Unwise consumption is one of the several causes of the social unrest which has manifested itself in this country during the past generation. The consuming standards of most individuals are set to some degree by neighbors and friends. In a democracy, such as ours, where every one feels that he is equal to every one else, there is always the temptation to display equality through the consumption of goods. Consequently, many people live beyond their income in a fruitless endeavor, as they say, to keep up appearances. The result is debt, worry, and discontentment. Debt keeps out of their reach business opportunities which they might easily have grasped had they lived within their means. Worry destroys efficiency, while discontentment causes them to overlook the small things which would in time lead to something better. Here, then, is an important source of social unrest, which we can counteract and finally eliminate by having a proper regard for economic values.

It would be misleading to close this discussion without saying something more about the sources of social unrest. The rapid increase' in the number of wealthy men, the display of lavish expenditures on every hand, and the concentration of industry, lead many to believe that American industrial society needs to be reconstructed in some way so as to equalize more evenly the distribution of wealth and to place in the hands of the workers greater control over production. Further discussion along these lines, however, must be deferred to later chapters.