Our separate lives are connected by our consumption patterns. From the fuel we put in our cars to the office rent we pay to the after-lunch coffee and the training session at the gym, together they form an imperceptible grid that makes us a community.
It is not to say that societies are based on transactions; surely there is a more profound sense of collective identity and shared narrative that holds us together. Besides, the feeling of community almost amplified proportionally with the severity of social distancing measures.
But, when we produce and consume, our actions reach far beyond the immediate buying-selling process and help sustain an entire cycle of living.
Participating in the market is, therefore, an essentially public act. Not simply because we trade with other people, but more importantly because we contribute to the prosperity and wellbeing of everyone else within the system.
Public life, in this perspective, is not limited to politicians or activists. Quite the contrary and, as oxymoronic as it sounds, the private sector is utterly public in its nature.
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