ritual, + it may be noted, would not only commend itself to the leisure-class sense + of the fitness of things, as appealing to the archaic propensity for + spectacular effect and the predilection for antique symbolism; but it at + the same time fits into the leisure-class scheme of life as involving a + notable element of conspicuous waste. The precise date at which the + reversion to cap and gown took place, as well as the fact that it affected + so large a number of schools at about the same time, seems to have been + due in some measure to a wave of atavistic sense of conformity and + reputability that passed over the community at that period. + </p> + <p> + It may not be entirely beside the point to note that in point of time this + curious reversion seems to coincide with the culmination of a certain + vogue of atavistic sentiment and tradition in other directions also. The + wave of reversion seems to have received its initial impulse in the + psychologically disintegrating effects of the Civil War. Habituation to + war entails a body of predatory habits of thought, whereby clannishness in + some measure replaces the sense of solidarity, and a sense of invidious + distinction supplants the impulse to equitable, everyday serviceability. + As an outcome of the cumulative action of these factors, the generation + which follows a season of war is apt to witness a rehabilitation of the + element of status, both in its social life and in its scheme of devout + observances and other symbolic or ceremonial forms. Throughout the + eighties, and less plainly traceable through the seventies also, there was + perceptible a gradually advancing wave of sentiment favoring + quasi-predatory business habits, insistence on status, anthropomorphism, + and conservatism generally. The more direct and unmediated of these + expressions of the barbarian temperament, such as the recrudescence of + outlawry and the spectacular quasi-predatory careers of fraud run by + certain "captains of industry", came to a head earlier and were + appreciably on the decline by the close of the seventies. The + recrudescence of anthropomorphic sentiment also seems to have passed its + most acute stage before the close of the eighties. But the learned ritual + and paraphernalia here spoken of are a still remoter and more recondite + expression of the barbarian animistic sense; and these, therefore, gained + vogue and elaboration more slowly and reached their most effective + development at a still later date. There is reason to believe that the + culmination is now already past. Except for the new impetus given by a new + war experience, and except for the support which the growth of a wealthy + class affords to all ritual, and especially to whatever ceremonial is + wasteful and pointedly suggests gradations of status, it is probable that + the late improvements and augmentation of scholastic insignia and + ceremonial would gradually decline. But while it may be true that the cap + and gown, and the more strenuous observance of scholastic proprieties + which came with them, were floated in on this post-bellum tidal wave of + reversion to barbarism, it is also no doubt true that such a ritualistic + reversion could not have been effected in the college scheme of life until + the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a propertied class had gone far + enough to afford the requisite pecuniary ground for a movement which + should bring the colleges of the country up to the leisure-class + requirements in the higher learning. The adoption of the cap and gown is + one of the striking atavistic features of modern college life, and at the + same time it marks the fact that these colleges have definitely become + leisure-class establishments, either in actual achievement or in + aspiration. + </p> + <p> + As further evidence of the close relation between the educational system + and the cultural standards of the community, it may be remarked that there + is some tendency latterly to substitute the captain of industry in place + of the priest, as the head of seminaries of the higher learning. The + substitution is by no means complete or unequivocal. Those heads of + institutions are best accepted who combine the sacerdotal office with a + high degree of pecuniary efficiency. There is a similar but less + pronounced tendency to intrust the work of instruction in the higher + learning to men of some pecuniary qualification. Administrative ability + and skill in advertising the enterprise count for rather more than they + once did, as qualifications for the work of teaching. This applies + especially in those sciences that have most to do with the everyday facts + of life, and it is particularly true of schools in the economically + single-minded communities. This partial substitution of pecuniary for + sacerdotal efficiency is a concomitant of the modern transition from + conspicuous leisure to conspicuous consumption, as the chief means of + reputability. The correlation of the two facts is probably clear without + further elaboration. + </p> + <p> + The attitude of the schools and of the learned class towards the education + of women serves to show in what manner and to what extent learning has + departed from its ancient station of priestly and leisure-class + prerogatives, and it indicates also what approach has been made by the + truly learned to the modern, economic or industrial, matter-of-fact + standpoint. The higher schools and the learned professions were until + recently tabu to the women. These establishments were from the outset, and + have in great measure continued to be, devoted to the education of the + priestly and leisure classes. + </p> + <p> + The women, as has been shown elsewhere, were the original subservient + class, and to some extent, especially so far as regards their nominal or + ceremonial position, they have remained in that relation down to the + present. There has prevailed a