The explanation here put forward imputes no unworthy motive.

The opposition of the class to changes in the cultural scheme is instinctive, and does not rest primarily on an interested calculation of material advantages; it is an instinctive revulsion at any departure from the accepted way of doing and of looking at things--a revulsion common to all men and only to be overcome by stress of circumstances.

All change in habits of life and of thought is irksome.

The difference in this respect between the wealthy and the common run of mankind lies not so much in the motive which prompts to conservatism as in the degree of exposure to the economic forces that urge a change.

The members of the wealthy class do not yield to the demand for innovation as readily as other men because they are not constrained to do so.
This conservatism of the wealthy class is so obvious a feature that it has even come to be recognized as a mark of respectability.