Is there anything that money can't buy? Today, apparently not. In this book, Michael Sandel opens our eyes to the unbelievably wide range of things that money can buy. I may be naive, but these following are truly new to me:
- Paying for the right to shoot an endangered black rhino
- Buying the insurance policy of a stranger with a terminal illness, hoping to collect the death benefit when he/she dies
- Renting out your forehead to have an advertisement tattooed on it
The point is, our society has become so commercialized and commodified that it is hard to imagine what still remains outside the market. Sandel correctly identifies two major problems with this trend:
1) the fairness problem – when everything is up for sale, those who sell may not do so under entirely voluntary conditions. Think of organ selling and prostitution.
2) the corruption problem – putting a price on something previously not for sale degrades that thing. Think of college admission and book reading incentives.
Sandel is right in pointing out that we have let the free market rule over our lives. True, market capitalism is inventive and efficient, and it has given us many freedoms and opportunities. But now that a market economy is becoming a market society and seeking to displace age-old social norms, it is time we paused to think if we really want this to continue, if we want our basic social fabric to disintegrate.
...ContinuaAn easier reading than Justice. A collage of lots of examples of modern commercialisation and crowding out of moral norms without too many explanations from the philosophical point of views. It's interesting to know that imposing a fee will actually increase, rather than lower, the late pick-up rate at a nursery school. And among three groups of donation-collectors, the group working for free actually raised more funds than the group getting 10% commission.
Hong Kong is now talking about charging a fee on rubbish. Perhaps it will increase rather than decrease urban waste volume. But we can't expect our stupid government to think too much.
...Continua生命中某些美好的事物，一旦被轉化成商品，就會淪於腐化或墮落
當人們將罰款視為費用時，會藐視罰款所代表的基準
所有的人類的關係最終都是市場關係
賄賂是一種道德上的妥協，因為它是用較低的基準（看書來賺錢）去取代較高的基準（因喜愛閱讀而看書）
送禮是一種「發送訊號」的模式
大多數的狀況下 折現比較好
收到禮物的估價，會比我們自己買東西的價格低於百分之二十
挑選禮物需要花時間與心力，所以挑選最貼切禮物就是在「傳達他對她的愛意這個私密訊息」的方式
禮物具有傳達心意的層面
...Continua什麼東西不該用錢買？
由經濟的角度來看，「商品化」或許可讓市場效用極大化，卻也因此而喪失了某些道德層面的無形價值，本書運用許多案例，由效用、公平、腐化的角度，探討市場與道德。
書中最後談到，民主並不需要完全的平等，卻需要國民能分享一種共同的生活，重要的是背景與社會地位不同的人能在日常生活中相遇、相碰撞，因為這樣我們才能學習克服彼此的差異，容忍彼此的差異，才會在乎共同的利益。
市場的問題其實是關於「我們想要如何共同生活」的問題，是一切待價而沽？或是社會上仍有某些道德性與公民性的財貨，是市場不會尊崇，但是用金錢買不到的？
讀的過程，不禁讓人聯想「鐘點站」這部電影所描述的世界，當資本主義的價值取代了一切，這個世界會變得如何呢？
...Continua
