Gilded Age Résumé: Thorstein Veblen

Thorstein Bunde Veblen

Cato, Wisconsin

Born July 30, 1857

Statement of Qualifications:

I am the greatest American of the Gilded Age because I had a lasting impact on the literary culture of the Gilded Age with my social observations of the leisure class. Within my social and economic commentaries I coined the phrases "conspicuous consumption" and "pecuniary emulation", which are now widely used. I also introduced the idea of evolutionary economics into America with my 1898 essay ‘Why is economics not an evolutionary science?’ which has helped Americans understand how economy behaves.  

Summary:

I have been a leading figure in current social critique and study. While working as an instructor at the University of Chicago I wrote my first book, The Theory of the Leisure Class in 1899. In this novel I observed the modern affluent division of American society. My basis evaluation of how human characteristics such as greed, pride, selfishness, motivate modern society, economy, and business opened American's eyes to what is transpiring within society today. This was one of many enlightening novels that I have published throughout my years spent as a professor. In my essay, 'Why is economics not an evolutionary science?’, written in 1898, I brought the idea of evolutionary economics, with my pre-understanding of biological theory from my schooling, to Modern America in as a more humanistic way of looking at how the economy changes with the whims of the affluent and powerful. I am know for inventing the term “conspicuous consumption” to describe the class or prestige driven consumption seen in today's higher society. 

Professional Experience:

1896-1904: Instructor at University of Chicago

1906-1909: Worked as a associate professor at Standford University

1911-1918: Lectured at the University of Missouri

1918-1919: Worked in the editorial staff of The Dial, a literary and political magazine. During this time I wrote a series of articles, “The Modern Point of View and the New Order”, and later published these articles in book form as The Vested Interests and the State of the Industrial Arts.

Major Accomplishments:

1899: Wrote my first book, The Theory of the Leisure Class, that applied the concept of Darwin's evolutionism to our modern economics. 

1904: Published my second book, The Theory of Business Enterprise, in which I expanded upon the contrast between business, the making of profit, and industry, the making of goods. 

1917: Published An Inquiry into the Nature of Peace and the Terms of Its Perpetuation creating an international following of the ideas purposed in my novel, competitive demands in business stimulate modern war while peace brings an end to the rights of ownership.

References:

Herbert Spencer: Philosopher, evolutionist, and prominent author of numerous sociological novels

William Graham Sumner: One of my graduate professors at Yale University and one of the major founders of the science of sociology in America 

Edward L. Youmans: Scientific publications author and founder of the Popular Science magazine 

Addendum:

The following excerpt from my novel, The Theory of the Leisure Class, 1899, is taken from material that demonstrates the idea of conspicuous consumption in the leisure class:

Unproductive consumption of goods is honourable, primarily as a mark of prowess and a perquisite of human dignity; secondarily it becomes substantially honourable in 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 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.

Bibliography:

Francis S., Pierce. "Veblen, Thorstein." Britannica Biographies (2012): 1. History Reference   

   Center. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.

"The Theory Of The Leisure Class, Chap 7." Theory Of Leisure Class, Chap 7 (2009): 1. History Reference Center. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.

"New Attitudes Toward Wealth." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.

Historical Fiction: 2 - the Civil War and Reconstruction

April 6, 1873

          I couldn't believe it when John brought this dusty old journal home after returning from one of his business trips out to the Eastern Seaborg. But he has left again so I find myself sneakily writing an entry. 

          I am so happy that our family was spared during the civil war; living up in the North does have its advantages. However, even after the war I stay worried. As a mother of two I am often visiting our local market for food, and today I overheard the most troubling news. It has been all the rage in Harper's Weekly as seen in Thomas Nast's cartoons, but black suffrage is getting quite a beating from confederate southerners. They fight so hard to keep blacks from voting that in some states southerners have even created a poll tax, forcing people to pay to vote, and a literacy test, allowing only those who pass to vote. These two methods in my eyes are ludicrous attempts of not allowing change in power in the South. They have even established Jim Crow segregation of public facilities like churches and schools to keep blacks from gaining power. 

          Also concerning black suffrage, the Ku Klux Klan is something's I've heard much about. Killing blacks and those radical republicans that protect them, it's horrifying how such murderers can be the talk of early morning shoppers. I'll let you know that my cousin Henry was recently killed by those monsters, and I will never forgive them! Not that they are the only extremist group around, but they are most surely the one that scares me the most. 

          Because republicanism runs in my family's blood, I can say that the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments got me very exited. For the first time there is the possibility of equality among whites and blacks with the abolishment of slavery, and gaining of citizenship and voting rights for blacks in the eyes of the law. I personally believe, as I've recently seen, that equality between whites and blacks on a social level will be hard fought. Only yesterday did a large white woman threaten a black mother of being a muddy poor mark on society and demand that she move South to become a sharecropper. 

          I've heard that the southern sharecroppers are in deep debt to their landowners. They're like slaves, not able to move on, trapped in an endless cycle of work without almost any monetary reward. The numerous factories that are currently popping up in the South would be a much better place to work. 

          I'm sorry, my son Jeremy just came in the front door from school. I have to prepaid dinner, but perhaps I could ask him if he's heard anything new about current politics from his studies today.