The Origins and Evolution of Consumer

Capitalism; A Veblenian-Keynesian
Perspective John P. Watkins
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“John P. Watkins’ new book constructs a coherent historical narrative of the
emergence of modern mass consumer capitalism out of late nineteenth-early
twentieth century capitalism. It is masterfully written, and hopefully, will be
read by many economists and, most importantly, by the next generation.”
William Waller, Hobart and William Smith College

“In his new book, John P. Watkins has utilized the insights of two of the
greatest analysts of the paradoxical nature of American economic develop-
ment, Thorstein Veblen and John Maynard Keynes, to interpret the key mo-
ments of the last one hundred and fifty years of American capitalism. Thus,
this volume will be useful for those teaching or researching U.S. economic
history as well as those seeking texts that present an alternative perspective
to economic theory.”
Janet T. Knoedler, Bucknell University
The Origins and Evolution of
Consumer Capitalism

Consumer capitalism arose with the second industrial revolution, the appli-
cation of continuous-mass production to consumer goods during the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This book adopts a Veblenian,
Keynesian viewpoint, presenting an evolutionary view of consumption com-
bined with the need to increase demand to match increases in production.
The book traces the history of consumer capitalism, examining the paradox
posed by applying continuous-mass production to produce armaments for
dynastic ambitions versus consumer goods for the masses, manifesting it-
self in the world wars of the twentieth century. Multiple paradoxes at the
heart of the story address booms leading to busts, over-producing countries
in Asia relying on over-consuming countries in the West, and the expan-
sion of demand depending on increasingly inventive ways of liquefying as-
sets, in light of stagnant incomes. The book persuasively argues that these
paradoxes result from capitalism’s incessant drive to accumulate capital,
­fostering conflict, crises, and depression. The latest paradox results from
the impact of continuous-mass production on the environment, manifesting
itself as the Darwinian dilemma. The dilemma stems from human beings
largely winning the struggle for existence and, in the process, possibly mak-
ing the earth uninhabitable, at least for humans.

John P. Watkins is Professor of Economics at Westminster College, Salt

Lake City, Utah, and adjunct Professor of Economics at the University of
Utah. He has taught economics for some 40 years, teaching the history of
economic thought, macroeconomic theory, economic justice, and ecolog-
ical economics. He is past president of the Association for Evolutionary
Economics and the Association for Institutional Thought. He is winner of
the Bill and Vieve Gore Excellence in Teaching Award, twice recipient of
the Manford A. and June Shaw Faculty Publication Award, and voted six
times Professor of the Year. His purpose in teaching is to raise the students’
level of confusion, a purpose which he is known to have accomplished with
considerable success.
Economics as Social Theory
Series edited by Tony Lawson, University of Cambridge

Social Theory is experiencing something of a revival within economics.

Critical analyses of the particular nature of the subject matter of social stud-
ies and of the types of method, categories, and modes of explanation that
can legitimately be endorsed for the scientific study of social objects are re-­
emerging. Economists are again addressing such issues as the relationship
between agency and structure, between economy and the rest of society, and
between the enquirer and the object of enquiry. There is a renewed interest
in elaborating basic categories such as causation, competition, culture, dis-
crimination, evolution, money, need, order, organization, power probability,
process, rationality, technology, time, truth, uncertainty, and value.
The objective of this series is to facilitate this revival further. In contemporary
economics, the label “theory” has been appropriated by a group that confines
itself to a largely asocial, ahistorical, mathematical “modelling.” Economics as
Social Theory thus reclaims the “theory” label, offering a platform for alterna-
tive rigorous, but broader and more critical conceptions of theorizing.

47. Markets
Perspectives from economic and social theory
William A. Jackson

48. Keynes against Capitalism

His economic case for liberal socialism
James Crotty

49. The Nature of Social Reality

Issues in social ontology
Tony Lawson

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How evolution, psychology and biology have shaped the economy
Rojhat Avsar

For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.

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The Origins and Evolution of
Consumer Capitalism
A Veblenian-Keynesian Perspective

John P. Watkins
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First published 2023
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-138-33545-5 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-138-33546-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-44376-3 (ebk)

DOI: 10.4324/9780429443763
Typeset in Times New Roman
by codeMantra
Dedicated to Sandra and Katie and to my readers struggling
to understand and resolve the paradoxes posed by our current
civilization.
Contents

List of figures xi
List of tables xiii
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xix

1 The Origins and Paradoxes of Consumer Capitalism 1

2 Toward an Evolutionary Theory of Consumer

Capitalism: Thorstein Veblen and John Maynard Keynes 18

3 Continuous-Mass Production and the Rise of the

Modern Corporation 39

4 How to Absorb the Output? Consumerism versus

Militarism: Veblen, Hobson, and Polanyi 55

5 Keynes and The Great Depression: “Poverty in the

Midst of Plenty” 77

6 The Myopic Consumer and the Rational Economist:

The Institutional Pattern of Consumption and Theories
of Consumer Choice 98

7 The Liquefication of Everything: Corporate Power and

the Evolution of Consumer Credit 113

8 America’s Perpetual Trade Deficit 138

9 The Great Financial Crisis—A Test of Two Models:

Minsky’s Financial Instability Hypothesis and the
Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Model 154
x Contents
10 Overcoming the Limits of the Private-Domestic
Economy: Quantitative Easing versus Modern
Monetary Theory 175

11 The Darwinian Dilemma: Winning the Struggle,

Making the World Uninhabitable? 190

12 The Civilization of Consumer Capitalism 204

Index 213
Figures

5.1 Keynes’ Model of Effective Demand 83

7.1 Consumer Credit as a Percentage of Disposable Income
(1910–2000) 123
7.2 Revolving Credit as a Percentage of Disposable Income
(1959–2000) 129
7.3 Personal Saving as a Percentage of Disposable Income
(1059–2000) 129
7.4 Revolving, Non-Revolving, and Home Equity as a % of
GDP (1959–2007) 130
8.1 US Current Account as a Percentage of GDP 139
8.2 US Gross Domestic Purchases as a Percentage of GDP
and Consumption as a Percentage of GDP (1959–2009)
Gross Domestic Purchases as a Percentage of GDP is
Measured on the Left Axis, Consumption as a Percentage
of GDP is Measured on the Right Axis 147
9.1 The Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Model of
the GFC 169
10.1 Ratio of Stock Market Capitalization to GDP (percent of GDP) 179
Tables

3.1 Advertising as a Percentage of GDP—1919–1930 49

4.1 Per-Capita GDP in 1990 International Dollars 60
4.2 Military Expenditures as a Percent of the National Budget 61
7.1 Ratio of Business Saving to Gross Private Domestic
Investment Less Private Residential Fixed Investment 118
8.1 Consumption as a Percentage of GDP for China, Japan,
and the United States 145
8.2 Trade Balance with Various Countries as a Percentage
of US GDP 149
9.1 Evolution of Consumer Credit: 1970–2009 156
9.2 Growth of Financial Profits, Total Consumer Debt, and
Asset-Backed Securities as a Percentage of GDP 156
9.3 Taxonomy Classification of Cash Flows 161
10.1 Monetary Policy and Fiscal Policy 179
10.2 Inequality in the Distribution of Income by Share of
Household Income 180
10.3 Distribution of Wealth by Household Income as a
percentage of Total Wealth 180
10.4 Quantitative Easing 186
10.5 Functional Finance 187
11.1 Human Population, Atmospheric Carbon, and Remaining
Wilderness 197
Preface

