How Thorstein Veblen might approach Economics

The current discourse on "Economics," as it is commonly pursued, appears to be a curious exercise in self-deception, a ritualistic celebration of the pecuniary rather than a genuine inquiry into the mechanics of human sustenance and well-being. The prevailing inclination is to abstract the workings of the market into sterile equations, divorced from the flesh-and-blood realities of production and consumption, and even more importantly, from the ingrained habits of thought that shape these activities.

One is presented with a model of the rational, calculating individual, forever seeking to maximize his utility. This, of course, is a rather transparent caricature, designed to legitimize a system that values the accumulation of abstract wealth above all else. It conveniently sidesteps the fundamental dichotomy between the instinct of workmanship, the inherent human drive to build, to create, to render serviceable goods, and the pecuniary employments that have come to dominate our social landscape.

The true engine of our present economic malaise lies not in the supposed irrationality of individuals, but in the ceremonial institutions that have warped these natural propensities. We are driven not by a pure desire for well-being, but by the ceaseless specter of invidious comparison. The pursuit of wealth becomes a pursuit of status, a conspicuous display of achievement, rather than a means to an end. Conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure are not aberrant behaviors; they are the logical outgrowths of a social order that rewards the appearance of success, the ceremonial demonstration of one's claim to a higher standing, through the wasteful employment of resources. The underlying industrial arts, capable of providing for all, are rendered subservient to the…

Imagined perspective — an AI synthesis grounded in Thorstein Veblen’s recorded ideas and methods, not a quotation or a statement they actually made.