Veblen vs. The Swans, Part I: Slim's Warning
Prompt No. 24: Estimation and Emulation, JAZZ!, Zadie Smith's Closet
Let’s cut to the chase. I believe I can breakdown Thorstein Veblen’s incredibly dense “Theory of the Leisure Class” through FX’s limited series Capote vs. The Swans. Is this an ambitious, possibly ludicrous undertaking? Absolutely. What do we stand to gain from the exercise? A great deal. Social media and the advent of fashion influencing has perverted the sociologist’s seminal work into a tool of capitalism when in reality it serves as a critique that can free us from a model of impoverishing consumptive habits. The story of writer Truman Capote and the women of New York High Society he befriended can be seen as a cautionary tale through Veblen’s lens; how features of the leisure class, exploitation, evidence, esteem, and emulation, function when administered by actors within — and outside of — its ranks. To read my introduction to this project, click here.
For what it’s worth, few things annoy me more than how popular discourse on the leisure class omits the origins of social hierarchy. In overlooking this evolution, we fail to determine whether certain class behaviors are linear and therefore require novel interventions to change course, or represent a pattern that can be interrupted or broken. Although Thorstein Veblen’s work points to the former, it is important to note that his “Theory of the Leisure Class” was written during the establishment of affluent society in America. This era, known as the Gilded Age, gave rise to the leisure class out of a “transition from a peaceable to a consistently warlike habit of life.” Centuries of slavery and indentured servitude habituated Americans to predation and relative ease in subsistence, creating the conditions by which society would allow further distinctions (“between exploit and drudgery”) in employments. On one hand, these distinctions led to extreme economic disparity, political complacency, and post-war conservatism; on the other, advancements in technology and communication that made Americans’ lives easier. At the time, French statesman Georges Clemenceau noted the U.S. “had gone from a stage of barbarism to one of decadence without achieving any civilization between the two.” As a result, vestiges of the nation’s barbarism remained, particularly the possession of persons and goods that served as evidence of success. This evidence became the basis of esteem in this new affluent society; possessions and acquisitions replacing honor that would have been bestowed through war or statecraft.
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