Quiz: The Theory of the Leisure Class

12 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. 1. Which four occupations does Veblen assign to the leisure class of the barbarian culture?

   Government, warfare, religious observances and sports Warfare, hunting, herding and metalwork Trade, warfare, law and agriculture Government, banking, scholarship and the fine and decorative arts
2. 2. Which reconstruction does Veblen cite as an example of middle-class pecuniary taste in grounds?

   Central Park in New York The campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore The gardens of Versailles The grounds of the Columbian Exposition
3. 3. Where does Veblen locate the origin of modern science?

   In the priestly learning of the medieval universities and monastic schools In the study of the classics In the patronage of wealthy Maecenases at the courts of princes In the industrial process, entering the schools from outside
4. 4. Which three ethnic types does Veblen say the population of Western industrial communities tends to breed true to?

   Dolichocephalic-blond, brachycephalic-brunette, Mediterranean Nordic, Alpine-Slavic and Semitic Celtic, Saxon and Norman, the stocks of the English people Aryan, Turanian and Semitic
5. 5. In Veblen’s comparison of spoons, what cheap “base” metal does he set against hand-wrought silver?

   Tin Britannia metal Aluminum Brass
6. 6. Why, according to Veblen, is the leisure class conservative?

   It has been taught to revere tradition in its private schools and its churches It is older on average than other classes It is sheltered from the economic pressures that force a change of habits It reads more history than other classes
7. 7. How, according to Veblen, does Labour Day augment the prestige of labour?

   By holding competitions of skill between trades By compulsory abstention from useful effort By church services and parades blessing the tools and products of every industry By paying workers a holiday bonus from their employers
8. 8. According to Veblen, what must exist before predation can become a group’s habitual resource?

   A settled agricultural population tied permanently to the land A hereditary priesthood to sanction the seizure of goods by force A margin of production above the subsistence of those getting a living A written code of honour governing the conduct of war between rival groups
9. 9. Which of these does Veblen give as an example of a peaceable savage community without a leisure class?

   The Todas of the Nilgiri Hills The Polynesian islanders The Icelanders of the Sagas The North American hunting tribes
10. 10. How does Veblen explain the constant change of fashions?

    Each wasteful style grows odious and yields to another as futile Manufacturers change the styles each season in order to sell more cloth, lace and finery to the public Each generation rebels against its parents’ taste and seeks a style of its own Styles improve steadily toward an artistic ideal which each change brings nearer
11. 11. Why, according to Veblen, are workers in the mechanical industries falling away from devout observances?

    Socialist agitators in the workshops have converted them to an open, militant atheism Their employers forbid church attendance on working days and discourage it on Sundays They are too poor to pay church dues and pew rents, and so are made unwelcome in the wealthier congregations Their work enforces matter-of-fact habits that derange animistic thought
12. 12. What axiom does Veblen say the law of natural selection gives when applied to institutions?

    Nature makes no leaps Whatever is, is wrong Whatever is, is right The fittest always survive