What Isn’t for Sale? ( Michael J. Sandel)
Michael Sandel is a political philosopher and professor at Harvard University. This abridged version appeared in the April 2012 issue of The Atlantic magazine. I, like others, have often referred to current efforts to improve U.S. schools, as “market-driven school reform.” Sandel places that phrase in a the larger context of American society over the past quarter-century.
There are some things money can’t buy—but these days, not many. Almost everything is up for sale. For example:
• A prison-cell upgrade: $90 a night. In Santa Ana, California, and some other cities, nonviolent offenders can pay for a clean, quiet jail cell, without any non-paying prisoners to disturb them.
• Access to the carpool lane while driving solo: $8. Minneapolis, San Diego, Houston, Seattle, and other cities
There are some things money can’t buy—but these days, not many. Almost everything is up for sale. For example:
• A prison-cell upgrade: $90 a night. In Santa Ana, California, and some other cities, nonviolent offenders can pay for a clean, quiet jail cell, without any non-paying prisoners to disturb them.
• Access to the carpool lane while driving solo: $8. Minneapolis, San Diego, Houston, Seattle, and other cities