> He who dies with the most toys wins. Conspicuous consumption is a means to display status, especially for the respect of strangers. These usually unarticulated and unconscious features of human nature drive many to heights of accomplishment. For every person near the top of the socioeconomic pyramid, there must be masses at the lower levels.
> Aspects of this socioeconomic structure disturb liberal Democrats and please conservative Republicans. Liberals, like Jesus, lament the extremes from bottom to top and wish to mollify the impact on those at the bottom. Conservatives, like Marie Antoinette, see those extremes as the natural order and recognize that the height of an apex depends on the number of hungry, exploitable workers and customers beneath. There is a tension between ethical and practical considerations.
> The quest for status can be pernicious, especially among children, given the superficiality of their thinking and the cruelty meted to the excluded. There may be little relief from the status quest into adulthood, though the effects may be more subtle and practical. Given the wide spectrum of conditions in various dimensions of the pyramid, generalizations are difficult, but it appears that the distress of status is largely due to comparisons with perceived norms and internalized expectations, ie it is more psychological than practical. With basic physical needs met, one can be grateful with ones circumstances or resentful that others have more.
> Is it possible, through public policy and cultural encouragement, to broaden the distribution of satisfaction from top to bottom of the pyramid, without upsetting the motivations for productive activity throughout? How much misery and anxiety are necessary at and near the bottom? Are there entitlements that should be extended to all citizens? Would universal health care be one? Can self-destructive choices be be headed off more effectively? Should every citizen, rich and poor, be required to give a year or more of national service after high school to accomplish nationally important goals?
