ABSTRACT
This chapter decouples the concepts of productivity and justice to develop an argument in opposition to Rawls. In fact, a modern concept of productivity is both deeply entangled with historical injustices and inimical to ideas of the good life. The chapter argues that the moral subtext of the notion of productivity is highly problematic. A closer historical look shows that the concept of productivity is not defined by a "neutral" economic theory. Rather, its interpretation in each historical period was the result of political struggles, and often served to justify political violence. It is time to question the assumed link between the notion of "productivity" and issues of justice and the good life. The chapter demonstrates this via a re-reading of John Locke's manifesto of expropriative liberalism which shows that the moral problem with growth is not only its undesired external effects, but is also the inherent link between the notion of productivity and a corresponding license for political violence.
