ABSTRACT
One striking feature of contemporary advanced capitalist societies is the vast array of consumer choices that they present to people of even modest material means. This is one of the things that has led some commentators to insist that capitalism is fundamentally a “system of economic freedom.”1 For instance, the entertainment technology of air travel has developed so that passengers may now find themselves on flights that offer them individualized entertainment systems. On some Air Canada flights each passenger has a wide range of mass media entertainment choices: music, television, and a few genres of movies, current and “classic,” with choices in each category. As the Air Canada entertainment website recently advertised, “With on-demand video at every seat you can choose from over 300 hundred hours of entertainment on your next flight. Spoiled for choice?”2
