Declaration: By submitting this portfolio, I implicitly declare that this is my own work except for the “Introduction” which was kindly written for me by my lecturer. I am aware that if ANY unacknowledged copying is detected in ANY answer, I will get 0 (zero) for the entire assignment.
Instructions:
Please read the instructions on myUnisa carefully – especially Step 2. Please download the most up to date version of this template from the additional resources tool on myUnisa. Do not rely on the digiband copy! First, go through the MCQs again, and record your current choice We suggest that you don’t look at your original choices before you have been through all questions Second, for each question, record your original choice in assignment 1 Please ensure that you record your original and current choices for ALL 20 questions in your portfolio Third, jot down any notes which explain why your opinion changed if it did, or why it didn’t if it didn’t. Note that we would expect to see comments/notes for at least 10 of the questions. These comments must be quite substantial – a paragraph or two or around 200 words. Your Conclusion must be substantial – around 500 words. A good conclusion will have a very big effect on your final grade By now you should know that it doesn’t matter what opinion you give. So long as your opinion is supported with a good argument you will get the appropriate grades. Once you are done, save the file (as a Word document or as a PDF file) with a short name (myUnisa will reject files with long names). Delete all these Instructions before you submit this assignment!
Introduction My aim in compiling this portfolio was to reflect on the things that have struck me throughout this crazy module. My starting point for doing this was to revisit my opinions to the multiple choice questions which were presented in the Crossroads assignment. I present these current opinions, together with my original opinions, and some brief notes in the section entitled: “Back at the Crossroads!” Once I have done this, I draw some key conclusions about this crazy module and about the things that did indeed strike me.
Definition of terms Capitalism Capitalism is an economic system in which goods are owned by certain group of individuals (usually very much fewer in number, for example, 2 percent of the population within the community) within the society, and they distribute these goods the way they want, they decide on what we eat and what we do not eat, how we eat and how we should not, who gets to enjoy dinner and who gets to sleep with an empty stomach. This group of individuals is called the bourgeoisie (the owners of wealth and means of productions). According to Karl Marx's anti-capitalist critique (Cited in Lowy, 2007), he argues that capitalism is the injustice of exploitation, the loss of liberty through alienation, venal (mercantile) quantification, irrationality, and modern barbarism. Functionalist Perspective/Functionalism According to Emile Durkheim’s functionalism (Cited in ThoughtCo, 2018), society is a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole. For example, each of the social institutions contributes important functions for society: Family provides a context for reproducing, nurturing, and socializing children; education offers a way to transmit a society’s skills, knowledge, and culture to its youth; politics provides a means of governing members of society; economics provides for the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services; and religion provides moral guidance and an outlet for worship of a higher power. Durkheim actually envisioned society as an organism, and just like within an organism, each component plays a necessary part, but none can function alone, and one experiences a crisis or fails, other parts must adapt to fill the void in some way.