strong sense that the admission of women to + the privileges of the higher learning (as to the Eleusianin mysteries) + would be derogatory to the dignity of the learned craft. It is therefore + only very recently, and almost solely in the industrially most advanced + communities, that the higher grades of schools have been freely opened to + women. And even under the urgent circumstances prevailing in the modern + industrial communities, the highest and most reputable universities show + an extreme reluctance in making the move. The sense of class worthiness, + that is to say of status, of a honorific differentiation of the sexes + according to a distinction between superior and inferior intellectual + dignity, survives in a vigorous form in these corporations of the + aristocracy of learning. It is felt that the woman should, in all + propriety, acquire only such knowledge as may be classed under one or the + other of two heads: (1) such knowledge as conduces immediately to a better + performance of domestic service—the domestic sphere; (2) such + accomplishments and dexterity, quasi-scholarly and quasi-artistic, as + plainly come in under the head of a performance of vicarious leisure. + Knowledge is felt to be unfeminine if it is knowledge which expresses the + unfolding of the learner's own life, the acquisition of which proceeds on + the learner's own cognitive interest, without prompting from the canons of + propriety, and without reference back to a master whose comfort or good + repute is to be enhanced by the employment or the exhibition of it. So, + also, all knowledge which is useful as evidence of leisure, other than + vicarious leisure, is scarcely feminine. + </p> + <p> + For an appreciation of the relation which these higher seminaries of + learning bear to the economic life of the community, the phenomena which + have been reviewed are of importance rather as indications of a general + attitude than as being in themselves facts of first-rate economic + consequence. They go to show what is the instinctive attitude and animus + of the learned class towards the life process of an industrial community. + They serve as an exponent of the stage of development, for the industrial + purpose, attained by the higher learning and by the learned class, and so + they afford an indication as to what may fairly be looked for from this + class at points where the learning and the life of the class bear more + immediately upon the economic life and efficiency of the community, and + upon the adjustment of its scheme of life to the requirements of the time. + What these ritualistic survivals go to indicate is a prevalence of + conservatism, if not of reactionary sentiment, especially among the higher + schools where the conventional learning is cultivated. + </p> + <p> + To these indications of a conservative attitude is to be added another + characteristic which goes in the same direction, but which is a symptom of + graver consequence that this playful inclination to trivialities of form + and ritual. By far the greater number of American colleges and + universities, for instance, are affiliated to some religious denomination + and are somewhat given to devout observances. Their putative familiarity + with scientific methods and the scientific point of view should presumably + exempt the faculties of these schools from animistic habits of thought; + but there is still a considerable proportion of them who profess an + attachment to the anthropomorphic beliefs and observances of an earlier + culture. These professions of devotional zeal are, no doubt, to a good + extent expedient and perfunctory, both on the part of the schools in their + corporate capacity, and on the part of the individual members of the corps + of instructors; but it can not be doubted that there is after all a very + appreciable element of anthropomorphic sentiment present in the higher + schools. So far as this is the case it must be set down as the expression + of an archaic, animistic habit of mind. This habit of mind must + necessarily assert itself to some extent in the instruction offered, and + to this extent its influence in shaping the habits of thought of the + student makes for conservatism and reversion; it acts to hinder his + development in the direction of matter-of-fact knowledge, such as best + serves the ends of industry. + </p> + <p> + The college sports, which have so great a vogue in the reputable + seminaries of learning today, tend in a similar direction; and, indeed, + sports have much in common with the devout attitude of the colleges, both + as regards their psychological basis and as regards their disciplinary + effect. But this expression of the barbarian temperament is to be credited + primarily to the body of students, rather than to the temper of the + schools as such; except in so far as the colleges or the college officials—as + sometimes happens—actively countenance and foster the growth of + sports. The like is true of college fraternities as of college sports, but + with a difference. The latter are chiefly an expression of the predatory + impulse simply; the former are more specifically an expression of that + heritage of clannishness which is so large a feature in the temperament of + the predatory barbarian. It is also noticeable that a close relation + subsists between the fraternities and the sporting activity of the + schools. After what has already been said in an earlier chapter on the + sporting and gambling habit, it is scarcely necessary further to discuss + the economic value of this training in sports and in factional + organization and activity. + </p> + <p> + But all these features of the scheme of life of the learned class, and of + the establishments dedicated to the conservation of the higher learning, + are in a great measure incidental only. They are scarcely to be accounted + organic elements of the professed work of research and instruction for the + ostensible pursuit of which the schools exists. But these symptomatic + indications go to establish a presumption as to the character of the work + performed—as seen from the economic point of view—and as to + the bent which the serious work carried on under their auspices gives to + the youth who resort to the schools. The presumption raised by the + considerations already offered is that in their work also, as well as in + their ceremonial, the higher schools may be expected to take a + conservative position; but this presumption must be checked by a + comparison of the economic character of the work actually performed, and + by something of a survey of the learning whose conservation is intrusted + to the higher schools. On this head, it is well known that the accredited + seminaries of learning have, until a recent date, held a conservative + position. They have taken an attitude of depreciation towards all + innovations. As a general rule a new point of view or a new formulation of + knowledge have been countenanced and taken up within the schools only + after these new things have made their way outside of the schools. As + exceptions from this rule are chiefly to be mentioned innovations of an + inconspicuous kind and departures which do not bear in any tangible way + upon the conventional point of view or upon the conventional scheme of + life; as, for instance, details of fact in the mathematico-physical + sciences, and new readings and interpretations of the classics, especially + such as have a philological or literary bearing only. Except within the + domain of the "humanities", in the narrow sense, and except so far as the + traditional point of view of the humanities has been left intact by the + innovators, it has generally held true that the accredited learned class + and the seminaries of the higher learning have looked askance at all + innovation. New views, new departures in scientific theory, especially in + new departures which touch the theory of human relations at any point, + have found a place in the scheme of the university tardily and by a + reluctant tolerance, rather than by a cordial welcome; and the men who + have occupied themselves with such efforts to widen the scope of human + knowledge have not commonly been well received by their learned + contemporaries. The higher schools have not commonly given their + countenance to a serious advance in the methods or the content of + knowledge until the innovations have outlived their youth and much of + their usefulness—after they have become commonplaces of the + intellectual furniture of a new generation which has grown up under, and + has had its habits of thought shaped by, the new, extra-scholastic body of + knowledge and the new standpoint. This is true of the recent past. How far + it may be true of the immediate present it would be hazardous to say, for + it is impossible to see present-day facts in such perspective as to get a + fair conception of their relative proportions. + </p> + <p> + So far, nothing has been said of the Maecenas function of the well-to-do, + which is habitually dwelt on at some length by writers and speakers who + treat of the development of culture and of social structure. This + leisure-class function is not without an important bearing on the higher + and on the spread of knowledge and culture. The manner and the degree in + which the class furthers learning through patronage of this kind is + sufficiently familiar. It has been frequently presented in affectionate + and effective terms by spokesmen whose familiarity with the topic fits + them to bring home to their hearers the profound significance of this + cultural factor. These spokesmen, however, have presented the matter from + the point of view of the cultural interest, or of the interest of + reputability, rather than from that of the economic interest. As + apprehended from the economic point of view, and valued for the purpose of + industrial serviceability, this function of the well-to-do, as well as the + intellectual attitude of members of the well-to-do class, merits some + attention and will bear illustration. + </p> + <p> + By way of characterization of the Maecenas relation, it is to be noted + that, considered externally, as an economic or industrial relation simply, + it is a relation of status. The scholar under the patronage performs the + duties of a learned life vicariously for his patron, to whom a certain + repute inures after the manner of the good repute imputed to a master for + whom any form of vicarious leisure is performed. It is also to be noted + that, in point of historical fact, the furtherance of learning or the + maintenance of scholarly activity through the Maecenas relation has most + commonly been a furtherance of proficiency in classical lore or in the + humanities. The knowledge tends to lower rather than to heighten the + industrial efficiency of the community. + </p> + <p> + Further, as regards the direct participation of the members of the leisure + class in the furtherance of knowledge, the canons of reputable living act + to throw such intellectual interest as seeks expression among the class on + the side of classical and formal erudition, rather than on the side of the + sciences that bear some relation to the community's industrial life. The + most frequent excursions into other than classical fields of knowledge on + the part of members of the leisure class are made into the discipline of + law and the political, and more especially the administrative, sciences. + These so-called sciences are substantially bodies of maxims of expediency + for guidance in the leisure-class office of government, as conducted on a + proprietary basis. The interest with which this discipline is approached + is therefore not commonly the intellectual or cognitive interest simply. + It is largely the practical interest of the exigencies of that relation of + mastery in which the members of the