stand reading. You might be interested to know this--one of the best
headings to research in sociology is _Conspicuous consumption_."

Then it was Wendell's turn to glance speculatively. The older man,
around a healthy hundred and twenty-five, had a look of earnest
dedication about him that commanded respect as well as confidence.

"Conspicuous consumption? An odd combination of words. Never heard of
that before. I will look it up."

The librarian was nervous as he led his visitor into a reference
booth. "That's about all the help I can offer. If anything comes up,
just ring for me. Burnett's the name. Uh--you won't mention I put you
on the file without authorization, I hope."

"Certainly not."

As soon as he was alone he typed _Conspicuous consumption_ into the
query machine.

It started grinding out long bibliographical sheets as well as
cross-references to _Obsolescence, Natural_; _Obsolescence,
Technological_; _Obsolescence, Planned_, plus even odder items such as
_Waste-making, Art of_ and _Production, Stimulated velocity of_. How
did such disparate subjects tie in with each other?

* * * * *

By the end of the afternoon he began to see, if only dimly, to what
the unending stream of words on the viewer pointed.

For centuries ruling classes had made a habit of conspicuously wasting
goods and services that were necessities for the mass of men. It was
the final and highest symbol of social power. By the time of Louis XIV
the phenomenon had reached its first peak. The second came in the
twentieth century when mass production permitted millions to devote
their lives to the acquisition and waste of non-essentials. Hart's
twenty-second century sensibilities were repelled by the examples
given. He shuddered at the thought of such anti-social behavior.

But a parallel development was more appealingly positive in its
implications. As the technological revolution speeded up, devices were
superseded as soon as produced. The whole last half of the 1900's was
filled with instances where the drawing board kept outstripping the
assembly line.

Hart remembered this last change from early school days but the later,
final development was completely new and shocking to him. Advertising
had pressured more and more people to replace goods _before_ they wore
out with other goods that were, essentially, no improvement on their
predecessors! Eventually just the word "NEW" was enough to trigger