Thorstein Veblen

"The machine has liberated humans from toil only to enslave them to the machine."

"Pecuniary strength becomes the measure of human worth in commercial societies."

"The gentleman of leisure derives status from demonstrated inability to work."

"Industrial sabotage by management is more damaging than any labor disruption."

"The instinct for acquisition has been artificially inflamed by modern marketing."

"Custom and precedent often masquerade as natural law in human affairs."

"The engineer's integrity is compromised when placed under financial management."

"Fashion exists primarily to signal that the wearer does not labor."

"Warfare and hunting preserve primitive virtues that civilization otherwise eliminates."

"The higher learning has become subordinate to commercial and political interests."

"Habits of thought formed in one era persist long after their utility expires."

"Absentee ownership divorces the property holder from responsibility for productive use."

"The price system obscures the true costs and values of productive activity."

"Ceremonial adequacy matters more than practical efficiency in institutional design."

"The master craftsman's disappearance marks the true loss of the industrial age."

"Emulation is the engine of social hierarchy and economic inequality."

"The accumulation of wealth becomes pathological when severed from material need."

"Industrial processes have become ends in themselves rather than means to human welfare."

"The captains of industry are primarily engaged in financial manipulation, not creation."

"Custom decrees that the wife's leisure demonstrates the husband's earning power."

"The modern corporation fragments human skills into meaningless repetitive motions."

"Profit seeking often requires deliberate inefficiency to maintain market control."

"The servant class perpetuates itself through socialization into deference and compliance."

"Art production has been corrupted by its transformation into a commodity."

"Institutional inertia prevents necessary reform even when change becomes obvious."

"The distinction between honorable and dishonorable pursuits reflects ancient status hierarchies."

"Technological progress outpaces the institutional frameworks designed to govern it."

"Competitive emulation is mistaken for natural human inclination."

"The businessperson's hostility to labor stems from fear of losing control."

"Wasteful expenditure becomes the primary means of establishing social worth."