Capitalism is an inherently ambiguous concept. Like gazing at clouds on

a summer’s day, one person sees a bear, another a bison. What one sees
depends on one’s point of view. Capitalism is an interpretive concept, al-
lowing us to organize the various events that ushered in the modern world.
A significant event giving rise to consumer capitalism lay in the widespread
adoption of continuous-mass production, initiating the second industrial
revolution.
Consumer capitalism represents an evolution of capitalism generally,
vastly expanding production for the masses, requiring an increase in de-
mand. Its emergence in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is
reflected, in part, in two transformative books: Thorstein Veblen’s The The-
ory of the Leisure Class and John Maynard Keynes’ The General Theory of
Employment, Interest and Money. The Theory of the Leisure Class introduced
an evolutionary theory of consumption. Individuals emulate each other to
achieve the pecuniary standard, a standard that advances as corporations
apply continuous-mass production to new products. The General Theory
reflects the increased importance of consumption in the theory of effective
demand, foregoing the classical categories of wages, profits, and rents. The
theory of effective demand, as taught throughout the world, depends on
spending by consumers, entrepreneurs, government, and the foreign sector.
Consumer spending, of course, forms the largest component.
Production for the masses required a sea-change in the institutions of
capitalism: the rise of the modern corporation; a change in the laws allow-
ing corporations to go beyond the scope of their charters; a change in the
concept of property from use value to exchange value, from the replace-
ment costs of a firm’s assets to the present value of its anticipated income
stream; efforts to combine production with distribution; the rise of modern
advertising to sell products; and the rise of consumer credit to supplement
incomes enabling people to buy the products.
The ideas for this book came from various sources. The first source was
an article I wrote titled “Corporate Power and the Evolution of Consumer
Credit.” Viewing consumer credit from a historical perspective revealed
increasing efforts to liquefy consumer assets and provide credit based on
xvi Preface
those assets beginning with installment credit. Installment credit arose
concomitantly with the durable-goods revolution. At the time of the arti-
cle, I was unaware that the durable-goods revolution resulted from applying
continuous-mass production to consumer goods. Continuous-mass produc-
tion, along with numerous innovations, ushered in the second industrial rev-
olution stemming from the application of science to production.
The second source stems from a personal aversion to debt. The aversion
is part of the economist’s gestalt, reinforced by the idea of economic ra-
tionality, the tendency to weigh costs and benefits at the margin. Economic
rationality forms the defining characteristic of the economist’s cultural ori-
entation, the result of the socialization that occurs in graduate school. Most
economists model the world as they see themselves: rational, informed, en-
gaged in optimizing choices. The result is a caricature of people, not people
as they are in their daily life. In the real world, people emulate each other,
attempting to live at the conventional standard of living, an effort, as they
say, “to keep up with the Jones.” Human choice is complex, subject to habit,
emotion, emulation, guilt, in addition to economic rationality. Despite
claims to the contrary, economic rationality often fails to reveal the best
choice. It is generally invoked to justify the choice made. In addition, the
real world is fraught with uncertainty and moral dilemmas. Uncertainty un-
dermines our efforts to measure costs and benefits. Moral dilemmas prompt
us to question the choice made.
Too often, economic rationality creates blinders, leading economists to
mistake the model for the real world, failing to realize that models are met-
aphors, capturing some elements and omitting others. Most economists
disregard the evolution of economic institutions, ideas, and material condi-
tions. They take a static approach, observing the tree or perhaps a cluster of
trees, unaware that the forest itself is evolving, incurious regarding the cause
of that evolution or where it might lead.
The third and, perhaps, most important source is my dear friend, my love,
and my fellow searcher, one who transcends rationality, generous to a fault,
unconcerned with balancing costs and benefits, empathetic to the extreme.
Her priority is caring for others, too kind to be among “wolves.” For the
“wolves,” the point, as Veblen would say, is “to get something for nothing.”
People who care, who are empathetic, who are dedicated to service, who
lack income or property beyond their labor power or lack understanding of
how the system works, those people often become easy pickings.
Consumer capitalism represents the application of continuous-mass pro-
duction to produce goods for the masses. The purpose, of course, is to earn
profits. The assumption that wants are infinite justifies the system, an as-
sumption taught in principles of economics classes throughout the world.
When I ask students if wants are infinite, most agree. When I ask is this
sustainable, most are silent. Their silence deafens, revealing the paradox we
confront, the paradox that our civilization is unsustainable.
 Preface xvii
Hints of the paradox began at four or five. I would draw maps, marking a
town as a dot on the riverbanks, lines representing roads connected to other
dots. The town became a city, which became a metropolis. The dots grew
ever larger filling the page. Then what? Of course, I had no understanding
of relating the drawing to the problems at hand. The page was full, time to
move on.
Continuous-mass production that ushered in consumer capitalism entails
mass consumption. He who wins with the most toys wins the race. But what
has he won? What have we won? A world in which a few have far more than
they need while many need more than they have? A world void of the di-
versity of life? A world growing ever warmer? I am reminded of a quote
by Kenneth Boulding, “Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on
forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.” Perhaps we
are all mad.
Acknowledgments

We are all influenced by the efforts of others. In this regard, I am indebted

to the insights, writings, and conversations of many people. Glenn Atkinson
and Steven Paschall alerted me to the legal changes making possible the
emergence of the corporation. Anne Mayhew’s writings were particularly
helpful in understanding cumulative causation. Jan Knoedler alerted me
to Anne Mayhew’s work on continuous-mass production, after much of my
research had been completed. Other conversations, writings, and insights
came from Robert Scott, William Waller, John Henry, Charles Whalen, Tim
Wunder, Eric Hake, Randall Wray, Christopher Brown, Zdravka Todorova,
William Redmond, James Seidelman, Michael Popich, and Geoffrey Sch-
neider, among others. My thanks to you all. No doubt, there were others
who influenced me. My apologies for not acknowledging your contributions
as well. As usual, despite the help of others, all errors and omissions reside
with me.
1 The Origins and Paradoxes of
Consumer Capitalism

Continuous-mass production technology, widely adopted in the late nine-

teenth and early twentieth centuries, introduced what J. R. Commons and
John Maynard Keynes called “the era of abundance.” Continuous-mass
­production enabled businesses to vastly increase output, thereby r­ educing
per-unit costs, potentially increasing profitability. Thorstein Veblen was
among the first to observe the business response, noting that ­continuous-mass
production posed a problem: how to prevent production from exceeding
what the market could profitably absorb? How to prevent losses? How to in-
crease profits? Avoiding excessive production and increasing prices required
the adoption of the corporate form of business enterprise, merging corpora-
tions to control output, and adopting various institutional innovations, par-
ticularly the holding company. Merging corporations and controlling prices
further involved changing the concept of property itself and changing the
laws, freeing corporations to engage in activities beyond the scope of their
charter. Increasing sales and, hence, increasing demand required further
institutional changes: the establishment of retail outlets in different regions
of the country; systematic and rational advertising; financial innovations to
extend credit to consumers; and most importantly, a change in culture from
emphasizing the virtues of thrift to the pleasures of gratification.
Continuous-mass production introduced consumer capitalism, applying
the technology to consumer goods and creating the necessity of increasing
consumer demand to keep pace with increased production. Expanding both
the production and consumption of goods fuels the accumulation of capital,
creating a continuous feedback loop, a circular causation. Increased pro-
duction necessitates more consumption, which, in turn, necessitates more
production.
Continuous-mass production has accentuated a number of paradoxes:
the prospect of depression or, as Keynes put it, the “paradox of poverty in
the midst of plenty;” the rise of dynastic ambitions channeling the increased
output into militarism; financial innovations involving identifying and liq-
uefying consumers assets to provide consumers credit, expanding demand,
and laying the foundation for the financialization of the economy toward the
end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century.

DOI: 10.4324/9780429443763-1
2 The Origins and Paradoxes of Consumer Capitalism
Financialization culminated in the Great Financial Crisis (GFC), requiring
massive government intervention on behalf of financial institutions to avoid
an economic meltdown. The GFC gave rise to the Modern ­Monetary Theory
as a means of dealing with the GFC and, particularly, the ­Covid-19-induced
recession, overcoming the limits of the market economy. And the environ-
mental crisis resulting from the commodification of the natural world, ac-
centuated by applying continuous-mass production to the extraction and
burning of fossil fuels combined with a belief in infinite growth.
Consumer capitalism originated in the late nineteenth and early twenti-
eth centuries with the creation of a national market and the introduction of
continuous-mass production technology, initiating what Alfred Chandler
called “the second industrial revolution.”1 Chandler continues:

In the 1880s and 1890s new mass-production technologies—those of the

Second Industrial Revolution—brought a sharp reduction in costs as
plants reached minimum efficient scale. In many industries the through-
put of plants of that scale was so high that a small number of them could
meet the existing national and even global demand.
(Chandler and Hikino 1990, 26)

The economies of scale and scope associated with continuous-mass produc-

tion changed the nature of production itself.
Railroads and telegraph spanned the continent overcoming local mar-
kets, establishing the first national market. Farmers could send their wheat,
corn, and barley at reduced cost to markets back east, ranchers their cattle.
New England millers sent their lumber to the Midwest. Manufacturers sent
their goods from the cities on the east coast Westward. The railroads opened
the West to homesteading. To foster the settlement of the West, the govern-
ment forcibly removed the indigenous peoples from their traditional lands.
Advances in transportation and communication initiated a manner of eco-
nomic development described by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations. By
extending the market, the railroads expanded the division of labor, thereby
increasing productivity and output (see Smith [1776] 1937, Chapter 2).2
The creation of a national market proved propitious for businesses us-
ing continuous-mass production. The technology increased the speed with
which goods could be produced, providing a cost advantage. The advantage
enabled businesses to produce goods previously produced within the home.
Attracted by lower prices and easier access, consumers began purchasing
mass-produced goods instead of producing household goods. Electrifica-
tion brought new products in its wake—radios, electric lighting, washing
machines further attracting consumers. Henry Ford introduced the moving
assembly line, the classic example of continuous-mass production, greatly
reducing the price of automobiles. From 1909 to 1910, the price of a model
T was $950, with 18,664 cars produced. By 1916–1917, the price had fallen to
$360 with 785,432 cars produced (Ford and Crowther 1922, 145). Initially,
 The Origins and Paradoxes of Consumer Capitalism 3
the demand for autos exceeded supply. Ford and his associates looked to
speed up production. The moving assembly line enabled them to produce
over 1,200 automobiles per day (Chandler 1964, 12).

