ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Samuel Arnold examines the flip-side of modern productivism, namely consumerism and the consumerist work-spend dynamic. Consumerism has been relatively neglected by liberal egalitarian theorists, perhaps due to it being thought a matter of individual ethics and not of justice. Against this, Arnold claims that liberal egalitarians ought to be deeply concerned with consumerism precisely because it undermines justice in depriving future generations of the resources to fulfil basic needs, weakening the provision of public goods and services, and undercutting fair equality of opportunity for all. Just as troublesome, our consumerist culture feeds a destructive work ethic wherein people work ever more hours to earn the money they require to buy things they do not really need. The result is that the leisure necessary for social reproduction—for participating within and contributing to our families, neighbourhoods, and communities—is inexorably eroded.
