The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen
Thorstein Veblen (pictured) was a noted Norwegian-American sociologist and economist who believed that economic structure is informed by a Darwinian "survival of the fittest" mentality. This is to say that he believed that the type of work that you perform is typically directly related to your social status and economic class.
Reading his "Theory of the Leisure Class" made me think almost immediately of the system of "wants" vs. "needs" that was described by Marcuse. In the system outlined by Veblen, we "want" that which will make our social standing greater in the eyes of our colleagues and compatriots. And this "want" expresses itself not only in physical possessions but attaining a level of physical surroundings that impresses upon others our social and economic status.
As Veblen puts it:
"In order to gain and hold the esteem of men it is not merely to possess wealth or power. The wealth or power must be put on evidence, for esteem is awarded only on evidence. And not only does the evidence of wealth serve to impress one's importance on others and to keep their sense of his importance alive and alert, but it is of scarcely less use in building up and preserving one's self-complacency. In all but the lowest stages of culture, the normally constituted man is comforted and upheld in his self-respect by "decent surroundings" and by exemption from "menial offices". (p. 24)
Veblen asserts that the stratification of modern industrial society can be related to the simple social stratification of early tribal cultures. The inter-relationships operate in the same way, it is just that the potential rewards are much shinier. Veblen compares the role of women in barbarian society (their specific categorization as "trophies of war") to the modern view of the perfect "happy housewife" cooking and cleaning to make the domicile of her Wall Street warrior of a husband as pleasant an example of the "decent surroundings" mentioned in the quote above.
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