The industry’s output rose from 1.5 million cars in 1921 to 2.5 million
in 1922 and 4.3 million in 1923. But from 1923 until 1929 the market
leveled off, taking an average of a little under 4 million cars a year. As
had happened or would happen in so many American industries, the in-
itial demand for the new product had reached the level permitted by the
existing national income. Moreover, as has also usually been the case,
production potential exceeded demand. By the mid-1920s the country’s
automobile plants had a productive capacity of over 6 million vehicles.
(Chandler 1964, 13)

A national market combined with continuous-mass production ­technology

led to a sea-change in the institutions of late nineteenth- and early
­twentieth-centuries capitalism, changes that helped foster the subsequent
development of the US economy. First, the modern corporation emerged in
response to the need to manage railroads in the 1870s and 1880s. The cor-
porate form, with its hierarchical form of management, was soon adopted
by other businesses, allowing them to combine mass production with mass
distribution. Establishing retail outlets enabled corporations to distribute
goods in different geographical locations.3
Second, continuous-mass production technology led to cutthroat compe-
tition as businesses cut prices to gain market share. Increased production
exceeded what the market could profitably absorb, precipitating the depres-
sion of 1894 (see Veblen [1904] 1975). Ruinous competition created losses.
Unable to pay for the high fixed costs of machinery, many businesses went
into bankruptcy, leading to the merger movement of the 1890s and later in
the 1900s. The banks merged the businesses to control output using any
number of devices: outright purchase, lease, holding companies, and a rep-
resentation by a minority in the directorate (see Commission 1900, 310). In
many cases, the courts voided the mergers, claiming mergers exceeded the
conditions of the charter.4 Among efforts to restrict output, the most suc-
cessful was the holding company, an institutional device in which one firm
held the stock of other firms. While the Sherman Antitrust Act outlawed
monopolies, the holding company enabled banks to circumvent the Act by
purchasing stock in companies to gain control. In some cases, businesses
themselves emerged to dominate the industry. South Improvement Corpo-
ration, for example, which later become Standard Oil, used economies of
scale to undercut the prices of its competitors, forcing them into bankruptcy
(See Tarbell 1966).5
Third, changes in business practices spurred on by the merger movement
led to change in the definition of property. Holding companies holding the
stock of individual companies, in turn, issued their own stocks, attributing
4 The Origins and Paradoxes of Consumer Capitalism
their value to good will, the result of higher prices from restricting output.
In the past, businesses were valued based on the cost or replacement cost
of their assets. By the late nineteenth century, property came to mean the
discounted present value of an anticipated income stream. The change from
property conceived as a physical thing to present value, from use value to
exchange value, from corporeal to intangible property, laid the basis for fi-
nancing corporations and extending credit to consumers. Stock prices came
to reflect the present value of a firm’s future earnings.
Consumer credit enabled corporations to circumvent the limited income
of consumers, extending consumers credit based on the value of consumer
assets. Sales finance companies provided installment credit, using the goods
sold as collateral. The evolution of consumer capitalism reveals efforts to
identify consumer assets, liquefy those assets, and encourage consumers to
incur debt based on those assets.
The fourth strategy involved efforts to increase demand through adver-
tising. Advertising had existed for years. But under corporate influence, ad-
vertising agencies appeared, undertaking systematic efforts to increase sales
by establishing national brands, providing quality assurance to consumers,
and providing producers a measure of certainty regarding sales.

Cumulative Causation and Consumer Culture

The rise of consumer capitalism illustrates the idea of cumulative causa-
tion. Applied to the evolution of consumer capitalism, cumulative causation
refers to changes in technology creating new possibilities. Differences in
culture, institutions, and habits reveal to people what’s available. As Anne
Mayhew put it, “Active individuals inherit a set of ideas and symbols that are
used to understand a world of many options” (2001, 243). Continuous-mass
production created an outpouring of new consumer goods, expanding the
opportunities available. For business, new opportunities to profit required
both controlling output and increasing sales. For consumers, more output
and new products offered the opportunity to consume at a higher standard
of living.
The predisposition toward increasing consumption, however, had already
been laid earlier. In the eighteenth century, rising wealth made consumer
purchases possible. “Encouraged by new methods of marketing and sus-
tained by an expansion in the purchasing power of households, consumers
launched a buying spree of historic dimensions, purchasing unprecedented
quantities of household furnishings, clothes, and personal accessories”
(Kwass 2003, 87).6 Despite the buying spree, it would be a mistake to inter-
pret the eighteenth century as representing the full emergence of a consumer
society:

But to claim that the eighteenth century saw the birth of a consumer
society or that many aspects of that society were imbued with a new
 The Origins and Paradoxes of Consumer Capitalism 5
commercial attitude should not be misinterpreted as a belief that by
1800 England had achieved all the features of modern consumer society.
Nor should it be assumed that the birth occurred without a long period
of gestation.
(McKendrick, Brewer, and Plumb 1985, 13)

Many consumer goods continued to be produced in the home, particularly

in rural areas. Self-sufficiency among families varied depending on the
region of the country and the dependency on the market. In urban areas,
households were more integrated in the market economy. “Rural families
usually produced their own food, clothing, and tools, while urban families
bought them at the market” (Tilly and Scott 1978, 22). In colonial America,
families in the south raised cash crops, and in the North and on the frontier
families, by necessity, were self-sufficient (Matthaei 1982). In 1750, about
65% of English were involved in agriculture; in France, it was about 75%
(Tilly and Scott 1978, 12); in the United States in 1790, it was 90%. Many
households had one foot in the market and the other foot in the traditional
economy of home production. “In general, husbands took up commodity
production, while wives centered on self-sufficient production, given that
the former was production of wealth, oriented toward the market, while the
latter was production to directly fill the needs of the family” (Matthaei 1982,
31). Household production reduced the need to spend money on goods that
a woman could produce. “Her work could include the home production of
goods, clothing, candles, soap, household furnishings, and drink” (Mat-
thaei 1982, 31).
The decline in home production both in the US and in England largely
stemmed from technological changes.

Industrialization involved the movement of labor and resources away

from primary production (agriculture, fishing, forestry) toward man-
ufacturing and commercial and service activities. The scale of pro-
duction increased and the factory replaced the household as the center
of productive activity. In the terms we have been using, the industrial
mode of production replaced the domestic mode of production.
(Tilly and Scott 1978, 63).

Food represented the single largest expense in the first half of the nineteenth
century. Changes in living costs often change behavior. The increased scar-
city of firewood made home cooking more expensive, while advances in
transportation reduced the costs of basic foods. Changes in the cost of pre-
paring household items led to the decline in household production.

In the new urban environment, traditional rural skills, of which domestic

baking and brewing were economically the most important, gradually
decayed and ultimately disappeared over wide areas of the country. …
6 The Origins and Paradoxes of Consumer Capitalism
This was, no doubt, an inevitable consequence of industrialization and
the division of labour. Baking and brewing were long, tedious opera-
tions, the materials sometimes hard to come by in small quantities and
the results often uncertain.
(Burnett 1968, 3).

Continuous-mass production technology allowed an outpouring of con-

sumer goods: matches, cigarettes, soap, canned goods, photography and
so on directed at the mass market. Henry Ford applied the principle of
­continuous-mass production technology to automobiles, greatly reducing
the price of the Model T. Initially, the market absorbed the increased out-
put. Enabling automakers to increase production for a ready market. By the
mid-1920s, however, Ford and General Motors made plans to increase sales.
It became apparent that producing automobiles for the mass market made
consumer credit necessary.
The evolution of consumer capitalism reveals corporate efforts to increase
consumer spending. Corporations engage not only in product innovation,
but innovations in advertising and finance to increase consumer demand.
In advertising, the purpose was to influence consumer tastes and selectively
provide information. In finance, innovation assumed the form of discover-
ing and liquefying consumer assets to circumvent limited income. Credit
cards appeared in the early twentieth century, and the universal credit card
was not introduced until the 1960s. The purpose, of course, is to increase
consumer spending to increase profits. By the late twentieth century, con-
sumer debt became a major contributor to economic insecurity motivating
people to work longer and harder.
The book takes a cultural approach, synthesizing Thorstein Veblen’s con-
cept of pecuniary emulation with John Maynard Keynes theory of effec-
tive demand. Keynes did not include Veblen among the so-called heretics
who anticipated the principle of effective demand. Nevertheless, their views
are more compatible than generally considered.7 Veblen’s evolutionary, cul-
tural approach complements Keynes’ short-run approach to understand
the cause of depression. Veblen provided a cultural theory of consumption,
again complementing Keynes. For Veblen, consumers are motivated by sta-
tus. This, in turn, led Veblen to emphasize the role of pecuniary emulation,
copying the money habits of others. Pecuniary emulation leads to competi-
tive spending, increasing the demand for new products, which in turn raises
the standard of living.
Keynes asserted that effective demand determines the level of employ-
ment in the short run. Keynes, however, emphasized the instability of invest-
ment as the source of instability of the economy. Keynes and Veblen’s ideas,
however, tend to parallel each other. Both emphasized the instability of cap-
italism; both asserted that preferences are culturally determined, although
more so by Veblen. Both agree that the value of corporate assets stems from
the present value of the discounted future income stream. Where Keynes
 The Origins and Paradoxes of Consumer Capitalism 7
failed to develop a theory of finance, Veblen anticipated Hyman Minsky in
emphasizing the difficulty of repaying debts in precipitating crises.
Veblen’s view of consumption provides a more comprehensive interpreta-
tion of the rise and evolution of consumer capitalism. Further, combining
the theories provides an understanding of the paradoxes that confront con-
sumer capitalism. Keynes’ and Veblen’s ideas help explain the unique char-
acteristic of capitalism generally, the growth imperative. Capitalism must
grow. Consumer capitalism is the latest version of the growth imperative.

