Conspicuous Leisure Summary and Analysis

The effect of the conditions described in the previous chapter should be to make men frugal and want to work hard. This is what happens in the laboring classes, especially in the agricultural stages of industry. The labor effort is not viewed as undignified within their class, and they take pride in their work effort. This kind of labor is looked down upon by the superior classes and they make themselves absent from productive forms of work. The avoidance of labor becomes a form of class distinction for the superior class. Labor is dishonorable.

In the predatory culture, hunting did not have any pecuniary motive. It was a form of sport. The avoidance of labor becomes the basis for class distinction, and those who need to work to survive and don't want to work have a life of being...