A version of this story originally appeared in the Future Perfect newsletter. Sign up here!

We live in a consumerist society. But at least speaking for my own social circles, we also live in an anti-consumerist society: We purchase lots of things, and we also feel vaguely guilty about it and brag about all of the ways we do without. (Buy secondhand! Get things off a Buy Nothing group! Reuse! Recycle!)

Some of this anti-consumerism is driven by concerns about work conditions in the developing countries we trade with, and I certainly think improving work conditions in those countries should be a high global priority. Some of it is driven by environmental concerns, and I would similarly rejoice at a carbon tax that tried to capture the externalities of our consumption.

But I think some of the anti-consumerism is driven by less noble motives. The wealthier you are, the more accessible the alternatives are to buying things off Amazon. You can afford to get products custom-made for you, or make them yourself; you have more leisure time to go pick things up off Facebook Marketplace or drive up and down half the coast thrift shopping.

Most people can’t. For them, the ability to purchase cheap consumer products at affordable prices is life-changing. And I think that, as the Trump administration tries to rationalize its tariffs by assuring us that........

© Vox