炫耀性消費時代結束，現在是無形消費時代

In 1899, the economist Thorstein Veblen observed that silver spoons and corsets were markers of elite social position. In Veblen』s now famous treatise The Theory of the Leisure Class, he coined the phrase 『conspicuous consumption』 to denote the way that material objects were paraded as indicators of social position and status. More than 100 years later, conspicuous consumption is still part of the contemporary capitalist landscape, and yet today, luxury goods are significantly more accessible than in Veblen』s time. This deluge of accessible luxury is a function of the mass-production economy of the 20th century, the outsourcing of production to China, and the cultivation of emerging markets where labour and materials are cheap. At the same time, we』ve seen the arrival of a middle-class consumer market that demands more material goods at cheaper price points.

1899年，挪威裔美國經濟學家凡勃倫在《有閑階級論》中提到，人們花大價錢購買華而不實的商品以顯示自己的社會地位，他把這種現象稱作conspicuous consumption（顯著消費或炫耀性消費）。100多年後，炫耀性消費依然是部分當代資本家一道風景。而當今的奢侈品比凡勃倫時代更加豐富。通過把生產外包給中國，開發勞動力和原料廉價的新興市場，奢侈品充斥市場是20世紀大規模生產經濟的一個功能。同時，我們看到中產階級消費市場的形成，需要更多便宜的物質產品。

However, the democratisation of consumer goods has made them far less useful as a means of displaying status. In the face of rising social inequality, both the rich and the middle classes own fancy TVs and nice handbags. They both lease SUVs, take airplanes, and go on cruises. On the surface, the ostensible consumer objects favoured by these two groups no longer reside in two completely different universes.

然而，消費品的普及使其不再成為顯示身份的象徵。社會發展不平等，富裕和中產階級都有了高檔電視和名牌手包，他們同樣開越野，乘飛機，坐游輪。表面上，兩個群體喜歡的消費品不再完全屬於兩個世界。

Given that everyone can now buy designer handbags and new cars, the rich have taken to using much more tacit signifiers of their social position. Yes, oligarchs and the superrich still show off their wealth with yachts and Bentleys and gated mansions. But the dramatic changes in elite spending are driven by a well-to-do, educated elite, or what I call the 『aspirational class』. This new elite cements its status through prizing knowledge and building cultural capital, not to mention the spending habits that go with it – preferring to spend on services, education and human-capital investments over purely material goods. These new status behaviours are what I call 『inconspicuous consumption』. None of the consumer choices that the term covers are inherently obvious or ostensibly material but they are, without question, exclusionary.

既然每個人都可以買奢侈包和新車，富人就會採用更加隱性的方式展示他們的社會地位。當然，經濟寡頭和超級富豪仍然通過遊艇、賓利豪車和豪宅炫耀自己的富有。但是影響精英階層消費的有小康水平，受教育的精英，或者我稱為「aspirational class」的中產階級。這個新的精英階層通過重視知識，構建文化資本鞏固自己的地位。精英更看重知識和文化資本，把錢花在服務、教育和人力資本等領域。這種現象稱作inconspicuous consumption（不顯著消費）。這些消費選擇都是無形不可見的，但是毫無疑問，非常具有獨特性。

The rise of the aspirational class and its consumer habits is perhaps most salient in the United States. The US Consumer Expenditure Survey data reveals that, since 2007, the country』s top 1 per cent (people earning upwards of $300,000 per year) are spending significantly less on material goods, while middle-income groups (earning approximately $70,000 per year) are spending the same, and their trend is upward. Eschewing an overt materialism, the rich are investing significantly more in education, retirement and health – all of which are immaterial, yet cost many times more than any handbag a middle-income consumer might buy. The top 1 per cent now devote the greatest share of their expenditures to inconspicuous consumption, with education forming a significant portion of this spend (accounting for almost 6 per cent of top 1 per cent household expenditures, compared with just over 1 per cent of middle-income spending). In fact, top 1 per cent spending on education has increased 3.5 times since 1996, while middle-income spending on education has remained flat over the same time period.

中產階級的興起及其消費習慣最顯著的很可能是美國。美國消費者支出調查數據顯示，自2007年以來，佔美國人口1%的最富有人群（年收入30萬美元以上）花在有形商品上的錢明顯減少，中產家庭（年收入7萬美元）同期的支出則沒有變化，並且呈增長勢態。為了避免過於重視物質，富人顯著地把錢投資到教育、退休和醫療領域。這些都是非物質的，但是比中等收入者可能購買的一個包貴很多。這百分之一的人群很大部分的錢花在不顯著消費上。教育在消費中占很大一部分（占他們家庭開支的百分之六，而中等收入的只佔百分之一）。實際上這百分之一的精英階層在教育上的消費比1996年增長了3.5倍，而同期中等收入者在教育方面的開支持平。

The vast chasm between middle-income and top 1 per cent spending on education in the US is particularly concerning because, unlike material goods, education has become more and more expensive in recent decades. Thus, there is a greater need to devote financial resources to education to be able to afford it at all. According to Consumer Expenditure Survey data from 2003-2013, the price of college tuition increased 80 per cent, while the cost of women』s apparel increased by just 6 per cent over the same period. Middle-class lack of investment in education doesn』t suggest a lack of prioritising as much as it reveals that, for those in the 40th-60th quintiles, education is so cost-prohibitive it』s almost not worth trying to save for.

