Dolores R. sent us this Saturday Morning Breakfast cartoon commenting on conspicuous consumption. The phenomenon is often described with things like Hummers and high-priced purses. The cartoon, though, suggests that intellectuals have their own breed of conspicuous consumption, even as they criticize the Hummer drivers.
It reminds me of this hilarious clip from the sketch comedy show Portlandia in which friends end up in an inadvertent competition over who is more informed/has read more of the right stuff lately.
See also: conspicuous conservation.
Lisa Wade is a professor of sociology at Occidental College and the co-author of Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
