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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Spending money on churches is an example of what?
(a) Conspicuous consumption.
(b) Devout consumption.
(c) Architectural waste.
(d) Vicarious waste.

2. What stage of culture contained the institution of the leisure class?
(a) Early stages of agricultural culture.
(b) Late stages of hunting culture.
(c) Late stages of agricultural culture.
(d) High stages of barbarian culture.

3. What was the state of the leisure class in hunting cultures?
(a) It did not exist.
(b) It was developing but still competing with the communal lifestyle.
(c) It existed only for the priests.
(d) It was highly developed, and hunters exploit the women for their labor.

4. What does Veblen say motivates conspicuous waste?
(a) The desire to demonstrate wealth.
(b) The desire to conform to established usage.
(c) The desire to give to the poor indirectly.
(d) The desire to consume excessively.

5. What does Veblen say possessions indicate in an ownership society?
(a) The power of the possessor.
(b) The fame of the possessor.
(c) The virtue of the possessor.
(d) The nobility of the possessor.

6. How does Veblen define conspicuous consumption?
(a) The display of wealth in front of witnesses to wealth.
(b) Vulgar or unnecessary displays of wealth.
(c) A refined set of mannerisms displayed while consuming status symbols.
(d) An act of consumption that involves more than one person.

7. What does Veblen say makes wealth desirable?
(a) It gives renown.
(b) It is honorable.
(c) It resolves disputes.
(d) It provides happiness.

8. What does Veblen say about the upper classes in Iceland and Polynesia?
(a) That they offered their vassals' labor to the priests.
(b) That they worked alongside the rest.
(c) That they invested the capital and give laborers the means of production.
(d) That they were barred from physical labor.

9. What employments did upper-class people in Iceland and Polynesia work in?
(a) Arts, music, and entertainment.
(b) Investment banking and diplomacy.
(c) Management, service jobs, and newspapers.
(d) Government, military, and the ministry.

10. What do expensive handmade clothes have that cheap imitations do not?
(a) The aesthetic quality of the original.
(b) More authentic components.
(c) The signature of the maker.
(d) Patented features.

11. What do silver spoons have that machine-made spoons do not?
(a) Serviceability.
(b) Utility.
(c) Aesthetic design.
(d) Conspicuous waste.

12. What does Veblen say clothing is designed for?
(a) Support.
(b) Protection.
(c) Health.
(d) Show.

13. What distinction begins to be drawn as the group around the patron grows?
(a) Between aristocratic and democratic.
(b) Between noble and ignoble.
(c) Between landed and monied gentry.
(d) Between upper-class and lower-class merchants.

14. How does the upper class distinguish itself, according to Veblen?
(a) By selling the proceeds of its labor.
(b) By performing labor efficiently.
(c) By avoiding labor.
(d) By profiting from labor.

15. How does Veblen explain the change of fashion from year to year?
(a) It is a shallow form of bourgeois emulation of different aristocratic idols.
(b) It is a form of cultural restlessness.
(c) It is a form of conspicuous waste.
(d) It is a constantly renewed way to police who is current and who is classic.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which aspect of culture was a condition for the development of a leisure class?

2. What term does Veblen use to describe horses and dogs?

3. What does Veblen say happens as technology progresses?

4. What does Veblen say public lawns have?

5. When does Veblen say that a leisure class emerged?

(see the answer keys)

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