“Market-based Society” by Charles – 1.7.24

Entry Submitted by Charles at 6:43 AM ET on January 7, 2024 A few years ago, I read the book What Money Can’t Buy by Harvard professor Michael J. Sandel (published in 2012). Professor Sandel asserted that the United States “has drifted from having a market economy to being a market society.” “Too many of the good things in life,” Sandel claims, are corrupted or degraded if turned into commodities.” And he provides the following examples of those things:  family life, friendship, citizenship, health, education, public safety, national security, criminal justice, environmental protection, recreation, procreation. Professor Sandel’s main point, though, is that the commoditization of society has resulted…