More and more things are being determined by private industry on the free market instead of the government: prisons, utilities and even street lights in some communities. And even the government and schools are involved in market tactics: you can go to the head of the line in immigration if you have a half a million dollars and some schools are paying kids to read.
We have already made choices as a society about some things that are unacceptable to buy or sell. We are in agreement that human beings cannot be bought or sold. Nor endangered species. Are there other things that are too valuable to put on the open market? What about human survival? What about areas that are afflicted by famine or disease? Shouldn't there be an agreement that no matter how much it costs, we will make sure groups of people have the ability to live, if we can help it?
Also, market forces aren't always successful in accomplishing the purpose of an institution. Can money really help a child to read, or does it teach the child that reading is supposed to be only for financial gain? If all things are determined by money, don't we all learn that money is the source of all life? And is that actually true?
What arenas in life ought not to be determined by how much money one has? What areas of life shouldn't be given a price at all?
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