Summary of Luxury of Fever
The most important idea presented in this book is the author’s claim that most of the people are not satisfied with their own levels of consumption and income. He was claiming that people’s satisfaction depends on the relative instead of the absolute income and consumption level. Additionally, people’s satisfaction may increase by attempting to increase the level of income as well as the consumption as they are being measured based on the other level of both. So as a result, people would tend to work more, reducing quality time with family and friends and will increase their spending on expensive items. This reality happens especially to people with unsatisfied lifestyle. I partially agree with this idea because some people may not have the same perspective as how they can satisfy their lifestyle in terms of the level of their income and consumption. Some people choose to live a simpler life rather than measuring their satisfaction through luxury.
The single most significant action that I can take in response to reading this book is to be more practical spender as luxury cannot be a measurement of overall satisfaction and may have a negative implication in terms of future financial security.
I would recommend this book to my classmate so as they can have a personal reflection of their own satisfaction when it comes to being luxurious and for them to have a better idea of what an ideal consumption should be based on the level of their and their family’s income.
I would do the same recommendation of this book to my friends so they can also learn the same realization as to why and how they can satisfy themselves in terms of not being too luxurious. On the other hand, I would not recommend this book to my family because the author’s useful analysis of consuming luxury seems to be more applicable for people who want a reform of some social issues such as decreasing of luxury consumption could be improved. Generally, there is no need for me to recommend this book to my family at all.