The Story as an Informal Test

Explaining economics involves telling stories, a mapping of sorts between
theory and the real world. Constructing theories begin with forming a vision,
a “preanalytic cognitive act” that “embodies the picture of things as we see
them” (Schumpeter 1954, 43). Theories are comprised of models having similar
assumptions, generating coherent conclusions. The formal tests of a model are
well known: deductions consistent with the assumptions and the ability to gen-
erate potentially falsifiable hypotheses. Realistic assumptions are less impor-
tant. In fact, Milton Friedman posited the irrelevance of relevant assumptions.

A hypothesis is important if it “explains” much by little, that is, if it ab-

stracts the common and crucial elements from the mass of complex and
detailed circumstances surrounding the phenomena to be explained and
permits valid predictions on the basis of them alone. To be important,
therefore a hypothesis must be descriptively false in its assumptions.
(1953, 14)

Friedman’s position serves to shield mainstream economics from critics

since the lack of realism is irrelevant. Nevertheless, the lack of realism
means that mainstream economics often fails the informal test of a model,
failures revealed by the GFC and the Covid-19-induced recession.
To reiterate, informal tests assume the form of a story, a mapping be-
tween theory and experience. Does the model make sense? Does it cohere
with experience? Telling a story involves treating models as metaphors. A
metaphor juxtaposes two unrelated things to say that the qualities of one
resemble those of another. We use the better known to understand the less
well known. Examples abound. In the sixteenth century, philosophers com-
pared the cosmos to a clock and God to the clock maker. More recently,
Richard Dawkins refers to nature as the blind watchmaker, underscoring
the randomness of natural selection. A student refers to a certain profes-
sor he dislikes by part of the human anatomy. The same professor uses the
supply and demand for labor concluding that minimum-wage laws cause
unemployment. Never mind that labor markets never clear; never mind that
labor is not homogenous; never mind that the model depicts a point-in-time
analysis, not a process over time.
8 The Origins and Paradoxes of Consumer Capitalism
Metaphors shape our stories. As metaphors, economic models are
“­pictures” of the economic process. Models isolate those variables and rela-
tionships considered important. Models help clarify thoughts by eliminating
“extraneous and irrelevant” influences. Marshaling the “facts” to adhere to
the model makes the underlying story an “informal test.” A successful story
offers a reasonably coherent explanation of events, confirming our beliefs
and justifying our actions. Often those “extraneous and irrelevant” influ-
ences prove important.
Ignoring those influences, however, can blind theorists, resulting in
misleading stories. Stories mislead when people mistake the metaphor for
reality, committing what Alfred North Whitehead called the fallacy of mis-
placed concreteness ([1925] 1967, 51). Mistaking the metaphor for reality
leads people to deny or filter potentially important information. Metaphors
are imperfect representations leading to imperfect stories, often prompting
the search for a more appropriate metaphor.8
Ignoring those “extraneous and irrelevant” influences reveal themselves in
both the classical and mainstream view of consumer behavior. The mainstream
assumes that individuals maximize utility. The consumer is sovereign, imply-
ing that consumers determine what, how, and for whom goods are produced.
Preferences are taken as given, ruling out the influences of culture, advertisers,
family and friends. Financers merely provide purchasing power, allowing in-
dividuals to rationally trade off future consumption for present consumption.
Advertisers merely provide information to consumers, informing them which
commodities will best maximize their satisfaction. This concept of rational
economic man, of course, had its origins in classical economics.

Classical View of Consumption

The vision with which theorists begin tend to mirror the social and eco-
nomic relations of their times. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries, the classical economists—Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and John
Stuart Mill, among others—envisioned society as comprised of capitalists,
landowners, and workers. Despite positing that “labour was the original
purchase price paid for all things,” the classical economists attributed in-
come to the ownership of property, to the ownership of land, labor, and
capital. Rents are the remuneration for owning land; wages for labor; and
profits are the residual remaining after paying rents and wages.
The classical economists focused on economic growth, reflected in the
title of Adam Smith’s book, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the
Wealth of Nations. Smith envisioned the economy working according to an
invisible hand. Each individual pursuing his or her self-interest unintention-
ally promotes the interest of all.

