Is There Anything You Can’t Buy in America? Should There Be?

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/economy/there-anything-you-cant-buy-america-should-there-be



If you’ve got the money, there’s hardly anything you can’t buy in America. You can purchase a cushy upgrade to your prison cell, an internship at a famous magazine, or a fast-track through airport security. You can even buy someone’s virginity in an online auction.

Sky’s the limit. Oh, wait, it’s not: You can purchase naming rights to stars, and no doubt we will soon have the David H. Koch Galaxy winking at us from outer space.

What’s the biggie? says the free marketeer. It’s up to the market to “decide” what can be bought and sold, and we’re all free to make up our own minds about participating or not. The market is our liberation, say the advocates, unshackling us from arbitrary restraints and some other guy’s moral hangups.

But hang on a second. Where exactly are we headed with this? Should I really be able to buy an organ? A womb? A sterilization program for crack addicts? What’s the downside of moving toward a society where everything’s for sale?

[moondust]

1. Money is the boss that decides everything.

Unfortunately, money, intelligence, and moral integrity do not always go hand-in-hand, so expect a lot of failure and moral repulsion in the new feudal clusterfuck.

[scheming daemons]

2. Money can't buy me love - McCartney and Lennon

[dembotoz]

3. but you can get something similar

[FarCenter]

4. But it can rent it for the night

[HereSince1628]

5. It may not be love, but lots of it can make you irresistably attractive