Intrinsic value When we say that something is intrinsically valuable, this means that something is valuable in itself. These are things that are pursued for their own sake, not to acquire something else. Things like happiness, truth, and goodness are all intrinsically valuable. You do not, or at least should not, pursue these things to get you something else, but they should be pursued because they are good in themselves. You don't need a reason to pursue truth; the fact that truth is good in itself is enough. Very roughly, to say that something has intrinsic value or is intrinsically valuable, is to say that it is good or desirable as such or for its own sake. On classical views, what has intrinsic value is worth seeking or having for reasons having to do with its own properties or nature. For example, eating ice cream, the act of eating the ice cream does not seem to have intrinsic value. Rather, eating the ice cream is a way to attain something that has intrinsic value: pleasure, or "feeling good,” In this respect, ice cream itself does not have intrinsic value but has instrumental value: Its value is that it is a means to attain something else of intrinsic value. (Note that intrinsic and instrumental value are not mutually exclusive; something can be both good and desirable as such as well as being valuable as a means to other intrinsically valuable things. Good health might fit in this category: both good for its own sake and good as a means to attaining other good things.) So in figuring our whether something has intrinsic value, we thus ask ourselves about the nature of the value that it has. Is it valuable purely as a means to other valuable things, like money, or it is worth seeking out for its own sake? (Pro-life Philosophy 2018) Instrumental value Instrumental value is a type of extrinsic value because its value comes from outside itself. Something that is instrumentally valuable is valuable as a means to an end. So money and video games are instrumentally valuable. They are only valuable because we place value on them. If we did not value money, they would be worth no more than the paper that they're printed on (or the metal that they're minted with). We use things that are instrumentally valuable as a means to get us something else, usually something that's intrinsically valuable. (Yu, 2018) Animals are a controversial example. Animal rights activists consider animals to be intrinsically valuable, but I don't. As non-rational entities, they are not valuable in themselves but they are valuable only insofar as humans have need. As rational agents, we can recognize right from wrong and act accordingly. We can recognize duties and obligations that we have to others, duties and obligations that animals don't have to each other or to us because they simply cannot recognize when something is right or wrong. If a human kills another human, it is murder. If a lion kills a gazelle, it is not murder, because neither lions nor gazelles are rational agents. Plant-life and trees are not valuable in themselves, which is why it is not wrong to pluck roses to give a significant other or to chop down trees to make furniture or paper. These entities are only valuable insofar as people value them. They are valuable to us because they add beauty to our planet, they take in carbon dioxide and provide oxygen, they provide shade, and they provide the raw materials for
building fires, furniture, houses, and other things. But their value comes from without, not from within. (Pro Life Philosophy 2018) Nature I have went through different articles, books and journals but failed to find a definition or perhaps a satisfying definition as most authors shy away from this term because of its complexity. Most authors attempted to explain nature and its relationship to humanity. However, as an anthropocentric and taking into consideration the knowledge that I have acquired through the study instrumental value, the environment and its significant, more specifically on the book of Rob Boddies titled “Anthropocentrism: Humans, Animals, Environments”, I view “nature” as an umbrella term that consists of all things that are instrumentally valuable and can be used as a means to end for the benefit of a human being. (Boddies 2011) Anthropocentrism Anthropocentrism, in the philosophical view of point, is the believe that human beings are the central or most significant entities in the world. This is a basic belief embedded in many Western and African religions and philosophies. Anthropocentrism regards humans as separate from and superior to nature and holds that human life has intrinsic value while other entities including animals, plants, mineral resources, and so on, are resources that may justifiably be used for the benefit of humankind. Anthropocentrism is a theory that believes humans are the center of the universe. Its essence is that everything is centered on humans or evaluated by human measures and serves human interests, and starts from human interests. (Yu, 2018). Per capita-Per person Hectare The hectare is a standard unit for measuring an area. A hectare is equal to 100 acres, and one acre is defined as 100 square meters. Egoism Egoism (from the Latin ego – I) is a vital position according to which the satisfaction of a person’s interest is regarded as the highest good and accordingly one should strive only to the maximum satisfaction of one’s personal interest, perhaps even ignoring and violating the interests of others or the common interest.(Osterberg 1941, pp.1-4) Psychological egoism Psychological egoism is a theory that holds that human beings always behave selfishly in everything that they do, and that it is impossible for them to behave otherwise. According to this theory, even when human beings appear to be acting out of altruistic, that is, selfless motives, they are actually acting because of some advantage or benefit that they perceive for themselves