By preferring the support of domestic industry to that of foreign indus-

try, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in
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moment’s notice. Sad accounts are daily coming in of the people
about here; every person who ventures out is robbed and beaten:
several people are waiting here for an escort. I cannot so much
blame the Shilhahs and Súsís;[87] they have been sadly oppressed
by the Sultán’s army; and now it is gone, they are repaying
themselves. They acknowledge no law but that of force, and exhibit
but little trace of any religion: their tribes extend, with intervals, to the
Gambia. This has been a dies non.
Sunday, Apr. 3.—Therm. 72°.—A large wolf stole up to the battery
during the night, which roused us all. To-day the wind feels cold, and
there is such a heavy fog that we cannot see the sea; the sun rarely
broke through. There is, at least, a difference of 40°. between the
temperature of to-day and yesterday out of doors, and of 8 to 10
within. Felt not all well, and kept all day to my carpet: beginning to
get tired of Agadír. An arrival from Teródánt, but it brought no news.
Monday, Apr. 4.—Therm. 65°. Very cold, and a mist equal to rain.
All hard at work in making leather bottles, &c., for the water.
Received a large present of fish. A large Káfilah[88] passed this
morning for Teródánt. Did not leave the battery all day.
Tuesday, Apr. 5.—Therm. 72°. The mist continues heavy, and
quite darkening the air. Not very well; kept within the battery. Alas! all
our bread is gone, and these people eat none; and as it is the feast
of unleavened bread, the Jews cannot make any for me, a
deprivation which I feel not a little. The man was seized again by the
devil. Heard the history of the enchanted castle, and the black
woman, who lives at three days’ ride from this place. Heard likewise
of the Jews, and of the tombs. I must see them on my way to Wád
Nún.
Wednesday, Apr. 6.—Therm. 72°. Heavy mist, with rain in the
N.W. A dies non.
Thursday, Apr. 7.—Therm. 76°. Beginning to look out for news:
my man returned from the mines; the specimens he brought were
very bad; he found great difficulty in getting any at all. There was a
market to-day, where I bought nothing but a few carrots. Quite tired
of Agadír. Hope two or three days will decide whether I can go on or
not.
Friday, April 8.—Therm. 60°. Very cold. My fingers were so
chilled, that I could not dress myself. At noon a courier arrived; all is
right; wrote my letters, and after detaining the man an hour,
dispatched him again to Mogadór, to say that we should be ready to
start at an hour’s notice. The feast of the Passover finishes to-day: it
has been very cold, with a strong breeze from the N.E.
Saturday, April 9.—Therm. 70°. Day beautiful; but a stiff gale from
the E. This is the clearest day we have yet had here. The mountains
can be seen distinctly: hard at work in arranging bags, &c.
Sunday, April 10.—Therm. 74°. Weather beautiful. Read the
service. A large káfilah is now passing from Sús; the mountains very
visible; in the afternoon there was a repetition of the easterly wind,
accompanied with the dust, which was very distressing.
Monday, April 11.—Therm. 68°. Wind strong from the E.
Disappointed again, as Hájí Majíibí[89] will not start for some days.
Our horses are to leave Mogadór to-morrow, in order that they may
be fresh for the start (‘Inshállah’) on Saturday next.
Tuesday, April 12.—Therm. 68°. The wind has got more to the N.
with weather very clear. This delay makes me very fidgetty: besides,
I am so well known here, that various reports have been circulated
about me, which rather annoy me. In the evening, thermometer fell
to 56°, when it became very cold. The horses and mules are to leave
Mogadór to-day.
Wednesday, April 13.—Therm. 60°. A dies non. Felt very poorly:
had a touch of the lumbago. Weather variable. Thirst excessive.
Thursday, April 14.—Therm. 70°. Looking out for the arrival of the
horses, as Hájí Majíibí is to start to-day. The people here are rather
too inquisitive, and I am getting rather alarmed. Evening came, but
brought no tidings of my horses, nor has a courier arrived. I am very
uneasy, and all the people here full of conjectures. The Hájí is
thinking only of himself. If he would only consider for one moment
what an object of suspicion I am, while I remain here, he would hurry
on; but no, it is all self in this country. I cannot bite, and therefore I
had better not shew my teeth. Wind got round to the E. The
thermometer fell 11°., when it became very cold. Went to my carpet
rather sulky.
Friday, April 15.—Therm. 70°. This is the first day of the
Mohammedan year 1252. The horses, &c. have arrived. I made my
present to the Sheïkh; got the Sultán’s letter, and one for Sheïkh
Mobarik. A report has reached Mógador, that a party is waiting for
me, who have determined to murder me. The governor here is very
desirous not to let me go. I question, however, if there are any real
grounds for these fears. At half-past seven there came on one of the
severest gales of wind I ever experienced; it threatened the very
fortress: a heavy sea, with lightning in the S.E. The gale from the
N.W. continued to blow hard till half-past nine. This change of
weather may go much against me. I find that I am an object of great
suspicion. A party have sent to ask me to prescribe for a man who
has been bewitched, and is now in a decline. I promised to see him
on Monday, although he lives twenty miles off. This may, however,
do me some good. The people of his tribe offered to bring him here,
but I pointed out the danger of removing him, and hope to gain their
good-will by going so far to visit a Muselmán. Tired, but not sleepy:
no appetite, and out of spirits.
Saturday, April 16.—Therm. 72°. Day beautiful; the gale passed
off without doing any damage. There was one about six weeks ago,
which threatened destruction to the whole place. Despite all I said
about the sick man, they have brought him to-day to Fontí. I had
promised to go down and see him, when the sun was a little lower; I
was scarcely half way down the rock, when I met him on the road; he
was attended by eight of his people, who took it by turns to hold him
on his horse, a splendid animal; the poor Sheïkh, Hájí Ibráhím, was
seriously ill. As he was so far up, I ordered him to the governor’s,
and told his attendants to lay him down, and let him obtain some
rest, previous to my examination of him. I found him in a sad state,
nearly dying to all appearance; he had been frightened, as they call
it, by some spirit, whom, as usual, they had burned out: he had been
fired all over his stomach, which had now lost all its powers. I gave
him a saline draught with tartar acid in effervescence, and made him
a good basin of arrow-root. He no sooner tasted it, than he put the
bowl to his mouth, and nearly emptied it, telling the crowd, that had
now collected to see the holy man, that he had got at last what his
stomach was craving for. I promised to make him a breakfast on the
morrow, and to give him some medicines. By my treatment of him, I
got no little credit; for which I can obtain some help from him in
return. Am heartily sick of this place; although it has lost all its
commerce, it has still a considerable revenue; it may be considered
a frontier town, and is capable of being well defended; it receives
one ducat a-head for all slaves that pass through it, two ounces for
each camel, half a peseta for each mule, and two blanquillas for
each donkey; and as it is in the great road to Sús and Súdán, these
imposts produce a large income.
Sunday, April 17.—Therm. 74°. Had hardly returned from my
patient, when Hájí Majíibí arrived. I repaired immediately to the
governor. All is now arranged for my departure to-morrow, at break
of day: hard at work in packing up. Wrote my letters: dispatched
Cohen and his boy: received a blessing in the synagogue yesterday,
which cost four dollars. I have to part with most of my things, as I
shall be allowed only two mules; the sharks are therefore looking out
for what they can get. I am quite sick at heart at these Moors: poor
ignorant creatures. I have just this moment learned that there is a
town E. of Teródánt, called Tazelt, where there is a Christian church,
in perfect preservation, well finished and painted, but shut up: it is
held in some veneration by the natives, who can only look into it
through the windows. There are also Christian villages in the
neighbourhood of the church. Went down to Fontí; every thing works
well; I am to start as a soldier, accompanying some mules: took
leave of my patient, who is to go with me; but not a soul has an idea
of this. Cohen is very anxious to go on. I have, at his own request,
given him a letter to Lord Glenelg: have packed up every thing: am in
a great bustle. I fear, however, there will be some detention to-
morrow. I suspect the courier has been stopped, as no escort was
visible at sun-set. Laid down to rest, but with no chance of sleeping,
as I am to be up at the earliest dawn, to start, if possible, to-morrow.
 Monday, April 18.—Therm. 70°. Up at four A.M., but did not get
away till seven. I was accompanied as far as the river by the
governor, and four soldiers, Hájí Ibráhím, and our own party; in all
sixteen souls. At half-past eight we came to the boundary of the
district, where a prayer was offered up for the Sultán; after which, the
governor and his party returned. In defiance of all I said about Hájí
Ibráhím’s state of health, he would go on, or rather his tribe
compelled him, to his own house, distant a ride of four hours. Here
we stopped, and had kuskusú and barley-cakes with butter, and
some leben (sour milk). Ibráhím was, indeed, in a sad state of
health.[90] I gave him the medicines I thought best. The perfect
indifference shewn by Hájí Majíbí towards a fellow-creature quite
disgusted me. Had my horse shod, and proceeded S. to Stúka,
attended by a strange semi-devil from the Hájí (Ibráhím), who told
me that I need be under no alarm, as he could bring one hundred
horse into the field, and had promised to protect me. Crossed the
Sús river, which is here a considerable stream, although twenty
miles from the sea. We arrived at a little before six P.M., at the house
of Sheïkh Hamed, who is a fine young man: he and the people of his
town were all out at prayers. The country is fine, with large
plantations of figs and almonds. During the time that our food was
preparing, I was amused with some good ball-firing, the party
standing on one leg or lying down: they are a merry people. We
commenced with bread and butter and honey; then came kuskusú;
then tea till midnight. Abú here received from one of his countrymen
some account of his friends. The pocket-handkerchief is used for the
