Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dave Chance]

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2012/05/139_110312.html

Renowned Harvard University Professor Michael J. Sandel will give a special lecture at Yonsei University�s open-air theater on June 1.

The theme of the lecture is markets and morals, which was the same subject of the opening lecture he gave for his course this semester called �Justice.�

The American political philosopher is well-known for teaching one of the most highly attended courses in Harvard�s history. About 15,000 students have enrolled in the course over the 20 years he has taught it.

His book, �Justice: What�s the Right Thing to Do?� was a 2010 New York Times best seller. His newest book, �What Money Can�t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets,� was published last month.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/13/michael-j-sandel-market-society_n_1424733.html

In an excerpt of his book published by The Atlantic, Sandel cites several specific and unnerving examples of the creeping reach of markets, including a woman who earned $10,000 for having a company's Web address permanently tattooed on her forehead. She used the money to help pay for her son's education.

The problem with being able to buy and sell increasing numbers of things is that we devalue the things we are buying and selling -- including our foreheads, our health, our children's education, Sandel argues.

"The more things money can buy, the more the affluent can buy their way out," Sandel said. "The affluent lose a stake in the public sphere, and increasingly we lead separate lives."

"That's not good for democracy, and it's not a satisfying way to live," he added.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/04/15/what-money-can-t-buy-michael-sandel-on-market-moralism-run-amok.html

The book takes on what Sandel calls the �imperialism� of economic ideas. He thinks we�re in thrall to markets and use them to answer questions that markets aren�t meant to answer. �We are in the grip of a way of looking at the world and social life and even personal relations that is dominated by economic ways of thinking. That�s an impoverished way of looking at the world,� he says.

One would expect Wall Street to figure prominently in this book, but What Money Can�t Buy says almost nothing about it. Instead, he challenges all of us to look at how we�ve allowed markets to pervade our public life. He argues that the spread of market philosophy has created what he calls �a consumerist idea of freedom,� in which we think our highest freedom is what we consume. Our obsession with consumption limits our freedom to engage in a full civic life.

[ontheway]

Typical socialist nonsense, this is the highest form of illogic and shouldn't be taught at any university that actually values knowledge and education. It's amazing that guys this dumb have college degrees at all.

All of our current economic and social problems are caused by too much government, too much socialism, too much involvement of the "public sphere" and too much "democracy" resulting in wars around the world, the teetering US world empire, thousands of dead US military personnel and hundreds of thousands of innocents in countries around the world, huge overconsumption of energy and world wide pollution due to totally misdirected infrastructure development on a socialist model, waste of trillions of dollars on the wrong infrastructure, massive inflation (the dollar has lost 99% of its value since the government created the Fed in 1913 for example), unemployment, under-employment, slow economic growth in the best times, recessions and depressions at other times, massive incarceration of innocent people (victimless crimes and the war on drugs), real crime rates up to 80% induced by failed government policies, massive government debt and failed government schools just to mention a few things.

[visitorq]

[recessiontime]

I'm all against socialism and all but can someone directly point out the profound illogical nonsense because I'm not seeing it (maybe because his statements are somewhat vague and can have different interpretations).

[rollo]

The stunning insights offered that the rich can buy their w ay out of trouble. Amazing. We devalue things by buying them???? Gibberish and jargon

[The Sultan of Seoul]

Oh noooooooo, wanting physical security is so bad for our morals... It's so... unatural... we should be free like the beasts in the field who don't care for plenty or safety, oh wait...

[Dave Chance]

[The Sultan of Seoul]

[Dave Chance]

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[Dave Chance]

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[Dave Chance]

[ontheway]

[The Sultan of Seoul]