Back at the Crossroads! 1. “The assets of the three richest people in the world match the combined annual GDP’s of the 48 poorest countries.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Good for them – they worked hard to get their wealth b. The only problem I have with this is that this money is in their bank account and not in mine c. No problem with this – many of these people give huge amounts to charities d. I think that it is morally wrong for anyone to have that much money e. I think that active steps should be taken to correct such immoral wealth imbalances Choice now: D Choice in assignment 1: D Notes: I still pick option “D” which is the same option I chose in assignment one because I strongly believe that egoism or egoists should not be promoted within the society, egoists, capitalists/ the greedy creates a class struggle society and also hinders the infrastructural development as this benefit only one person and leaves the whole society in poverty. Marx and Engels in their critique of capitalism pointed out that ruthless competition and heartless pursuit of money are immoral as they create exploitation of the masses by the very few privileged ones. If those three richest people can at least distribute seventy percent of their wealth each towards all those forty eight poorest countries, many innocent lives could be saved if not changed for the better. People should not be allowed or taught to act selfish or greedy. Even Auguste Comte (Cited in Phillipe steiner, 2015) argued that altruism is one of the positive morality that could help fix political economy differences. John Rawls’s Third Principle- The difference principle argues that any unequal distribution of wealth and income be such that those who are worst off are better off than they would be under any other distribution consistent with principle 1, including an equal distribution. (Rawls holds that some inequality of wealth and income is probably necessary in order to maintain high levels of productivity.) (Duignan 2018)
On difference Principle, Social and economic inequalities should be arranged so that they are both to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged persons, and attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of equality of opportunity.(Garrett 2002)
My believe on this matter is that if the class struggle continues to exist or even grow for that matter, many social issues would begin to gain strength. If this inequality goes on with no better solution to it, many social issues like crime, for example, robbery, will grow at an amazing rate. Many of us might not be aware of this but many criminals are of lower class and almost all the time when they feel like committing crime they move from lower class (their class) to middle or upper class to commit a crime (for example if a certain individuals are well known for being wealthy they are more likely to experience the stress of a break-in in their household.
2. “Unless fossil-fuel use slows dramatically, the earth’s average temperature could rise by six degrees Celsius in the next 100 years.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Who cares? b. I don’t believe this climate change nonsense c. Six degrees will make winters much more bearable to me personally d. I’m a bit concerned about this, but there is nothing that I can do about it e. I’m a bit concerned about this, but why should I invest my personal time, effort or money in solving a general social problem f. I think that individually we can and should strive to solve this problem for the greater good Choice now: F Choice in assignment 1: F Notes: Most climate scientists agree the main cause of the current global warming trend is human expansion of the "greenhouse effect" warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space.
Certain gases in the atmosphere block heat from escaping. Long-lived gases that remain semipermanently in the atmosphere and do not respond physically or chemically to changes in temperature are described as "forcing" climate change. Gases, such as water vapor, which respond physically or chemically to changes in temperature are seen as "feedbacks." Carbon dioxide (CO2). A minor but very important component of the atmosphere, carbon dioxide is released through natural processes such as respiration and volcano eruptions and through human activities such as deforestation, land use changes, and burning fossil fuels. Humans have increased atmospheric CO2 concentration by more than a third since the Industrial Revolution began. This is the most important long-lived "forcing" of climate change. (Global Climate Change, 2018)
3. “If the present growth trends in world population, industrialization, pollution, food production, and resource depletion continue unchanged, the limits to growth on this planet will be reached sometime within the next one hundred years. The most probable result will be a rather sudden and uncontrollable decline in both population and industrial capacity.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. I don’t believe this tale of doom. b. Yes we are consuming natural resources too fast, but I don’t think this is a problem as there is plenty of time to find technological solutions to problems that emerge c. Yes we are consuming natural resources too fast. The first priority in solving this is to put the brakes on human population growth. d. Yes we are consuming natural resources too fast. The first priority in solving this is for rich people to reduce their consumption significantly. e. Yes we are consuming natural resources too fast. The first priority is for poor people to not have more kids than they can afford. f. Yes we are consuming natural resources too fast. And frankly I don’t see any solution because increasing consumption is the basis of our economic growth. Choice now: D Choice in assignment 1: D Notes: And the mother of all cause of the increase of ecological footprint is "THE UPPER CLASS" or if you like you can say "THE GREEDY". On my last Thursday Column Titled "My Child don't get Rich your children need you too" i argued that people from the upper class live way above 1.8ha more like 30.8ha per capita(i know it seems like i have exaggerated a bit but i'm trying to emphasize the difference that's all) they occupy huge lands and cut down trees for their own amusements, they are always on the road, they are driving big cars, and almost every child from upper class own a car or two, they own big houses with at least 20 rooms or more, their dustbins are always full, they all own store rooms where they put their property because those properties are now 6months old. When they are drinking, a wine or juice, they don’t even finish them, they go for half and throw the other half away or take a swig and go like "ehwww... that tastes funny and throw it away". One child from upper class consumes more "Hectare" than 100 children from the working Class. My major solution is to destroy class struggle, let us move all people from upper class to lower class or at least middle class then, and to also not to grow our economy because when the economy grow fast, we are putting more strain on the environment, there’s no way the economy can grow without putting more strain on the environment, meaning we are already eating our children's Crops. rather, let us sustain our economy, if our country need for example ZAR50.00 per annum to stay sustained, let us not go beyond it, let's make sure its exactly ZAR50.00 PER ANNUM, If the population increase by two percent then we add only two percent to that ZAR50.00. The main aim is to kill infrastructural development and give nature enough room.
