>>Michael Sandel: What should be the role of money and markets in our societies?
Today, there are fewer and fewer things that money can't buy.
If you're ever sentenced to a jail term in Santa Barbara, California -- just in case
that happens to you -- you should know that if you don't like the standard accommodations,
you can buy -- if you have the money, you can buy a prison cell upgrade.
[ Laughter ] >>Michael Sandel: It's true.
For how much would you guess?
What would you say?
How much would that be?
>> (Speaker is off microphone.)
>>Michael Sandel: $500?
Per night?
It's not the Ritz-Carlton.
It's not -- [ Laughter ]
>>Michael Sandel: It's just slightly -- it's $90 a night.
If you go to an amusement park, used to be at amusement parks part of the experience
was waiting in long lines for the popular rides.
Everybody had to do it.
But that's not really true today.
In most amusement parks, if you don't like waiting in long queues, you can buy a -- pay
more and buy a fast-track ticket straight to the head of the line.
In fact, it's not just at amusement parks.
There are more and more aspects of life today where you can buy your way to the head of
the queue.
You can do this even if you want to hear -- sit in on a Congressional hearing in Washington,
D.C. but you don't want to stand in the long line for the seats that are made available.
You can now go to a company.
One of them is called linestanding.com.
You pay them a certain amount of money.
They will hire a homeless person or someone else who needs the work to stand in the line,
overnight if need be, to make sure that you get a seat in the front row of the hearing.