A World to be Bought
Hope Nelson
Global Business 3304
9/5/2015
In American culture, it is perfectly normal to see ads on a day-to-day basis: “Buy these clothes, it will make you cool.” “Buy this truck, it will get you places faster.” “Buy this, buy that. It will make you happy.” But even in America, where many things are becoming permissible, should there still be a line determining what can or cannot be bought? This is what authors Michael J. Sandel explores in his paper, “What Isn’t for Sale” and Dan Ariely discusses in a chapter of one of his books, the chapter being called “The Cost of Social Norms.” Both authors pose a question: is there a point where putting a market-cost on everything crosses an ethical line? In their papers, …show more content…
And he states that this has been coming for some time now; Sandel shows that it all started shortly after the Cold War. Sandel claims that the market values thrived during this time, and it was only encouraged through time, specifically in 2008 by politicians such as Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, and Tony Blair (2012). Sandel points out that this encouragement led the markets to take over, moving America out of a “market economy” state to a “market society” state (2012). Sandel states (2012), “A market society is a way of life in which market values seep into every aspect of human endeavor. It’s a place where social relations are made over in the image of the …show more content…
Greed has prevailed much of this shift, due to the desperate want for money. As the market expanded, so did the values of the market. As people started needing to price some commodities, the pricing started crossing lines and other things (things that would have previously been called values or rights) started getting priced as well. This led to many things such as truth, or facts, to start becoming slurred in their state of existence. Instead of truths or facts or values, America has come to a point where it is no longer a question of “Is this right or wrong?” but rather a matter of
Hope Nelson
Global Business 3304
9/5/2015
In American culture, it is perfectly normal to see ads on a day-to-day basis: “Buy these clothes, it will make you cool.” “Buy this truck, it will get you places faster.” “Buy this, buy that. It will make you happy.” But even in America, where many things are becoming permissible, should there still be a line determining what can or cannot be bought? This is what authors Michael J. Sandel explores in his paper, “What Isn’t for Sale” and Dan Ariely discusses in a chapter of one of his books, the chapter being called “The Cost of Social Norms.” Both authors pose a question: is there a point where putting a market-cost on everything crosses an ethical line? In their papers, …show more content…
And he states that this has been coming for some time now; Sandel shows that it all started shortly after the Cold War. Sandel claims that the market values thrived during this time, and it was only encouraged through time, specifically in 2008 by politicians such as Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, and Tony Blair (2012). Sandel points out that this encouragement led the markets to take over, moving America out of a “market economy” state to a “market society” state (2012). Sandel states (2012), “A market society is a way of life in which market values seep into every aspect of human endeavor. It’s a place where social relations are made over in the image of the …show more content…
Greed has prevailed much of this shift, due to the desperate want for money. As the market expanded, so did the values of the market. As people started needing to price some commodities, the pricing started crossing lines and other things (things that would have previously been called values or rights) started getting priced as well. This led to many things such as truth, or facts, to start becoming slurred in their state of existence. Instead of truths or facts or values, America has come to a point where it is no longer a question of “Is this right or wrong?” but rather a matter of