furniture and wardrobe of a modest household of our middle class of people, or of the better class among our working people, would have seemed to have a profusion of luxurious objects; a few not costly easy-chairs, a carpet, window curtains, cheap wall paper, a looking-glass, a clock, a few vases filled with flowers, a small show of plate, shirts, handkerchiefs, neckties, stockings—all would be new to them, and not essential either for the normal wants of existence or even for decency and pleasant living. The idea of what constitutes luxury varies in the most striking manner according to the country, the times, and the classes of society. Each class considers a luxury whatever its circumstances do not allow it to possess, and which a higher class is, nevertheless, able to enjoy. It has been manifest over and over again that the luxury of one period, or of one social class, tends inevitably to become at least a requisite of respectability for the following age and the next lower class. Civilization is characterized by the gradual, progressive, general distribution of many elements of luxury which thus gradually lose that character. Every ten years, some luxuries cease to be such in consequence of their becoming more common and cheaper.
In speaking of the principle of luxury we should consider it apart from the excesses and excrescences that have been associated with it. A great many men regard luxury as an abuse, a sin, a scandal. Some imagine that if it were got rid of, society would be happier and more moral. Many believe that the superfluities of some are gained at the expense of necessaries of others. The enemies to the principle of luxury may be arranged in two divisions: moralists and politists, and economists.
The political arguments against luxury bear chiefly upon the two points that it increases the separation between the classes of the population, and makes it more marked; and that it enervates man and makes civilized populations more easily subjects for spoliation by barbarians. We have shown in another place that the gap between the conditions of different classes of men is tending to diminish.[1] This inequality, furthermore, has not unwholesome effects only; it is both the result and the stimulus of civilization. In regard to the dangers that luxury may bring upon the state, it should be observed that luxury is one thing and luxurious living is another. We may love and seek luxury in furniture, decoration, and objects of art, and live simply. The physical deterioration assumed to result from luxurious tastes has not been proved. In almost every country of Europe the young people of the most aristocratic classes display,
- ↑ Essai sur la répartition des richesses et la tendance d'une moindre inégalité des conditions.