towel generally, and the corner of the mat lifted up for wiping the
nose: the belching is quite beastly. Passed but a bad night.
Tuesday, April 19.—Therm. 72°. Up at four A.M. and got off at six.
Just before starting, I had the place half-full of patients. I had been
bored to death the night before with questions. One man was
brought to me with a ball in his foot; and by way of assisting me to
cure him, the gun was brought from which the ball had been
discharged. Accompanied by the brother of the Sheïkh and four of
his people, and Hájí Ibráhím’s semi-devil, we reached the Mésah, a
finer river here than at Sús. Its course was S.S.W. We rode along its
banks through a fine and populous district, called Assa, and crossed
it at the great Sók (Tlátah.) Here we met the Sheïkh of ’Akúlí, with
twenty horsemen. Our party stopped; it was a trying moment for me:
the two parties held a council, and after some ten minutes, the
muhabbah-bik[91] (welcome) was pronounced. Here Hájí Ibráhím’s
semi-devil was sent back, and one of the other party took his place,
and conducted us to the house of Sheïkh ’Alí at Tamasert, in the
populous district of ’Akúlí, from which the sea is distant about a half
mile. The people here are said to be very bad characters, and their
looks confirm the tale. We had tea and kuskusú. The Sheïkh was ill,
and I was required to cure him, and a dozen others; but I pretended
to be unwell, and with this view I went without food, for the second
day. Some of Abú’s countrymen came to play and sing to him; and
thus kept me awake till midnight: afterwards the vermin, which were
a worse plague than last night, prevented me from sleeping.
Wednesday, April 20.—Therm. 70°. Heavy rain. Up at five A.M.
After eating and drinking, the people took me out to find a spring;
they had water enough, and so I pretended to point out the spot
where they are to dig. We got off at nine, accompanied by Sheïkh
’Alí. Owing to the rain, we travelled very slowly. I fear that I have had
to pay dear for passing this place. We arrived at the residence of a
great saint. This humbug has the power of taking me any where
through Sús. I bought him for dollars. At this point the Sheïkh
left us to return home. The country is completely cultivated: it is
backed by four regular rows of limestone-hills, which serve as a kind
of embankment against the desert. They are now cutting the corn,
which produces more than one hundred fold, most of the seeds
throwing out four stems, and some five. I am not over-pleased with
my conductor, Hájí Majíbí, who, I see plainly, is making a job out of
my journey. We passed the tomb of a great saint, El Ab, where all
the party, but the Káfri (myself) offered up their prayers. We then
entered a pass, which required some hard climbing. My horse
became so lame, that I was compelled to walk the rest of the
journey, a distance of three hours; when we reached the residence
of another great saint. Here they have to prepare a room for myself,
as I cannot be permitted to enter his apartment. My grumbling to-day
has been of service. I have some Tumbucktú quilts laid over my
carpet to serve for a bed. Received some barley-cakes and honey,
but could not eat them; afterwards butter and honey, and leben (sour
milk); but it will not do: a biscuit is the only food I have taken this day,
although I have fasted for three. The Moors, and Hájí Majíbí
amongst them, who had taken some refuse kuskusú from some
labourers on the road, were eating and drinking till midnight. Not
being allowed to enter the room of the saint, I was put into the
garden, until one was prepared. This is the district of Eit Bamáram.
The water is here both bad and scarce.
Thursday, April 21.—Therm. 74°. Weather muggy, with much rain.
I had been promised that I should reach Wád Nún to-day; but after
travelling two hours, having waited till past nine for the Moors to eat
three times, we met a courier from Wád Nún, and we were then
taken out of our road to a house, where we are to stop all day. This, I
am convinced, is owing to Hájí Majíbí not having sent word in proper
time. I am most grievously disappointed, but must bear it as well as I
can; the day hangs very heavy on my hands. A lot of these beasts
came as usual for physic; called me káfrí, and all the rest of it, but
could get nothing to eat. I would not advise any other traveller to
come through Sús: they ask for every thing, but will neither give, nor
even shew any thing. They affect much on the score of religion;
never going in or out, sitting up or standing, without the Bismillah. At
eight P.M. got four eggs, and had some biscuit. I received a message
from the Sheïkh, stating that we are to arrive to-morrow. This place is
Tisseret, famed for its copper mines.
Friday, April 22.—Up at four, A.M., or rather up all night. Vermin in
myriads. Hurried away; and after one hour’s march, stopped for two
more to eat. At length we reached Ifran Ochran, the last town in Eit
Bamáram. Passed the range of mountains in Lower Sús, and
entered Wád Nún. During the route, saw people reaping corn, with
arms by their side. Wád Nún is a large town, with several small
clusters of buildings: it derives its name[92] from a Portuguese
Queen, Núnah. Hence Wád Nún is the valley of Núnah: the place is
distant from the sea a journey of five or six hours. Our first halt was
on the banks of a magnificent stream of water. When we came to the
spring (Agusa), we washed and drank, while the people prayed. A
fine line of hills protects it from the Sahra. We found here the Sheïkh
waiting for us, who took us at once into his house: at half-past five he
gave us a good dinner, which set me all right. I am much pleased
with him. After tea, all the great folks of the place came to see me:
as soon as he had read the Sultán’s letter, he sent for Hájí Majíbí:
when he came back at nine, he said he wanted three double-
barrelled guns, silver-mounted, and the barrels damascened in gold,
together with an air-gun; to which I am to add my brace of pistols. I
talked over all the wonders of England, and then wrote to Mr.
Willshire to tell him what I had done. The Sheïkh assures me, he will
send me without the least danger. I like him much: he has a large
and fine family. I have brought him a handsome present, and I fear
he expects that I shall return this way back: but this is not in the
bond. Abú is very helpless. Here one begins to see slavery again:
the house swarms with slaves, who form a large item of property.
This Berúk is a person of great wealth: he possesses forty thousand
head of cattle, and has never less than one thousand camels,
working between here and Súdán. His eldest son is a fine young
man. Went to bed at midnight, quite done up.
Saturday, April 23.—Therm. 76°. Symptoms of heat. Had my sour
milk, and then unpacked my things. The Sheïkh highly amused with
the pillow, and the little globe firing the guns: he was smoking and
laughing alternately. All goes on well. I was kept up to write my
letters, and they are not yet sent off: these people are so very
dilatory, where they are not immediately interested. Patients are
beginning to come in. The fellows, who were so free on the road,
have come a little to their senses. Lots of patients, and amongst
them a man, who had been wounded sadly. Had the whole of the
Sheïkh’s family with me: gave each of his little children a bracelet. In
the afternoon walked about and round the town: went to the Abú
Sebah’s tents; from thence to the garden, where I saw a fine crop of
apples: saw likewise several heïries, both of dromedaries and
horses. As the Sheïkh’s cattle were coming in, I perceived that what
looked like a river, was a very small stream of water: it is the Assaka.
The view from the heights is rather pretty over fields of tobacco and
plantations of date-trees; here and there a garden, and many fine
wells: saw a part of my companions, who are to be fasting to-day,
but we hope we shall have some supper, although I am sick at the
sight of my sable attendants, who have the itch very bad. I shall have
to remain here at least three weeks, although I should be glad to
shorten the time.
Sunday, April 24.—Therm. 76°. I was kept up till midnight grinding
a small barrel-organ; and fainting with hunger, I took at last to the
kuskusú, and got some sleep. This morning my patients have
increased, so that I am obliged to say “hold.” Here the people are
really ill; but so stupid or stubborn, that it is impossible to do them
any good. Gorged to their throats, they sleep half their time away,
and then wonder they are ill. The houses here are better than any in
Marocco, and look like casts[93] in plaster, being built piece by piece
in moulds. These people have no idea of taking a draught, and they
sip the most nauseous medicines. As soon as all are asleep, I take
the opportunity of writing up the journal, and reading the prayers.
This is Sók-day, and no little bustle. I do not feel very well, the heat is
so excessive. We had a capital supper of meat, mixed with grapes
and butter; a strange mixture, but a good dish. A man, who has got a
gold mine here, has come to ask me about it. Great doings may be
expected here to-morrow, as I have given to twenty persons strong
doses of medicine. But they are such fools.
Monday, April 25.—Therm. 70°. Very close; heavy dew through
the night, during which I was called up twice to visit patients, some of
whom are very ill; but I am expected to cure them by merely looking
at them; a most disheartening business. Up early and went to the
garden; returned home, and visited patients. All my cigars are gone,
and I am now manufacturing a pipe. Have the prospect of being here
a month; but I must bear it all, as I am quite in the power of these
people. Walked round the town, which is a large one: went to the
millah; looked about for springs. Am sadly bored. They will not give
me a moment’s rest.
Tuesday, April 26.—Therm. 76°. Very hot, and towards mid-day
the sun was oppressive beyond description. Had a strange request
from Hájí Majíbí, whom I hate: he had the impudence to ask me for
one of my gold watches, although he knows they are worth here five
hundred dollars. I shall put him in the hands of Mr. Willshire, to whom
I shall write strongly on the whole subject. The Sheïkh had a
conversation with Abú and myself this evening, and promised us
every thing we could desire; he assured me that he both could and
would protect us. I felt quite satisfied with this: but later in the
evening, that scoundrel, Majíbí, came and started difficulties; that
there was danger here, and much to be arranged there: he was not
aware of the conversation I had had with the Sheïkh. I was sadly
annoyed, and determined to give him a set-down in the morning.
 t
Drawn by J. G. Wilkinson Esqre. from a Sketch taken Drawn on Stone & Printed by P. Gauci, 9, North Cres .
by the late John Davidson. Bedford Sqre.