在美國，百分之一精英階層和中等收入者在教育開支上的巨大差距特別讓人擔憂，跟物質產品不同，教育在最近幾十年變得越來越貴。因此在教育上需要更多的財政投入，使所有人都能消費得起。根據《消費者開支調查》的數據，2003至2013年，美國大學學費上漲了80%，而同期女裝價格僅上漲6%。中產階級在教育領域缺少投資並沒有數據顯示的影響那麼大，對於百分之四十到六十的人來說，教育依然是成本高昂，不值得投入。

While much inconspicuous consumption is extremely expensive, it shows itself through less expensive but equally pronounced signalling – from reading The Economist to buying pasture-raised eggs. Inconspicuous consumption in other words, has become a shorthand through which the new elite signal their cultural capital to one another. In lockstep with the invoice for private preschool comes the knowledge that one should pack the lunchbox with quinoa crackers and organic fruit. One might think these culinary practices are a commonplace example of modern-day motherhood, but one only needs to step outside the upper-middle-class bubbles of the coastal cities of the US to observe very different lunch-bag norms, consisting of processed snacks and practically no fruit. Similarly, while time in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City might make one think that every American mother breastfeeds her child for a year, national statistics report that only 27 per cent of mothers fulfil this American Academy of Pediatrics goal (in Alabama, that figure hovers at 11 per cent).

不顯著消費有時通過不太昂貴的標誌體現，比如看《經濟學人》雜誌、或者購買放養雞蛋（pasture-raised eggs）。換句話說，不顯著消費成了一個簡稱，新的精英通過它相互傳遞文化資本信號。從學前班學到的知識，飯盒中應該有藜麥餅乾和有機水果。你可能會認為這些烹飪方法是現代生活母親的常識。但人們只需走出美國沿海城市上層中產階級的泡沫，就可以看到非常不同的午餐袋規範，主要是加工過的快餐，而且幾乎沒有水果。同樣，在洛杉磯、舊金山和紐約，人們可能認為每一個美國母親給她的孩子一年的母乳餵養，國家統計局報告，只有27%的母親完成這一美國兒科學會的目標（在亞拉巴馬州，這個數字一直徘徊在11%左右）。

Knowing these seemingly inexpensive social norms is itself a rite of passage into today』s aspirational class. And that rite is far from costless: The Economist subscription might set one back only $100, but the awareness to subscribe and be seen with it tucked in one』s bag is likely the iterative result of spending time in elite social milieus and expensive educational institutions that prize this publication and discuss its contents.

知道這些看似廉價的社會規範本身是通往今天的中產階級的一種儀式。這也是需要花錢的：訂閱經濟學人可能只要100美元，但是意識到訂閱並把它塞到包里，可能是優秀的社會環境和重視此出版物並討論其內容的昂貴教育機構反覆影響的結果。

Perhaps most importantly, the new investment in inconspicuous consumption reproduces privilege in a way that previous conspicuous consumption could not. Knowing which New Yorker articles to reference or what small talk to engage in at the local farmers』 market enables and displays the acquisition of cultural capital, thereby providing entry into social networks that, in turn, help to pave the way to elite jobs, key social and professional contacts, and private schools. In short, inconspicuous consumption confers social nobility.

也許最重要的是，不顯著消費的新投資會以以前炫耀性消費沒有的方式再現榮耀。知道紐約文章引用或在當地農民當中閑談什麼，顯示著文化資本的成果，從而進入社交網路，反過來，關鍵的社會和職業關係，和私立學校幫助鋪平道路的精英工作。總之，不顯著消費賦予了社會階層流動性。

More profoundly, investment in education, healthcare and retirement has a notable impact on consumers』 quality of life, and also on the future life chances of the next generation. Today』s inconspicuous consumption is a far more pernicious form of status spending than the conspicuous consumption of Veblen』s time. Inconspicuous consumption – whether breastfeeding or education – is a means to a better quality of life and improved social mobility for one』s own children, whereas conspicuous consumption is merely an end in itself – simply ostentation. For today』s aspirational class, inconspicuous consumption choices secure and preserve social status, even if they do not necessarily display it.

更深入地說，在教育、醫療和退休方面的投資對消費者的生活質量和下一代未來的生活機會有著顯著的影響。今天的不顯著消費是一個比Veblen時期的炫耀性消費更要命的地位消費形式。不顯著消費–是否母乳餵養或教育–是為自己的孩子提高生活質量和社會階層流動性，而炫耀性消費是最終目的–只是擺闊。對於今天的中產階級來說，不顯著消費鞏固和維護社會地位，甚至他們沒有必要炫耀。