Book Three Unit Twenty-seven

It has been long known that everyone lives by selling something. Yet in real life, though it is possible to put a price on the value of material goods, it becomes more difficult to
put a price on what people serve for us. Though at times we would unwillingly offer
surgeons huge sums of money for saving our lives, we have to admit that the
conditions of society are such that skills have to be paid for in the same way that goods are paid for at a shop. We can charge everybody for everything we possess. The only
exception to this general rule turns out to be tramps. The real tramps are different from beggars in such aspects that they have nothing to sell and require nothing from others. What is more, they do not sacrifice their human dignity to ask people to take pity on
them. A tramp has deliberatley chosen to lead the life he leads and is fully aware of the consequences. Though he may be unsure of his next meal, he never suffers from
anxieties which afflict other people. He values freedom so highly that it becomes easier for him to move from place to place with ease and to get far closer to the world of
nature by having to sleep in the open. In short, whatever he decides to do, a tramp will not sacrifice his freedom. As it is, tramps regarded as beggars are often despised by us, but how many of us can honestly say that we have not felt a little jealous of their
simple way of life and their freedom from care?