The Free Market

The free market corrodes the soul. In proof of which I offer the following argument: The essence of any market is reduce everything to a commodity which can be bought or sold. But to consider something as a commodity is to not love it (care for it) in itself, but only insofar as it can make you money. This is to treat everything the way a prostitute treats her body -- it's what Heidegger calls standing-reserve. Nothing is loved for itself, but only as the means for something else. Thus, to the extent that the market really is free and unfettered by anything other than supply and demand, to that extent the market tends to produce people who prostitute themselves and the world around them for monetary gain. This argument seems to me to be sound in the abstract and repeatedly confirmed in practice. Whenever something really beautiful is made, it's because there were forces other than economic involved. But whenever maximizing profit is the only concern, the product made is ugly and cheap.