RS170 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Conspicuous Consumption
Document Summary
The needs of the social group are more important than the needs of the individual. Therefore, in order to get the best work done, the landowner would have to provide a good life for their workers. Landowners would therefore provide entertainment for their workers (e. g. festivals). In this context, popular culture was particular to the small location. The people themselves were making their own music, for example. People move out of these small groups and into cities. More concentration on the needs of the individual. Growth in capitalist system, where goods are being moved from region to region and the mode of production changes (e. g. instead of one person making a shoe, five people make a shoe in order to increase efficiency). Workers are selling their labour, and do not get what they"re working to create back. Factory owners do not want to give their workers leisure time because it decreases their efficiency.
