Last night I was sitting on the plane to Brussels (a frequent destination for me), vaguely wondering how much leg room I had. Not that I was uncomfortable, more like I was drifting in and out of sleep and this random thought came to me. Apparently the answer is 32 inches (26 inches is the minimum required by law – see Airline Leg Room). No, I’m not going to convert that to centimetres as this is not really the point of this post.
Here’s the thing. It struck me how ingrained is our acceptance of market forces without a human face to determine so much around us. I consider myself fortunate to be invited to travel by people who are willing and able to pay for my flight. If they had chosen a budget airline to pay a bit less I’d have got 29 inches – (three inches shorter) and in business class I’d have had a luxurious 36 inches. If they had enough money for a private plane then I guess as much legroom as I wanted. What on Earth has the amount of money I spend have to do with the amount of leg space I need? Does spending money make my legs longer? Does spending little money mean I need less comfort, less respect, less consideration as a human being? Or do I just accept it as ‘the way things are’?
Now I fully understand the economic laws of supply, demand and pricing (I have an Economics Degree, after all!). I also accept that I have a choice whether to fly or choose alternative transport and what category of ticket to buy. Those choices, though, are determined within a pricing system or mechanism that mainly (99%) sees me as a source of money. It doesn’t experience me as human being – that only comes from the human to human contact I have with, in this case, the airline company. Even that is restricted in the growing ‘religion’ of market forces. I can buy my electronic ticket and check in over the internet. The pilot is locked away and I hear his (or her?) voice twice – generally reading a standard script. Even the cabin crew go through a standardised set of interactions with me with little scope for any personal touch. I’m not seen as a person.
It’s not my intention to criticise the airline companies as I see this repeated in so many areas of life. I could have picked virtually any walk of life where money is involved, from retail to banking to any other service. What I get is hardly ever determined by who I am and almost always by how much money I have available and choose to spend.
Pricing with a human face
I don’t have an alternative system to suggest but I’m asking myself what I can personally do about it. Up until recently I’ve offered my services (workshops, retreats, training) for an agreed price independent of the means and willingness to pay of my client/customer.
My intention (and I’ve started) is to ask for as much money as the client is able and willing to pay. If I really want to deliver the work, and the client really wants to receive it then I don’t want money to get in the way. I want to be able to contribute, first and foremost. Managing my own economic life, while important, is secondary. Naive? Maybe .. but only when I buy into the myth that money makes the world go round. I want to relate and work human to human and not put money and prices between us or to be driven by money. It’s important but I don’t want it to become my driving force.
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