Veblen's Instinct of Workmanship pg. 170-175

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 Veblen starts by noting that in his mind the pastoral regimes have no real interest for today's civilization based on matter-of-fact knowledge.  The current society has been greatly impacted by the predatory regimes of the past such as the Roman empire.  He also writes that defenders of the predatory regime are not based on its own internal merits but rather because it is necessary to protect us from external forces.


There are two parts or phases to the predatory regime.  The first is that of “lower barbarism” where war and conflict are common.  The second phase is the peaceable phase where regimes are armed but not fighting.  This is a highly “self-regarding” phase focused on ownership and property rights.  And key for Veblen, workmanship is based on factors of “personal, invidious, differential and emulative nature”. In essence, workmanship is warped to external and damaging factors and not based on “other regarding” factors as they wer ein “savage” state of humanity.


On page 173, we get perhaps a good summary of Veblen's thinking where he writes that, “the pecuniary incentive to work takes the direction of making the most of the means at hand, considered, as means of pecuniary gain rather than means of serviceability” (pg. 173) and he writes further that “since the possession of wealth in so far as it exempts its possessor from productive work; and since such exemption is a mark of wealth and therefore of superiority over those who have nothing and must work”.


It must be said that Veblen's language is quite impressive whether one agrees with him or not.  He writes on page 175, “The pecuniary disrepute of labor acts to discourage industry, but this may be offset, at least in part, by the incentive given to emulation of the good repute attaching to acquisition. The wasteful expenditure of goods and services enjoined by the canons of conspicuous consumption gives an economically untoward direction to industry, at the same time that it greatly increases the hardships and curtails the amenities of life” (pg. 175).  


In many ways, this paragraph may summarize much of Veblen's approach.  Humanity has evolved away from a serviceable approach to work and towards a degraded and limited way of looking and incentivizing work that has warped and led to a curtailment of a good life for many people.


The next ten pages are packed with insights so we will stop here and continue the story in a few days….

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