Syndicated columnist Thomas Friedman notes in “Selling our birthright” quotes Michael Sandel’s new book “What Money Can’t Buy” as follows:
“…when we have separate, shorter lines for airport security for those whocan afford them, the result is that the affluent and those of modest means live increasingly separate lives, and the class-mixing institutions and public spaces that forge a sense of common experience and shared citizenship get eroded….
”Democracy does not require perfect equality but it does require that citizens share in a common life… For this is how we learn to negotiate and abide our differences, and how we come to care for the common good.”
WATCHDOG: Right on! We have criticized special lines for airline frequent travelers at airports, not understanding why a public agency should be discriminating on behalf of private businesses.
Also, due to their equalitarian nature, our favorite places are public parks, especially Central Park in New York City and Margaret Park on a Danube Island between Buda and Pest in Hungary .
As we have observed in the past, in Central Park one cannot discern street people from billionaires, thanks to the recycling of clothing and the tendency of many wealthy people to wear clothes for many years. (Careful about how you hold your coffee cup while sitting on a bench. A passerby may drop in a quarter!)
