The viral video of United Airlines summoning the police to drag a bloodied passenger from a plane was yet another example of a corporation behaving badly—along with, among others, Volkswagen adding software to its diesel cars in order to cheat emissions tests and Wells Fargo creating millions of bogus accounts its customers never requested. Such incidents fuel rising anger at corporate elites.
It's true that corporate and other elites often fail to measure up, but this isn't the whole story. Dragging a passenger off a plane is particularly egregious, but air travel in the United States is often a lousy experience even in normal times. Why? America is a price-dominant culture. We love to find the cheapest price and the best deal, often regardless of the consequences. Passengers who care only about cost—and I'm as guilty as anyone—have turned air travel into a commodity product about as glamorous as taking the bus.
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