Comic #2246: 2011-07-08
Description
Here’s the text from the comic transcribed accurately:
Panel 1:
- Person 1: "It's called 'conspicuous consumption.' Thorstein Veblen proposed it in 1899."
- Person 2: "The basic idea is that people spend wastefully and publicly to gain social status."
Panel 2:
- Person 3: "So they put all this wasted effort into pointless things just for status?"
- Person 2: "Yep."
Panel 3:
- Person 3: "I'm glad we academics don't have that sort of problem."
- Person 2: "I wouldn't know. I spend all of my time reading books that are too obscure for other people."