[PEN-L:1702] Re: oxygen for sale

[dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx (Doug Henwood)]

The sale of air makes me think of this quote:

   I think it must be conceded that it is possible to create a society in
which the response to market failure is not a swing to socialism, but an
exacerbation of individual efforts to stay ahead by making and spending yet
more money.
   Does the public health service have long waiting lists and inadequate
facilities? Buy private insurance. Has public transport broken down? Buy a
car for each member of the family. Is air pollution intolerable? Buy an air
filtering unit and stay indoors. Is what comes out of the tap foul to the
taste and chock-full of carcinogens? Buy bottled water. And so on. We know
it can all hapen because it has: I have been doing little more than
describing Southern California.
-- Brian Barry, from an essay in the book Thatcherism, edited by Robert
Skidelsky (Chatto), quoted by Christopher Huhne in Manchester Guardian
Weekly, 1/8/89

Doug

--

Doug Henwood
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