class are placed. In point of + derivation, the office of government is a predatory function, pertaining + integrally to the archaic leisure-class scheme of life. It is an exercise + of control and coercion over the population from which the class draws its + sustenance. This discipline, as well as the incidents of practice which + give it its content, therefore has some attraction for the class apart + from all questions of cognition. All this holds true wherever and so long + as the governmental office continues, in form or in substance, to be a + proprietary office; and it holds true beyond that limit, in so far as the + tradition of the more archaic phase of governmental evolution has lasted + on into the later life of those modern communities for whom proprietary + government by a leisure class is now beginning to pass away. + </p> + <p> + For that field of learning within which the cognitive or intellectual + interest is dominant—the sciences properly so called—the case + is somewhat different, not only as regards the attitude of the leisure + class, but as regards the whole drift of the pecuniary culture. Knowledge + for its own sake, the exercise of the faculty of comprehensive without + ulterior purpose, should, it might be expected, be sought by men whom no + urgent material interest diverts from such a quest. The sheltered + industrial position of the leisure class should give free play to the + cognitive interest in members of this class, and we should consequently + have, as many writers confidently find that we do have, a very large + proportion of scholars, scientists, savants derived from this class and + deriving their incentive to scientific investigation and speculation from + the discipline of a life of leisure. Some such result is to be looked for, + but there are features of the leisure-class scheme of life, already + sufficiently dwelt upon, which go to divert the intellectual interest of + this class to other subjects than that causal sequence in phenomena which + makes the content of the sciences. The habits of thought which + characterize the life of the class run on the personal relation of + dominance, and on the derivative, invidious concepts of honor, worth, + merit, character, and the like. The casual sequence which makes up the + subject matter of science is not visible from this point of view. Neither + does good repute attach to knowledge of facts that are vulgarly useful. + Hence it should appear probable that the interest of the invidious + comparison with respect to pecuniary or other honorific merit should + occupy the attention of the leisure class, to the neglect of the cognitive + interest. Where this latter interest asserts itself it should commonly be + diverted to fields of speculation or investigation which are reputable and + futile, rather than to the quest of scientific knowledge. Such indeed has + been the history of priestly and leisure-class learning so long as no + considerable body of systematized knowledge had been intruded into the + scholastic discipline from an extra-scholastic source. But since the + relation of mastery and subservience is ceasing to be the dominant and + formative factor in the community's life process, other features of the + life process and other points of view are forcing themselves upon the + scholars. The true-bred gentleman of leisure should, and does, see the + world from the point of view of the personal relation; and the cognitive + interest, so far as it asserts itself in him, should seek to systematize + phenomena on this basis. Such indeed is the case with the gentleman of the + old school, in whom the leisure-class ideals have suffered no + disintegration; and such is the attitude of his latter-day descendant, in + so far as he has fallen heir to the full complement of upper-class + virtues. But the ways of heredity are devious, and not every gentleman's + son is to the manor born. Especially is the transmission of the habits of + thought which characterize the predatory master somewhat precarious in the + case of a line of descent in which but one or two of the latest steps have + lain within the leisure-class discipline. The chances of occurrence of a + strong congenital or acquired bent towards the exercise of the cognitive + aptitudes are apparently best in those members of the leisure class who + are of lower class or middle class antecedents—that is to say, those + who have inherited the complement of aptitudes proper to the industrious + classes, and who owe their place in the leisure class to the possession of + qualities which count for more today than they did in the times when the + leisure-class scheme of life took shape. But even outside the range of + these later accessions to the leisure class there are an appreciable + number of individuals in whom the invidious interest is not sufficiently + dominant to shape their theoretical views, and in whom the proclivity to + theory is sufficiently strong to lead them into the scientific quest. + </p> + <p> + The higher learning owes the intrusion of the sciences in part to these + aberrant scions of the leisure class, who have come under the dominant + influence of the latter-day tradition of impersonal relation and who have + inherited a complement of human aptitudes differing in certain salient + features from the temperament which is characteristic of the regime of + status. But it owes the presence of this alien body of scientific + knowledge also in part, and in a higher degree, to members of the + industrious classes who have been in sufficiently easy circumstances to + turn their attention to other interests than that of finding daily + sustenance, and whose inherited aptitudes and anthropomorphic point of + view does not dominate their intellectual processes. As between these two + groups, which approximately comprise the effective force of scientific + progress, it is the latter that has contributed the most. And with respect + to both it seems to be true that they are not so much the source as the + vehicle, or at the most they are the instrument of commutation, by which + the habits of thought enforced upon the community, through contact with + its environment under the exigencies of modern associated life and the + mechanical industries, are turned to account for theoretical knowledge. + </p> + <p> + Science, in the sense of an articulate recognition of causal sequence in + phenomena, whether physical or social, has been a feature of the Western + culture only since the industrial process in the Western communities has + come to be substantially a process of mechanical contrivances in which + man's office is that of discrimination and valuation of material forces. + Science has flourished somewhat in the same degree as the industrial life + of the community has conformed to this pattern, and somewhat in the same + degree as the industrial interest has dominated the community's life. And + science, and scientific theory especially, has made headway in the several + departments of human life and knowledge in proportion as each of these + several departments has successively come into closer contact with the + industrial process and the economic interest; or perhaps it is truer to + say, in proportion as each of them has successively escaped from the + dominance of the conceptions of personal relation or status, and of the + derivative canons of anthropomorphic fitness and honorific worth. + </p> + <p> + It is only as the exigencies of modern industrial life have enforced the + recognition of causal sequence in the practical contact of mankind with + their environment, that men have come to systematize the phenomena of this + environment and the facts of their own contact with it in terms of causal + sequence. So that while the higher learning in its best development, as + the perfect flower of scholasticism and classicism, was a by-product of + the priestly office and the life of leisure, so modern science may be said + to be a by-product of the industrial process. Through these groups of men, + then—investigators, savants, scientists, inventors, speculators—most + of whom have done their most telling work outside the shelter of the + schools, the habits of thought enforced by the modern industrial life have + found coherent expression and elaboration as a body of theoretical science + having to do with the causal sequence of phenomena. And from this + extra-scholastic field of scientific speculation, changes of method and + purpose have from time to time been intruded into the scholastic + discipline. + </p> + <p> + In this connection it is to be remarked that there is a very perceptible + difference of substance and purpose between the instruction offered in the + primary and secondary schools, on the one hand, and in the higher + seminaries of learning, on the other hand. The difference in point of + immediate practicality of the information imparted and of the proficiency + acquired may be of some consequence and may merit the attention which it + has from time to time received; but there is more substantial difference + in the mental and spiritual bent which is favored by the one and the other + discipline. This divergent trend in discipline between the higher and the + lower learning is especially noticeable as regards the primary education + in its latest development in the advanced industrial communities. Here the + instruction is directed chiefly to proficiency or dexterity, intellectual + and manual, in the apprehension and employment of impersonal facts, in + their casual rather than in their honorific incidence. It is true, under + the traditions of the earlier days, when the primary education was also + predominantly a leisure-class commodity, a free use is still made of + emulation as a spur to diligence in the common run of primary schools; but + even this use of emulation as an expedient is visibly declining in the + primary grades of instruction in communities where the lower education is + not under the guidance of the ecclesiastical or military tradition. All + this holds true in a peculiar degree, and more especially on the spiritual + side, of such portions of the educational system as have been immediately + affected by kindergarten methods and ideals. + </p> + <p> + The peculiarly non-invidious trend of the kindergarten discipline, and the + similar character of the kindergarten influence in primary education + beyond the limits of the kindergarten proper, should be taken in + connection with what has already been said of the peculiar spiritual + attitude of leisure-class womankind under the circumstances of the modern + economic situation. The kindergarten discipline is at its best—or at + its farthest remove from ancient patriarchal and pedagogical ideals—in + the advanced industrial communities, where there is a considerable body of + intelligent and idle women, and where the system of status has somewhat + abated in rigor under the disintegrating influence of industrial life and + in the absence of a consistent body of military and ecclesiastical + traditions. It is from these women in easy circumstances that it gets its + moral support. The aims and methods of the kindergarten commend themselves + with especial effect to this class of women who are ill at ease under the + pecuniary code of reputable life. The kindergarten, and whatever the + kindergarten spirit counts for in modern education, therefore, is to be + set down, along with the "new-woman movement," to the account of that + revulsion against futility and invidious comparison which the + leisure-class life under modern circumstances induces in the women most + immediately exposed to its discipline. In this way it appears that, by + indirection, the institution of a leisure class here again favors the + growth of a non-invidious attitude, which may, in the long run, prove a + menace to the stability of the institution