Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/850

 836 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

Again in the case of durable luxuries it is easier to retrench in stringent times than it is in the case of the more perishable and ostentatious forms. 1 A person who has been devoting a con- siderable portion of his income as social leader to hospitality finds it difficult to face the comments which must follow when he feels it necessary to curtail expenses. On the other hand, the buyer of durable luxuries may easily cease purchasing for a time and not incur the danger of furnishing a topic for discus- sion for the "gossip who lies in ambush for other people's dis- asters." 2

Again, there is an economy when labor is employed in pro- ducing durable rather than perishable goods. There is a tendency in some quarters to glorify perishability as a boon to mankind. No greater blessing could befall us than to eradicate it. Only in exceptional cases does any good result from perish- ability. The annihilation of an antiquated machine to make way for the more improved, the destruction of the unsanitary tene- ment to be followed by a scientific construction, are examples of the blessings of perishability, but they are exceptional. In the main we are constantly seeking to produce things not perish- able, and this characteristic is certainly one of the important elements of the value of an article. It is said that perishability gives work to the idle, puts money into circulation, and makes good times generally. The fallacy of this position must be evident. The destruction of wealth certainly does cause labor. The destruction of the Capitol at Washington would do the same thing. Then why not glorify and idolize the man who applies the torch instead of landing him behind the bars for sober reflection ? Those who glorify perishability should be consistent and pray for cyclones, destructive lightning, engulfing floods, and other destroying agencies, in order that the land might be laid waste and more labor occasioned.

To prefer those luxuries which are of an enduring nature to those which are perishable is not an absolute rule, but will, in most cases, meet the demands of the ethics of citizenship.

1 See Wealth of Nations, Book II, chap. iii. a See MACCUNN, Ethics of Citizenship, p. 215.