If I pay for a plane ticket, and get a seat that reclines, then I’ve paid for the ability to recline,
But that’s not what you’ve paid for, nor what you honestly expect to receive, nor how you’ve paid for it. You’ve paid the market price in dollars for a flight in a society where people generally care about the well-being of those around you, and you are expected to also pay the market price in behavior. These two things are entangled, but enforced separately.
If you break the monetary rule and don’t pay, you will not be allowed to board the aircraft, because your money is required to keep the aircraft maintained and flying. You’d be a free rider without it.
If you break the behavior rule and act anti-social, people will (rightly) come to treat your presence as a detriment to those around you. That is the consequence of violating the social contract, and this consequence serves to better everyone’s experience by solving the problem of free riders.
But that’s not what you’ve paid for, nor what you honestly expect to receive, nor how you’ve paid for it. You’ve paid the market price in dollars for a flight in a society where people generally care about the well-being of those around you, and you are expected to also pay the market price in behavior. These two things are entangled, but enforced separately.
If you break the monetary rule and don’t pay, you will not be allowed to board the aircraft, because your money is required to keep the aircraft maintained and flying. You’d be a free rider without it.
If you break the behavior rule and act anti-social, people will (rightly) come to treat your presence as a detriment to those around you. That is the consequence of violating the social contract, and this consequence serves to better everyone’s experience by solving the problem of free riders.