What can't money buy?

[nicksellen]

Michael Sandel talks a lot about what money can't buy. He has a book by that title. The subtitle is "The Moral Limits of Markets".

So, what can't money buy?

Random list:

• love (and any other emotion?)
• civic goodwill
• charity (what is charity? - the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing from wikipedia)
• the natural environment (or perhaps restoration of the natural environment, or something about the natural environment anyway!)

I guess the point of this is that if we live in a system that is measured/valued by money, these are the things we are not including in the calculations. If we have other ways to get these things, and/or the money-based system is not actively destroying them then it might not be a problem.

[ghost]

Money can help you attain love, so it's an indirect form of buying. For example, paying for online dating software, spending to attain a particular lifestyle, paying for education, dancing lessons, etc. Of course a lot can be obtained for free but money certainly helps.

I think the question is what money can't buy directly. My current feeling is it can indirectly buy almost anything.

[nicksellen]

If you can get it without money, then money might help in some contexts, but is not required.

Sometimes money might hinder getting these things too. There was an example from Michael Sandel:

swiss story of residents people less likely to accept a nuclear waste facility in their area if they are offered money as they don't want to feel like they are being bribed whereas before they felt they were doing civic good

(my telling of it - from https://github.com/nicksellen/ponderings/blob/master/money.md)

So perhaps it is this direct vs indirect concept? OR perhaps it's more about the relationship it has with money markets. Not sure.

[nicksellen]

it can indirectly buy almost anything

There might be a difference between "buying" and "enabling"