Law in Contemporary Society

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VeblenandStuff 10 - 18 Apr 2010 - Main.PeterWade
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-- NonaFarahnik - 06 Apr 2010 Miranda is the editor of Vogue. Andy is her assistant. This is from The Devil Wears Prada.
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 One of my current procrastination activities is browsing the pictures on this website http://forum.purseblog.com/. I like looking at pretty and amusing pictures, though Apartment Therapy, xkcd, and pictures on tripadvisor are much wiser choices for idle browsing, since over-consumption of those websites rarely result in being convinced that I need something stupid. The forum members' relationships with their accessories are both absurd and understandable. It's the only place where I have encountered people congratulating each other for buying non-essential stuff (as in, not someone's dream house or a child's education). Most of the threads are started by members posting pictures of new acquisitions, and they are always presented with such accomplishment. I think for many of these women buying accessories are important sources of validation to their personal and professional success, and the members so applaud each purchase because the ability to spend $X is a symbol of having moved up in the world. Status has meant security for the most part of our history. I think the status symbols of now are like the armors and war spoils of more primitive eras, in that they protect their owners by indicating to the world that such-and-such person has at least purchasing power - which means a lot societies where almost every other source of power can be purchased.

A search for "conspicuous consumption" and "status symbol" yielded two relevant threads. In one, focused on curbing consumptions, the some members discuss their difficulties paying off credit card debt, yet even in there enabling remains rampant - $100 coin purses are "earned" by the paying off of $1000, of a balance enough to feed your average law student for three years. In the other, the proposition that forums members purchase purses and shoes as status symbols was by most part sharply denied. \ No newline at end of file

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Thought this NYT article was interesting. It talks a bit about conspicuous consumption and Veblen in the context of hugely expensive designer phones for the rich, and their designer who now finally feels "fulfilled."

Main.PeterWade
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Revision 10r10 - 18 Apr 2010 - 14:09:34 - PeterWade
Revision 9r9 - 17 Apr 2010 - 14:47:57 - NonaFarahnik
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