'Conspicuous Consumption' and Buddhist Ethic

Thorstein Veblen, In The Theory of the Leisure Class, argues that "the possession of goods, whether acquired aggressively by one's own exertion or passively by transmission through inheritance from others, becomes a conventional basis of reputability... Wealth is now itself intrinsically honourable and confers honour on its possessor."

Although What he claims may be largely applicable to Western industrialist societies, I agree with Luke that Verblen makes too many generalizations and universalist assumptions about distinct cultures and societies without paying attention to specific contexts and competing ideologies that may shape our views about ownership and consumption. Coming from a culture that he would term 'barbaric', I'm informed by very different notions regarding 'conspicuous consumption' and accumulation of wealth. It is true that in our society also the possession of wealth functions as a marker of repute, esteem, and power and the nobility/ruling class is regarded as those who own wealth as Veblen contends. However, a culture conditioned by Buddhist ethics and values has taught us very early in life that giving and sharing of wealth (although this implies relations of power between those who have and have not) is an even more important merit that has consequences beyond the present life. This is equivalent to the notion of "christian charity." (We were basically taught that we can't take any material possessions with us when we die, but only those merits that we have accumulated through charitable deeds.) According to this worldview, 'conspicuous consumption' is negated as a sign of shallowness and lack of spiritual and intellectual depth. (Another contradiction that family history has taught me is that conspicuous consumption, leisure, and waste that are emblematic of status in Veblen's view, can create the very conditions for the gradual deterioration or the loss of status and wealth)

Although these ethics are in tension with the capitalist values that we espouse today, a considerable part of our society still uphold these values and the very ability to perform charitable deeds is considered as a sign of social esteem, power, and spiritual worth. Further, if the whole society is engulfed by the relentless desire to accumulate wealth and consume, how can we account for the existence of charitable institutions or the desire for distributive justice?