They spend heavily on education to ensure their children will have a sizable advantage in the future job market. A degree from an elite university, rather than connoting leisure time, is seen as an important career step. And they spend to secure more of what Veblen’s elite already had — leisure. Nannies, gardeners, housekeepers and first-class nonstop airline tickets are the means. The consumption habits of the top 1 percent will shape future politics because their children will be the ones with political and economic power. This new elite spending is an investment in their class’s future, signaling the perpetuation of today’s divide between the nation’s top earners and everyone else. And there’s nothing a Louis Vuitton bag, a tiny Chihuahua or a silver spoon can do to change that. nyti.ms/1fxqvnd
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 00:25:51 +0000
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