Style of Buildings of Wadnoon.

(Large-size)

Wednesday, April 27.—Therm. 70°. Made Abú write, for he cannot

talk, to this Majíbí, to ask if he meant to say that his party did not
wish me to go on: if so, that I would return, as I cared little upon the
subject, and had a ship waiting for me. He was taken somewhat
aback at this, and admitted that the observations came from himself,
and not from the Sheïkh. I shall write to Mr. Willshire, and give him
my candid opinion of this scoundrel, whose object is to induce me to
give him a bribe for his assistance. I will see him d———d first. Went
out to see my patients, when I was stopped by a marabout, who
humbugged me out of a dollar. ’Tis well to keep on good terms with
these impostors, who possess considerable influence. This journey
will ruin me, and I fear I shall break down. No person can be more
kind than the Sheïkh has been; and but for this blackguard I should
do very well. I must, however, put up with him, and patiently wait to
see how matters will turn out. The people here are a fine race; they
wear their hair generally curled, and are not at all dark; they are tall
in figure, ride upon spare horses without a bit, and with only a mere
rope put round the nose and neck of the animal; they have fine eyes
and beautiful teeth. The majority of those in better circumstances
have one or more of the desert-horses, which are fed entirely on
camel’s milk, and this only every fourth or fifth day. It is very strange
that they know nothing of the Jebel Khal, the black mountain; Sók
Assa is distant only one day’s journey; Tatta four; Akka five; Tódeny
twenty; from this to Arowán is another twenty; and thence to
Tumbuktú seven. There is another route to Tumbuktú. From hence
to Woden or Weddán, the name better known, twenty days; then to
Tishít ten; and to Tumbuktú ten more. Caravans frequently go to
Jennah from Tishít; from thence to Gwalátah, they say often; thence
to Drah in ten days; to Táfilelt in fifteen, &c. Some of my patients are
improving; others giving up medicines altogether. There is a
Muselmán-fast to-day, which is slept away. The weather has become
very cold. The thermometer has fallen 12°.
Thursday, April 28.—Therm. 68°. Some rain has fallen in the
night. I was called up to give the Sheïkh his medicines. It is perfectly
useless doing any thing for people who take five meals a-day, and
pass the rest of their time in sleep; with no exercise and no
employment, but sitting outside their doors or inside their walls, to
see on whom they can pounce. It is really sad to look upon the two
sides of the picture, which this place presents; the one, the
possessors of the soil, the daring, hardy, and commanding
inhabitants reduced to the level of the brute by his indulgence in food
and sleep, with the past forgotten, the future uncertain: the other
subject to slavery in its most abject form. A large káfilah is expected
from Mogadór to-day or to-morrow, and one from Súdán in a few
days. These will enliven us; but I hardly dare venture out. The
Christian is still upon me. The population may amount to two or three
hundred families, together with twelve Jewish, who are the working
classes, and manufacture good guns and daggers, ornaments in
silver, brass, &c. They are also the tailors and shoemakers, and do
the iron-work. The Muselmáns are the intermediate merchants, or
cultivators or breeders of cattle, which are very fine. There are some
Talebs here, and one has written for me a few prayers most
beautifully. Four káfilahs leave this place annually, consisting each of
slaves varying from three hundred to one thousand. At that time a
large encampment is formed outside of the town, where they collect
and prepare for the journey. I have been used most rascally by
Majíbí: I wish I dared kick him. Went out again to look for water: had
a conversation to-day about Christians, whom these people conceive
to have no idea of any religion. I tried, but in vain, to explain the
matter to them. I have evidently some foes here, because I will not
submit to be plucked unmercifully. I should be left without a penny or
a rag, were I to give all, or even half of what they endeavour to extort
from me. I am fairly tired out. The weather feels very cold. The
thermometer is down to 60°. We have had some rain to-day. I am
anxious to get out; but fear I am in for at least another month, and
must bear it.
Friday, April 29.—Therm. 58°. The wind is still east, and all are
suffering from the cold: I feel the effect of it, being but thinly clad. It
tells pretty sharply to a man with bare arms, legs, and feet. It is a sad
state of existence, where no one cares for his fellow, and throws off
a person the moment he ceases to be useful. As soon as they have
got what they want, they care not what becomes of you. I hope this
is not the case with the Sheïkh, who is certainly a very superior
person; but I find I shall have great difficulty in managing my affairs
here. Abú is not competent for this. To-day we are to have a private
conference with the Sheïkh, as soon as all the persons are gone to
the mosque, which is here a mere circle of large stones. The kiblah
is not quite due east, but rather to the south of it. I wish the Sheïkh
was quite well: but it is impossible to do him, or any of these people
here any good, with their five or six meals a-day, and without
exercise of body or mind, except a constant craving after sensual
enjoyments and for gold, gold, which is always uppermost in their
thoughts. The subject of Beïrúk’s[94] communication was to have an
English consul resident at his port,[95] and to open a trade direct with
England; that for this purpose he would send one of his sons to
London to manage his affairs; that by these means the route to
Súdán would be opened at once; the whole distance be performed in
forty or forty-four days, and a large trade be carried on; that a courier
would perform the journey to Súdán in fifteen or twenty days,
according to the heat—more wonderful for the man than the beast;
that England would receive in exchange gum, almonds, wool, hides,
ostrich feathers, ivory, and all the produce of Súdán, which would
find its way to Wád Nún rather than by a lengthened journey to
Marocco. I wrote to Lord Glenelg on the subject.
Saturday, April 30.—Therm. 60°. Wind still east. The Sheïkh now
thinks it will be impossible for me to cross the desert for the next four
months, owing to the great heat. The last caravan-kafilah left only a
fortnight before I arrived, and none go during the summer. I told him
that I ought to be sent on to overtake it. This he promised to do, if I
wished it; but he warned me of the danger of all the party perishing
from the want of water, as all the springs are then dried up, and the
camels cannot carry heavy loads during the hot months. I have
written to Mr. Willshire, and a courier has been dispatched to
Tumbuktú to say that a Christian is coming, accompanied by the
cousin of the King, Hámed Libbú. Hájí Majíbí now finds that I am too
canine for him to be in the same apartment, and thank Heaven he
has removed. I have the utmost contempt for this beast. The
population of this place rather exceeds six hundred, with great
capabilities for increase. The Sheïkh has about four hundred horse
that he could bring into the field. Went to the Millah, where I saw a
very beautiful woman anxious to get away. Her husband is one of the
principal workmen here. Provisions are cheaper than in any other
place. A good bullock may be purchased for 20s. to 30s.; heifers,
15s.; a sheep, 2s. to 4s.; fowls vary: I paid ½d. each; bread, ¼d. per
lb.; wheat, 5 to 6 pesetas; barley, 3 to 4 do. A camel varies in price
from 20 to 30 dollars; a slave from 20 to 100. All accounts are kept in
mitcalls.
Sunday, May 1.—Therm. 50°. The people are half killed with the
cold. Read the prayers. Received newspapers from England through
Mr. Willshire, and walked round the garden. The cold was so intense
this evening, that I was compelled to put on two cloaks. The Sheïkh
is still harping upon his favourite project, and complaining that all his
profits go into the hands of the Sultán of Marocco by the trade
through Mogadór.
 Monday, May 2.—Therm. 60°. Symptoms of the weather
becoming warmer. This will be a great comfort to me: bare feet and
arms feel the cold too severely. Fasted all yesterday; hope to get
something to eat to-day, as there is a savoury smell of kabábs. It is
wonderful to witness the fear the children have of a Christian. The
itch has broken out with violence amongst the people: I suppose I
shall have my turn. There is one comfort in the cold; it drives away
all the vermin, to which the people here are quite indifferent, as their
skin is so thick, that neither lice or fleas can penetrate it. The káfilah
from Súdán is expected in twenty days. The cold felt here is not
unusual at this time of the year, as our winter is their hottest season.
Am extremely anxious to hear from Mogadór.
Wednesday, May 4.—Therm. 60°. Weather warmer; but I still feel
the cold: went only to the gardens. A part of the káfilah is just
arrived; it made its journey in haste: it brings accounts of a war
between the Fellátahs and Bambári. This will make it rather awkward
for me, should hostilities continue, although I do not pass in the
immediate vicinity of the people of Bambári.
Thursday, May 5.—Therm. 60°. Suffering from a severe cold to-
day, did not go out.
Friday, May 6.—Therm. 68°. It got very warm towards noon. I
have now been a fortnight here, and with every prospect of being
detained a month longer. I am bored to death by the people, of
whom the more I see the worse I like them. Had a visit from Sheïkh
’Ali, and a part of his tribe: I was obliged to be civil, lest I should have
to return to Suweïrah; as in that case he would protect me. Health
but indifferent, as I can get no peace or quiet from the importunities
of the people here. Three persons have just come sixty miles to ask
me to tell them where the silver is to be found, that they know is in
great plenty about Tamenart. The old mines are not worked; but the
nokrah is in the field (ground). I told them it was impossible to give
an answer without visiting the spot, or seeing some of the stones
from it. If I am to stop to make them all rich, Heaven knows when I
shall come back. As I have the character of a magician, every dirty
devil in and about the place claims a prescriptive right to the entré,
and the beasts come loaded with vermin. Took a short walk, and
retired to rest.
Saturday, May 7.—Therm. 70°. Weather beautiful. Feeling myself
much better, I strolled to the water, which is not a river, but a kind of
lake. Met with rhododendrons in full flower, and saw a great variety
of odoriferous shrubs, with an abundance of tortoises. I was followed
by one of the Sherí beggars for money. A nephew of the Sultán has
got off under[96] .........[97] order. The river Assaka is to the south of
the mountains that enclose Wád Nún; but I can gain no information
about it. Sick at heart with my evening parties, which occur quotidie
(daily). Received letters from Mr. Willshire. It is lucky that we are