itself, and even to the + institution of individual ownership on which it rests. + </p> + <p> + During the recent past some tangible changes have taken place in the scope + of college and university teaching. These changes have in the main + consisted in a partial displacement of the humanities—those branches + of learning which are conceived to make for the traditional "culture", + character, tastes, and ideals—by those more matter-of-fact branches + which make for civic and industrial efficiency. To put the same thing in + other words, those branches of knowledge which make for efficiency + (ultimately productive efficiency) have gradually been gaining ground + against those branches which make for a heightened consumption or a + lowered industrial efficiency and for a type of character suited to the + regime of status. In this adaptation of the scheme of instruction the + higher schools have commonly been found on the conservative side; each + step which they have taken in advance has been to some extent of the + nature of a concession. The sciences have been intruded into the scholar's + discipline from without, not to say from below. It is noticeable that the + humanities which have so reluctantly yielded ground to the sciences are + pretty uniformly adapted to shape the character of the student in + accordance with a traditional self-centred scheme of consumption; a scheme + of contemplation and enjoyment of the true, the beautiful, and the good, + according to a conventional standard of propriety and excellence, the + salient feature of which is leisure—otium cum dignitate. In language + veiled by their own habituation to the archaic, decorous point of view, + the spokesmen of the humanities have insisted upon the ideal embodied in + the maxim, fruges consumere nati. This attitude should occasion no + surprise in the case of schools which are shaped by and rest upon a + leisure-class culture. + </p> + <p> + The professed grounds on which it has been sought, as far as might be, to + maintain the received standards and methods of culture intact are likewise + characteristic of the archaic temperament and of the leisure-class theory + of life. The enjoyment and the bent derived from habitual contemplation of + the life, ideals, speculations, and methods of consuming time and goods, + in vogue among the leisure class of classical antiquity, for instance, is + felt to be "higher", "nobler", "worthier", than what results in these + respects from a like familiarity with the everyday life and the knowledge + and aspirations of commonplace humanity in a modern community, that + learning the content of which is an unmitigated knowledge of latter-day + men and things is by comparison "lower", "base", "ignoble"—one even + hears the epithet "sub-human" applied to this matter-of-fact knowledge of + mankind and of everyday life. + </p> + <p> + This contention of the leisure-class spokesmen of the humanities seems to + be substantially sound. In point of substantial fact, the gratification + and the culture, or the spiritual attitude or habit of mind, resulting + from an habitual contemplation of the anthropomorphism, clannishness, and + leisurely self-complacency of the gentleman of an early day, or from a + familiarity with the animistic superstitions and the exuberant truculence + of the Homeric heroes, for instance, is, aesthetically considered, more + legitimate than the corresponding results derived from a matter-of-fact + knowledge of things and a contemplation of latter-day civic or workmanlike + efficiency. There can be but little question that the first-named habits + have the advantage in respect of aesthetic or honorific value, and + therefore in respect of the "worth" which is made the basis of award in + the comparison. The content of the canons of taste, and more particularly + of the canons of honor, is in the nature of things a resultant of the past + life and circumstances of the race, transmitted to the later generation by + inheritance or by tradition; and the fact that the protracted dominance of + a predatory, leisure-class scheme of life has profoundly shaped the habit + of mind and the point of view of the race in the past, is a sufficient + basis for an aesthetically legitimate dominance of such a scheme of life + in very much of what concerns matters of taste in the present. For the + purpose in hand, canons of taste are race habits, acquired through a more + or less protracted habituation to the approval or disapproval of the kind + of things upon which a favorable or unfavorable judgment of taste is + passed. Other things being equal, the longer and more unbroken the + habituation, the more legitimate is the canon of taste in question. All + this seems to be even truer of judgments regarding worth or honor than of + judgments of taste generally. + </p> + <p> + But whatever may be the aesthetic legitimacy of the derogatory judgment + passed on the newer learning by the spokesmen of the humanities, and + however substantial may be the merits of the contention that the classic + lore is worthier and results in a more truly human culture and character, + it does not concern the question in hand. The question in hand is as to + how far these branches of learning, and the point of view for which they + stand in the educational system, help or hinder an efficient collective + life under modern industrial circumstances—how far they further a + more facile adaptation to the economic situation of today. The question is + an economic, not an aesthetic one; and the leisure-class standards of + learning which find expression in the deprecatory attitude of the higher + schools towards matter-of-fact knowledge are, for the present purpose, to + be valued from this point of view only. For this purpose the use of such + epithets as "noble", "base", "higher", "lower", etc., is significant only + as showing the animus and the point of view of the disputants; whether + they