Why We Shouldn’t Trust Markets With Our Civic Life (TED Talks)

What was your reaction to the story about paid line standing? Would you like to have an opportunity like that?
Is it always morally right to apply “paying-for-the-luxury” principle?
Has the problem of inequality ever bothered you?
What does the presenter imply by this statement: “the marketization of everything sharpens the sting of inequality and its social and civic consequence”?
What are the main reasons we should worry about becoming market societies?
Should children be offered cash incentives to make them study? Would you use this method to motivate your own children?
Do you agree that we are not good at “reasoning together in public about the value and the meaning of the social practices we prize, from our bodies to family life to personal relations to health to teaching and learning to civic life”?
If you could introduce any changes to reduce inequality, what would they be?
To what extent do you agree with this statement: “What matters is that people of different social backgrounds and different walks of life encounter one another, bump up against one another in the ordinary course of life, because this is what teaches us to negotiate and to abide our differences. And this is how we come to care for the common good”?
“Some people are very poor, the only thing they have is money.” How do you understand that?

recourse = the fact of having to, or being able to, use something that can provide help in a difficult situation

It’s happening, the recourse to market mechanisms and market thinking and market solutions, in bigger arenas.

to drift from… = to go from one situation or state to another without realizing it

We’ve drifted almost without realizing it from having a market economy to becoming market societies.

to be up for sale = available for purchase

sizable = fairly large

So the majority here are opposed, but a sizable minority are in favor.

to rule something out = to stop considering something as a possibility

Let’s start with those of you who object, who would rule it out even before trying.

inert = without power to move or act

to taint = to damage or spoil the quality of something or the opinion that people have of someone or something

Economists often assume that markets are inert, that they do not touch or taint the goods they exchange.

to crowd out = to become stronger or more successful than another group so that theyfail or can no longer compete with you

In those domains, bringing market mechanisms and cash incentives may undermine or crowd out nonmarket values and attitudes worth caring about.

to shrink = to move back or away from something because you are frightened or shocked

For fear of disagreement, we shrink from these questions.