Morallity can't be bought

Michael Sandel in Too rich to queue? Why markets and morals don't fit (an extract from his book What Money Can't Buy) looks at what happens when everything, even queuing is up for sale:

Why worry that we are moving towards a society in which everything is up for sale? For two reasons: one is about inequality; the other is about corruption. In a society where everything is for sale, life is harder for those of modest means. The more money can buy, the more affluence (or the lack of it) matters. But also, putting a price on the good things in life can corrupt them. Paying children to read books might get them to read more, but it might also teach them to regard reading as a chore rather than a source of intrinsic satisfaction. Sometimes, market values crowd out nonmarket values worth caring about.

One issue he notes is that people are more likely to do the right thing if there's no monetary reward involved. he gives a couple of very interesting examples. In one a village in Switzerland where support for a nuclear waste dump halved when residents were offered payment:

For many villagers, willingness to accept the nuclear waste site reflected public spirit – a recognition that the country as a whole depended on nuclear energy and that the nuclear waste had to be stored somewhere. If their community was found to be the safest storage site, they were willing to bear the burden. Against the background of this civic commitment, the offer of cash felt like a bribe, an effort to buy their vote. In fact, 83% of those who rejected the monetary proposal explained their opposition by saying they could not be bribed.