Most people from upper Class are staying alone and owns a house with five bedrooms, two kitchens or perhaps one big kitchen, two sitting rooms, four or three bathrooms, the person is already living the life of at least three people, all these bedrooms for example have electric lights which consumes energy every day. These five bedrooms would most probably consume more energy in one year that perhaps the person could have consumed in a period of five years if they owned one bedroom. This means on the side of land, electricity, your ecological footprint is already way above 1.8ha just by taking those two into consideration. My emphasize is that the only way for ecological footprint per capita to drastically decline is for people from upper class to cut off unnecessary things, like owning a mansion while staying alone or just both parents and a child. If an individual owns more than ten wooden chairs that they use only once a year or better yet, does not even use, how many woods have been cut down just to sustain one person’s want for unnecessary chairs? If that particular individual owned only two wooded chairs which is enough for one person, about six trees if not more could have been saved. (Goleman, 2009) 4.
“If arctic ice melting continues, we are likely to see the loss of two thirds of the world's polar bear population within 50 years.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Who cares? b. If it boils down to choosing between driving a luxury SUV and worrying about polar bears I’ll take the car any day. c. While this is sad, polar bears aren’t really very important to my personal welfare which is my primary concern. d. While this is sad, polar bears aren’t really very important to general human social welfare. e. I don’t think polar bears are all that important to human welfare. However, their plight is a symptom of climate change which is a big problem to future human welfare. f. I think it is morally unacceptable for humans to put their interests ahead of the rights of other species like polar bears.
Choice now: E Choice in assignment 1: E Notes: Human-caused global warming is causing the Arctic sea, the bears' habitat and hunting ground, to melt and decline. If the trend of sea ice decline continues as it has done, at the rate of about 13 per cent a decade, then polar bears would suffer a loss of habitat, and consequently food, and this climate change would also affect negatively affect the well-being of each and every individual. 5. “Imagine you find out that some students get together, buy good assignments from previous years and use them, taking care to not use the same example twice on one group site and making sure the
name of the original author is replaced by their own.” My personal opinion about this practice is most closely described by: a. I have heard that Unisa might be using sophisticated plagiarism detecting software like Turnitin and, if this is the case, the chances of getting caught are just too great. I don't want to get into trouble. b. Not only will I participate, I am going to be the one who sells assignments next year for cash. c. I am not sure what the rules say but if this is against the rules I won’t do it. d. I am not sure what is the right thing to do here or what is expected of me now that I know this? e. The problem with cheating is that it undermines everyone's qualification, not just those who are participating f. Someone needs to report this because it is intellectual fraud, and that someone is going to be me. Choice now: F Choice in assignment 1: F Notes: As a person in life you should always do the right thing, always do things that will bring happiness in you and people around you. Whatever that you do or consider as moral you would not have a problem if we suggest to make it a universal law for everyone to practice it, for example, if you enjoy cheating in school you would not mind if we allow everyone to cheat in school. If a certain Act would not have the good end result, to me that is immoral. I will report the above stated matter because it does not do anyone any good. 6. "#FeesMustFall" My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. I don’t really care about this so long as no-one tries to disrupt my studies. b. If these people want education let them earn the money to pay for it like me. c. Education is everyone’s right, not just the right of the rich. d. Education for everyone is in the interests of the whole country and so it should be fully funded by the state. e. #FeesMustFall – see you on the streets Comrades!!!!!! Choice now: D Choice in assignment 1: D Notes: Principle 2 – Equality of Fair Opportunity Equality of Fair opportunity provides that everyone has a fair and equal opportunity to compete for desirable public or private offices and positions. This entails that society must provide all citizens with
