A third motive for economic activity is the desire to consume what we may unmistakably call luxuries, and by their consumption to be recognized as superior beings. Evidences of such a desire are to be found on every hand. Ultra-stylish clothing made from exclusive patterns by custom tailors, luxurious automobiles, diamonds, and fine houses bring recognition, though their display for the purpose of attracting attention may be, and usually is, vulgar. Yet the desire to get these luxuries to satisfy an unhealthy appetite for the extreme, and to display them for the purpose of gaining social distinction, drives men to greater economic activities than they otherwise would undertake; and for that reason we, as students of economic questions, must consider them seriously, even though as individuals we may look on them with indifference or even with contempt.

The desire for luxuries and ostentation leads to many curious results. It might be thought on the first impulse that only rich people have these desires. Such, however, is not the case. Fine clothing and other forms of ostentation are often not safe criteria of the owner's financial standing. Many a rich man goes more poorly dressed than one of his lowest-salaried clerks, while his home may be less elegant than that of his private secretary. Any merchant of women's ready-to-wear garments will testify that many of his best customers for high-priced clothing are the poorly-paid clerks of the variety stores, telephone operators, and cheap office assistants. Sellers of jewelry, furniture, and men's clothing, and the managers of high-priced places of amusement, not to mention a great many others in similar lines of business, corroborate this testimony. The same desire leads also to much of the crime with which society is plagued. Now and then some one steals a loaf of bread or a cut of meat to keep himself or his family from starving, or falsifies his books to provide the simple comforts of life. More often, we may safely say, the cause of dishonesty is the desire to purchase luxuries with which to make a display. As it is with theft, so it is with most other forms of crime: the desire of the individual to enjoy luxuries and ostentation overcomes his dread of the punishment he can expect if discovered.