contend for the worthiness of the new or of the old. All these + epithets are honorific or humilific terms; that is to say, they are terms + of invidious comparison, which in the last analysis fall under the + category of the reputable or the disreputable; that is, they belong within + the range of ideas that characterizes the scheme of life of the regime of + status; that is, they are in substance an expression of sportsmanship—of + the predatory and animistic habit of mind; that is, they indicate an + archaic point of view and theory of life, which may fit the predatory + stage of culture and of economic organization from which they have sprung, + but which are, from the point of view of economic efficiency in the + broader sense, disserviceable anachronisms. + </p> + <p> + The classics, and their position of prerogative in the scheme of education + to which the higher seminaries of learning cling with such a fond + predilection, serve to shape the intellectual attitude and lower the + economic efficiency of the new learned generation. They do this not only + by holding up an archaic ideal of manhood, but also by the discrimination + which they inculcate with respect to the reputable and the disreputable in + knowledge. This result is accomplished in two ways: (1) by inspiring an + habitual aversion to what is merely useful, as contrasted with what is + merely honorific in learning, and so shaping the tastes of the novice that + he comes in good faith to find gratification of his tastes solely, or + almost solely, in such exercise of the intellect as normally results in no + industrial or social gain; and (2) by consuming the learner's time and + effort in acquiring knowledge which is of no use except in so far as this + learning has by convention become incorporated into the sum of learning + required of the scholar, and has thereby affected the terminology and + diction employed in the useful branches of knowledge. Except for this + terminological difficulty—which is itself a consequence of the vogue + of the classics of the past—a knowledge of the ancient languages, + for instance, would have no practical bearing for any scientist or any + scholar not engaged on work primarily of a linguistic character. Of + course, all this has nothing to say as to the cultural value of the + classics, nor is there any intention to disparage the discipline of the + classics or the bent which their study gives to the student. That bent + seems to be of an economically disserviceable kind, but this fact—somewhat + notorious indeed—need disturb no one who has the good fortune to + find comfort and strength in the classical lore. The fact that classical + learning acts to derange the learner's workmanlike attitudes should fall + lightly upon the apprehension of those who hold workmanship of small + account in comparison with the cultivation of decorous ideals: Iam fides + et pax et honos pudorque Priscus et neglecta redire virtus Audet. + </p> + <p> + Owing to the circumstance that this knowledge has become part of the + elementary requirements in our system of education, the ability to use and + to understand certain of the dead languages of southern Europe is not only + gratifying to the person who finds occasion to parade his accomplishments + in this respect, but the evidence of such knowledge serves at the same + time to recommend any savant to his audience, both lay and learned. It is + currently expected that a certain number of years shall have been spent in + acquiring this substantially useless information, and its absence creates + a presumption of hasty and precarious learning, as well as of a vulgar + practicality that is equally obnoxious to the conventional standards of + sound scholarship and intellectual force. + </p> + <p> + The case is analogous to what happens in the purchase of any article of + consumption by a purchaser who is not an expert judge of materials or of + workmanship. He makes his estimate of value of the article chiefly on the + ground of the apparent expensiveness of the finish of those decorative + parts and features which have no immediate relation to the intrinsic + usefulness of the article; the presumption being that some sort of + ill-defined proportion subsists between the substantial value of an + article and the expense of adornment added in order to sell it. The + presumption that there can ordinarily be no sound scholarship where a + knowledge of the classics and humanities is wanting leads to a conspicuous + waste of time and labor on the part of the general body of students in + acquiring such knowledge. The conventional insistence on a modicum of + conspicuous waste as an incident of all reputable scholarship has affected + our canons of taste and of serviceability in matters of scholarship in + much the same way as the same principle has influenced our judgment of the + serviceability of manufactured goods. + </p> + <p> + It is true, since conspicuous consumption has gained more and more on + conspicuous leisure as a means of repute, the acquisition of the dead + languages is no longer so imperative a requirement as it once was, and its + talismanic virtue as a voucher of scholarship has suffered a concomitant + impairment. But while this is true, it is also true that the classics have + scarcely lost in absolute value as a voucher of scholastic respectability, + since for this purpose it is only necessary that the scholar should be + able to put in evidence some learning which is conventionally recognized + as evidence of wasted time; and the classics lend themselves with great + facility to this use. Indeed, there can be little doubt that it is their + utility as evidence of wasted time and effort, and hence of the pecuniary + strength necessary in order to afford this waste, that has secured to the + classics their position of prerogative in the scheme of higher learning, + and has led to their being esteemed the most honorific of all