I bought this book a few decades ago, but didn't get around to reading it. I had missed out. Veblen has a great critique of the "leisure class" and their conspicuous consumption. He tells things with flat out seriousness, yet lays it on hard. Was he trying to be truly serious or was this meant as a satire? It hits it well either way. The points seem so true today, it is hard to believe it is over a century old.
The Leisure Class does not busy themselves with manual endeavors. They have servants to take care of that. Instead, the work on intellectual and "charitable" pursuits. Much of their consumption is "conspicuous". They consume to be noticed. They may flavor their food with substances precisely because they are expensive, not because they impart any particular taste.
Veblen calls out colleges and sports. These sports are how the leisure class unites and carries out violence. Sports like football are seen as emblematic of the leisure class. Why are they connected to institutions of higher learning? It is because these are made to be class differentiators. I can only imagine what he would think about college sports today.
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