the basic means necessary to participate in such competition, including appropriate education and health care. To put the principle in terms of Societal formula, it holds that all citizens of some society count as the relevant agents, the desired goal is offices and positions, Education and the obstacles people shouldn’t face include social class and family background. (Stanford university 2018) In South Africa, from apartheid era to the recent era of freedom, few steps have been taken to eradicate the issue of inequality and ensure equal opportunity. For example, in Gauteng Province there’s a “free Wi-Fi”, libraries in almost every corner, most public schools, more specifically in the western cape are equipped with almost if not all the necessary equipment, like computers, laboratories and other equipments in almost every school for the learners to access internet and use the laboratories to enhance their knowledge at any given time. On the other hand we have those provinces that the government always do not take into consideration when distributing the resources, for example, eastern cape, Limpopo, North West, etc. and I strongly believe that the majority of the children who live below the food poverty line are from the above mentioned province that the society do not take into consideration when they are exercising their political philosophy. As such, the high rate of poverty or class struggle is the result of insufficient equality of fair opportunities to all the South African citizens. That Is why I opted that the education should be funded by government.
7.
“Every day some 20,000 children die prematurely from poverty related causes, mostly treatable diseases.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Who cares? b. It’s hard to say it, but given the rising human population, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise for the human species as a whole c. It’s hard to say it, but this just means less people competing with me for scarce opportunities and resources. d. This is morally wrong, but practically, I think that it would cost too much money to solve e. It is morally unacceptable for a single child to die of a preventable disease and we should collectively fix this irrespective of the cost.
Choice now: E Choice in assignment 1: E Notes: Doing all that is in your power to save life is saving the society, Just imagined if a certain motivated offender took Billy Gates’s life at a young age or perhaps the oppressors took Nelson Mandela’s life during the apartheid regime or let him starve to death in prison. Where would the world be at this stage? Someone can argue that “but the population is growing fast and it promotes pollution and
whatnot”, I say we rather control fertility than to promote mortality. As such, I still hold on to the idea that humanity should be uplifted and promoted in everything we do in life. (Rasmussen 2005) 8. “In 2010, Whitey Basson the CEO of Shoprite earned ZAR 620,000,000.00.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Good for him – he worked hard to earn this. b. The only problem I have with this is that this money is in Basson’s bank account and not in mine. c. No problem with this. I'm sure Basson donates huge amounts to charities. d. I think that it is morally wrong for anyone to earn that much money. e. I think that active steps should be taken to correct such immoral executive remuneration practices Choice now: D Choice in assignment 1: D Notes: if you come up with an idea to sell a certain product and you hire me to work as a sales person, we are in this project together, i understand that i did not come up with the idea of the business but now i am with you on the business. You may be travelling through the continent to market the business and its products, approaching and presenting your business proposal to the western elites for financial support and all that jazz. But you should also take into consideration the fact that if it was not for me running your business as a sales person, applying my consumer psychology knowledge and strategies such as; "internal and external stimuli of consumer impulsive purchasing" no one was going to be there to convince the customers to buy the products and as such, your business was not going to generate income in an accepted standard. with all that being said, i am not saying we should entirely earn the same amount but all i am saying is whitey Basson's amount is completely immoral as compared to mine as the other business member. With all the above mentioned work and value that you will be putting on the business as a sales person, do you believe it is moral for you to earn "HALF CENT" per month while i earn "ZAR 500000/FIFTY thousand" per month?. And i put it to you now that if your answer is "yes" it means you're saying slavery is moral. Even Kant was going to agree with my perspective or view on this matter because on the second formulation of categorical imperative he argues that, we should all “act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end but always at the same time as an end.” Kant was going to disapprove with Whitey Basson given the fact that man and, in general, every rational being exists as an end in himself and not merely as a means to be arbitrarily used by this or that will and
