Lindblom - The Market System - Afghan Journalists' Committee

98 How It Worksfearing that doing so would reveal to God their lack of faithin divine care. And if many people enjoy shopping, some detestit so much that they will make do without some of theservices and goods that the market offers. Some people—perhaps most of us—enjoy some performances and objectsonly if they are given to us; the pleasure is spoiled if we haveto buy them. We love to get something for “free.” And researchstudies report that some people find no pleasure involuntary work when they are paid for it. A great historicalexample of society turning against the very process of buyingand selling is the Council of Trent’s prohibition in 1562of the selling of indulgences; societies still struggle withwhether prostitution and drugs should be legalized. Mostpeople now find the idea of a market in slaves abhorrent.For similar reasons, some societies long ago decided to curbthe hiring of children to labor in mines and factories.Many people doubt the competence or motives of individualchoice and want to establish a deliberating collectiveauthority over some decisions. They are now engaged in debating,for example, whether the body parts of deceased humanbeings can be marketed or should instead be allocatedby a collective authority. Many societies prefer collectivedecisions on environmental protection to individual or corporatemarket decisions—they want the state, not the corporation,to control emissions of industrial wastes. For goodreason, people do not trust sellers to be wholly truthfulabout their products and therefore favor governmental regulationof food and drugs.To many, market inequality is unacceptable. Most societieswant at least an early elementary education for children,regardless of parental ability to buy it: hence taxes andcompulsory education rather than a market. Some medicalservices, especially those that reduce epidemics, are distrib-