Michael Lissack to use their discretion in pursuing that point when unforeseen difficulties arise. Our system of legal and contractual constraint works precisely be- cause, for most workers, it does not have to be applied. When making economic decisions, people will presumably choose the alternative that best serves their interests. But before they can do this, they must make another choice. They must first choose to frame their decision as an economic one, that is based on self-interest, as against, say, a moral one, that is based on concern for what is right. We want people to choose to frame their decisions on the basis of what is right. Such decisions are what we hope for and expect from our friends, our family, and our lovers. They are what we look for in people who possess the virtues of character that we value. But can we count on people to ignore or submerge their economic interests and act in this way? And what do we do when they don't? This difference in our response to dissatisfaction in the material as op- posed to the social domain points up a tension that many of us experience between market and nonmarket approaches to the things we value. The rules of the game in the market are different from the rules of the game out- side it. If we frame love as a market commodity, then exit is an appropriate response to dissatisfaction. If we don't frame love as a market commodity then exit is inappropriate. And we can't have it both ways, for if one of the things we value about love is the loyalty and commitment it entails, treating it as a market commodity deprives it of this value. I've had a fantasy that the people with whom we engage in commercial transactions regard their work not as a job but as a kind of calling. It's a re- flection of a desire to be able to trust someone, to put yourself in someone else's hands and know that that person's principal objective is to oo right by you I really would like to have the same confidence in my stereo dealer that I do in my doctor, for somewhat similar reasons. There is a need for trust in both cases, stemming from the absolute impossibility of knowing enough to make fully informed and intelligent decisions on our own. While there is plenty we can do to make ourselves educated consumers of stereos, medical services, or anything else-we can't make ourselves sufficiently well informed about everything that the need for trust goes away.
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