ABSTRACT
Thorstein Veblen, a dangerous man, challenged the eternal verities of America at the turn of the century. His Theory of the Leisure Class, which came out in 1899, is still in print and will be in print at the turn of another century. Although his ideas were shocking to the Victorian-era conscience, they are no less shocking to many today, because they undermine the consumerist values inherent in the great American rat race. Albert Einstein said Veblen was the only contemporary scientific writer, other than Bertrand Russell, to whom he owed "innumerable happy hours". For a century America has been in denial about Veblen's ideas. They conflicted with the "American dream" of "winning" through perching atop a mountain of expensive possessions and becoming the envy of the neighbors. Along with Mary Wollstonecraft, Henrik Ibsen, Edward Bellamy, Alexandre Dumas the younger, and John Stuart Mill, Veblen condemned the modern oppression of women.
