On Jun 9, 2007, at 8:19 AM, Julio Huato wrote:
> Conspicuous consumption also establishes hegemony: it
> displays power, and signals to the dominated and exploited classes
> their own powerlessness, and consequently reinforces the sense of
> inferiority and inability at those levels.
Yes. One of Beckert's themes is that the pre-Civil War elite was still deeply republican, but as their wealth increased and the proletariat increased in number from the 1870s onward, they turned deeply anti-democratic. A grand ball held at the Waldorf-Astoria in 1897 featured 50 women dressed as Marie Antoinette.
Doug