learning. + They serve the decorative ends of leisure-class learning better than any + other body of knowledge, and hence they are an effective means of + reputability. + </p> + <p> + In this respect the classics have until lately had scarcely a rival. They + still have no dangerous rival on the continent of Europe, but lately, + since college athletics have won their way into a recognized standing as + an accredited field of scholarly accomplishment, this latter branch of + learning—if athletics may be freely classed as learning—has + become a rival of the classics for the primacy in leisure-class education + in American and English schools. Athletics have an obvious advantage over + the classics for the purpose of leisure-class learning, since success as + an athlete presumes, not only waste of time, but also waste of money, as + well as the possession of certain highly unindustrial archaic traits of + character and temperament. In the German universities the place of + athletics and Greek-letter fraternities, as a leisure-class scholarly + occupation, has in some measure been supplied by a skilled and graded + inebriety and a perfunctory duelling. + </p> + <p> + The leisure class and its standard of virtue—archaism and waste—can + scarcely have been concerned in the introduction of the classics into the + scheme of the higher learning; but the tenacious retention of the classics + by the higher schools, and the high degree of reputability which still + attaches to them, are no doubt due to their conforming so closely to the + requirements of archaism and waste. + </p> + <p> + "Classic" always carries this connotation of wasteful and archaic, whether + it is used to denote the dead languages or the obsolete or obsolescent + forms of thought and diction in the living language, or to denote other + items of scholarly activity or apparatus to which it is applied with less + aptness. So the archaic idiom of the English language is spoken of as + "classic" English. Its use is imperative in all speaking and writing upon + serious topics, and a facile use of it lends dignity to even the most + commonplace and trivial string of talk. The newest form of English diction + is of course never written; the sense of that leisure-class propriety + which requires archaism in speech is present even in the most illiterate + or sensational writers in sufficient force to prevent such a lapse. On the + other hand, the highest and most conventionalized style of archaic diction + is—quite characteristically—properly employed only in + communications between an anthropomorphic divinity and his subjects. + Midway between these extremes lies the everyday speech of leisure-class + conversation and literature. + </p> + <p> + Elegant diction, whether in writing or speaking, is an effective means of + reputability. It is of moment to know with some precision what is the + degree of archaism conventionally required in speaking on any given topic. + Usage differs appreciably from the pulpit to the market-place; the latter, + as might be expected, admits the use of relatively new and effective words + and turns of expression, even by fastidious persons. A discriminative + avoidance of neologisms is honorific, not only because it argues that time + has been wasted in acquiring the obsolescent habit of speech, but also as + showing that the speaker has from infancy habitually associated with + persons who have been familiar with the obsolescent idiom. It thereby goes + to show his leisure-class antecedents. Great purity of speech is + presumptive evidence of several lives spent in other than vulgarly useful + occupations; although its evidence is by no means entirely conclusive to + this point. + </p> + <p> + As felicitous an instance of futile classicism as can well be found, + outside of the Far East, is the conventional spelling of the English + language. A breach of the proprieties in spelling is extremely annoying + and will discredit any writer in the eyes of all persons who are possessed + of a developed sense of the true and beautiful. English orthography + satisfies all the requirements of the canons of reputability under the law + of conspicuous waste. It is archaic, cumbrous, and ineffective; its + acquisition consumes much time and effort; failure to acquire it is easy + of detection. Therefore it is the first and readiest test of reputability + in learning, and conformity to its ritual is indispensable to a blameless + scholastic life. + </p> + <p> + On this head of purity of speech, as at other points where a conventional + usage rests on the canons of archaism and waste, the spokesmen for the + usage instinctively take an apologetic attitude. It is contended, in + substance, that a punctilious use of ancient and accredited locutions will + serve to convey thought more adequately and more precisely than would be + the straightforward use of the latest form of spoken English; whereas it + is notorious that the ideas of today are effectively expressed in the + slang of today. Classic speech has the honorific virtue of dignity; it + commands attention and respect as being the accredited method of + communication under the leisure-class scheme of life, because it carries a + pointed suggestion of the industrial exemption of the speaker. The + advantage of the accredited locutions lies in their reputability; they are + reputable because they are cumbrous and out of date, and therefore argue + waste of time and exemption from the use and the need of direct and + forcible speech. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Theory of the Leisure Class, by +Thorstein Veblen + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THEORY OF THE LEISURE CLASS *** + +***** This file should be named 833-h.htm or 833-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/3/833/ + +Produced by David Reed, and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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