Modern Survivals of Prowess Summary and Analysis

In Veblen's view, the leisure class does not live in the industrial community even though they live near it. The term martial spirit refers to man's predatory or fighting nature, and it is a trait more of the leisure class than of the middle or lower classes. Government is their most serious occupation. When it comes to fighting, the lower-class delinquents are the only ones that rival the leisure class. This is the only element of the industrial class where the martial spirit is obvious.

The fact that the different classes have different temperaments is attributed in part to hereditary and in part to ethnic differences. They have a readiness for fighting, which is evident in the duel. Dueling is considered to be a leisure class activity wherein the men fight to settle their differences...