here: we have done the big wigs.
Sunday, May 8.—Therm. 70°. Weather is becoming quite warm;
was up early, and read the prayers: sent Abú to the Sók, and tried to
purchase a dagger, but it was too dear. The Sheïkh’s son bought one
at night, but it was not equal to the one I had seen. Found a
document relating to the Auléd Deleim, one of the Arab tribes: took a
walk with Sheïkh Ali, whose people returned to a sheep-killing, &c. I
have no chance of sleeping, as they are to leave at day-break.
Monday, May 9.—Therm. 72°. Weather beautiful. The camels are
collecting for the Sók: the best will not fetch more than thirty mitcals,
and good ones are to be bought for twenty. This animal changes its
name every year for the first nine years; but after that time, it is the
jemál. In the first year, and while suckling, it is el howar; in the
second, el ben áshar; in the third, el bellibún; in the fourth, el hak; in
the fifth, el zoa; in the sixth, el thání; in the seventh, el erba’; in the
eighth, el siasí; and in the ninth, el jemál: the female is called nákah:
it has been known to work for thirty years; after which they are
turned out. The Heïri horse does not cost more than from sixty to
one hundred dollars. All kinds of cattle and food are cheap to a fault.
With regard to their buildings, the rooms are long and narrow, but
without windows, as the doors answer for that purpose; and there
they keep their guns, swords, saddles, powder-horns, &c. Driven out
of the room by vermin. At four, A.M., I commenced washing my
clothes.[98] The Jewish gentleman was offended, that I did not pay
him a visit on the Sabbath: after this, I helped to cut up the sheep,
and set about preparing my own food; but as these people think I
dislike what they cook for me, I ate a little by way of training, and I
shall now have a daily dose of it. Abú gets more helpless daily. I fear
he has become religiously crazy. Walked to the water, and then had
a large party in the evening, which kept me up till midnight.
Tuesday, May 10.—Therm. 76°. The heat is returning again; very
sultry at noon. Saw the Sheïkh’s three wives, and his numerous
family of sons and daughters; they were more pleased with me than I
with them; there were two pretty girls amongst them, but very dirty:
the Sheïkh’s forty slaves, and all the family, were out to see one of
the ladies off. Walked round the whole place, which is larger than I
thought: ascended a hill that commands all the approaches to the
town; it formerly had a fort upon it, and should have it now. On the
east of the town there is a large enclosure, surrounded with walls,
where the great Sók is held. There are twenty large public ovens for
cooking meat and bread; ten smaller ones for fritters, made of honey
and butter; and some for sphynge and kuskusú, and many matmórs
for corn; and a good supply of water.
All are in expectation of this great day, or rather of these three
days. Sidi Hasan, and all the people from the neighbourhood, will be
here. Beyond the enclosure is a very neat tomb of the Sheïkh’s
predecessor, from which there is a good view of the country. On the
plain are many scattered villages, and four extraordinary hills, distant
from each other about one thousand yards. By the last is meant the
mountains which shut in a part of Wád Nún: in the back ground is a
fine range of hills, about one thousand feet high. I am now in my
third week here, with every chance of detention for three or four
weeks longer. I got rid of my evening party by pretending to be ill.
Wednesday, May 11.—Therm. 76°. Weather most favourable for
acclimatizing me for the Sahrá. Went to the house of ’Omar to see
Banna; had two ladies to examine. There was too great
fastidiousness on the part of some, and too little on the part of
others: from this I went to the Millah. My pretty patient is better to-
day, but is very stupid, as they all are: the Jewesses bear away the
palm of beauty; and dirty as they proverbially are, they are
cleanliness itself, as compared with the Arab ladies, whose filth, dirt,
and misery, are dreadful. A consul lives here, which is quite absurd.
Received many blessings. Had some disturbance about my horse:
the people are beginning to find fault, and my food is falling off; nor
do they give the same hearty welcome as formerly: the fact is, one
must be always giving to get on with these people. I took to my haik,
and like it much better than the sulham. I am nearly devoured by flies
by day, and fleas by night. Am pleased more and more with Hájí El
Khirefí, who is to take us, I hear, to Súdán, where he has been
twenty times. My evening party was much better behaved than
usual.
Thursday, May 12.—Therm. 75°. Went to breakfast with Solomon
the Jew, whose wife is making up my shirts, and mother washing my
clothes; but such is the fashion of the place. Went some distance up
the bed of the river, which is now quite dry. Nothing is talked of but
Sidi El Rásí and the Moutardi, or the forthcoming great Sók. Food is
very bad, and the meat stinking. Saw a beautiful gun that was made
here; the Sheïkh promises to get me one[99] before I go. Some rain
fell before noon, and it became quite cold, as evening came on. To-
day I had many more lady-patients, as Abú calls them; their
complaints are curious. One is to be fattened up to thrice her present
size. Several wish to know how they are to become mothers: many
want me to give them the powder which Christians have to make
people love them. Eyes to be cured out of number; and as they are
far too many for me to attend to all, I have selected two, who are
very ill, and whom I think I can cure, and I have put the rest away as
incurable. Rain has fallen all round, but has not yet reached here.
The husband of the pretty Jewess has sent to say, that he shall feel
hurt, if I do not breakfast with him, as I had breakfasted with
Solomon. I promised to go to-morrow.
Friday, May 13.—Therm. 78°. Went to breakfast with the pretty
Jewess; her husband is a man of some information. We had too
much to eat: afterwards walked about two miles up the bed of the
river, which, when full, must contain a large body of water. Visited the
Arab tents; on returning, saw some very fine women, but they were
beastly dirty. Morality is here at a very low ebb; the husband
prostitutes his wife, and the father his child; and this is considered no
disgrace, if it is done for a valuable consideration, and not for love.
Witnessed a very disgusting scene with the Sheïkh; he has three
wives all living, but he still likes his slaves: his fourth wife died lately;
she was an Arab of great beauty, for whom he gave two hundred
camels, twelve slaves, and a great quantity of produce. His eldest
son is a chip of the old block, and is running after every woman he
takes a fancy to, the pretty Jewess excepted, whose person is
considered sacred. Three Moors have destroyed themselves for her
in a fit of love, and all come to see her. As she is a patient, I can visit
her daily. I am becoming very impatient, and the people tell me I
have a quick temper: but the fact is, time is no object to the people
here; their care is merely how to waste it; as soon as one meal is
finished, they want to sleep till the time for the next arrives. It is quite
dreadful to see the sad state to which human nature is degraded in
this place. The small-pox has broken out with great violence, and I
have to run the gauntlet without the least chance of escaping from it.
A slave was brought in, charged with attempting to run away; it
appears to have been a little love affair: he was punished by having
a fifty-six pound-weight fastened to his leg.
Saturday, May 14.—Therm. 74°. The poor creature is still chained,
and has not a drop of water, although it is now mid-day. The Sheïkh
should have clean hands before he thus punished others. Went out
again to the bed of the river, and made the round of the Khiesin: met
many beautiful women, if they were only clean. Their husbands are
all gone to Súdán; had to prescribe for some fifty of them; they
wanted me to make their faces of the same colour as my legs and
arms. My watch, rings, &c. were a great object of curiosity with them:
had a little difficulty in making some of them shew their tongues,
which they consider a mark of impudence; they all like to be closely
examined; their figures are perfectly beautiful; most of them were at
work. I had prayers and thanks in abundance. One very merry lass
had on her neck a curious collection: it embraced a little bag of
spices and scents; the nail of a horse-shoe; a leather charm, called
horse; a broken shell; a large glass bead; another horse; a shell
again (habha); a small habha, consisting of a circular piece of agate,
and a large horse at the centre, from which was suspended the horn
of a young ram; and the same things were repeated, forming the
circle. Some of the women work beautiful háïks, blankets, and
carpets. In the large tents are two beds raised on feet, with a cradle,
the canopy for the bride. There are two tents in each inclosure of
thorns or prickly pears. Visited the Millah, and then home.
Sunday, May 15.—Therm. 76°. Had a long conversation with
Zeïn, who was at Tumbuktú when Major Laing was killed.[100] It
appears that Hámed Libbú gave all the protection he could; but that
the Sheïkh, to whose care the Major was entrusted, expected to gain
a large plunder by his destruction. Zeïn had seen also Caillié[101]
several times during his stay there. Things have now changed. The
government is now Fulání. Hámed Libbú killed four thousand of the
Tawáriks in one day, and has quite reduced that tribe to subjection.
These marauders are, however, still in force between Tumbuktú and
Sakatú. A large portion of the former place, inhabited by the
Tawáriks, has been burnt down. Zeïn tells me there is no chance of
my getting to Sakatú. The Wád and the river are both beset by the
Tawáriks. The distance by land is forty days to Jennah, which is
distant from Tumbuktú eight days; from thence to Sansanding and
Ségó four or five days; and from thence twenty days to the source of
the river. To Kóng he did not know how long the journey was; but it is
very distressing, and is all performed on foot. Read the prayers. Day
very hot towards noon. There is a little quiet to-day, as all the people
are out at the Sók; which has been but badly attended, as there is no
arrival from Suweïrah, and the káfilah will not be here for some days.
Walked out and looked at Wesnúnah, which is about six miles south,
and to As-sérir about four east. The Sheïkh has about forty villages,
containing a population, they say, of twenty-five thousand. My spirits
are much depressed to-day. My position is truly miserable: I am
bored to death, and obliged to submit, through the fear of making
enemies amongst savages. I have scarcely a book to while away the
time, and no means of improving myself, or getting information from
others. I have at last learnt the name of the river; it is the
Bontkonman, or, as some call it, Buatkuman: it is called also
Mulasar. The large river that is laid down in the maps, as the Akassa,
runs nearly due east and west, flowing through the south of Wád