the difference of the Notch between the employees and whitey Basson shows that whitey Basson merely treat his employees as a means to end and not at the same time as an end. (Paton 1947) 9. "The wealth of the few depends upon the poverty of many." My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. So long as I am amongst the few I don't care b. This is just not true - the rich are simply more “diligent, intelligent, and above all frugal”. c. This is just not true – if it were not for the generous wealthy, the poor would be even poorer than they are. d. This is absolutely true – there is only so much wealth in the world at any one moment so if one person has more than their share someone else has to have less than their share e. This is absolutely true and given how much poverty there is we ought to do something about it
Choice now: E Choice in assignment 1: E Notes: On difference Principle, Social and economic inequalities should be arranged so that they are both to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged persons, and attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of equality of opportunity.(Garrett 2002) My believe on this matter is that if the class struggle continues to exist or even grow for that matter, many social issues would begin to gain strength. If this inequality goes on with no better solution to it, many social issues like crime, for example, robbery will grow at an amazing rate. Many of us might not be aware of this but many criminals are of lower class and almost all the time when they feel like committing crime they move from lower class (their class) to middle or upper class to commit a crime (for example if a certain individuals are well known for being wealthy they are more likely to experience the stress of a break-in in their household. The only possible way to eradicate the issue of slavery, capitalism is to ensure equality through the employment of John Rawls’s Veil of ignorance or Communism which enures equal distribution of wealth 10. “One out of every five South Africans lives below the food poverty line.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Who cares? b. If population growth rates of the poor were not so high they wouldn’t be so poor. c. If they worked harder, they wouldn't be so poor. d. This is sad, but to be honest, it is not going to stop me from focusing on my own wellbeing first. e. I think that individually we can and should strive to eliminate poverty.
Choice now: E Choice in assignment 1: E Notes: Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others. By equal liberty, Rawls referred to Political liberty (right to vote, right to hold public office); Freedom of speech and assembly; liberty of conscience and freedom of thought; Freedom of Person; Right to Property; Freedom from Arbitrary Arrest and Seizure. One of the major factors which perpetuate the existence of the issue of children living under food poverty line while others are having a nett worth of ZAR 90 billion in South Africa, is the failure or resistance from our leaders and elites to exercise greatest equal liberty of self-respect, which in turn led to the some children in extreme poverty while others are living a financially stable life (Inequality). According to Rawls (cited in Taylor, 2003 pp.248-250) on “The Self-Respect Argument for the priority of liberty within the society”; he argues that self-respect is “perhaps the most important primary good”: without it, we will doubt our own value, the value of our plan of life, and our ability to carry it out, and we will therefore be susceptible to the siren call of “apathy and cynicism” He further argues that when one demonstrate self-respect, they show the ability to limit the pursuit of one’s conception of the good out of a respect for the rights and interests of other people and out of a desire to cooperate with them on fair terms. A person who acts reasonably and with self-respect, acts according to a principle of reciprocity and which in turn ensures a just distribution of resources to eradicate poverty where necessary. According to Gobry (2018), John Rawls’s Veil of ignorance thought experiment goes something like this: when designing rules for your society, you should be ignorant of what social position you yourself will occupy. So, for example, the veil of ignorance would lead people to refuse slavery, because even though slavery is very convenient for slave-owners, for slaves, not so much, and since behind the veil of ignorance one would not know whether they would be a slave or a slave-owner, they would refuse slavery. Rawls, and Rawlsians, believe that the "veil of ignorance" principle naturally leads us to broadly socialdemocratic, egalitarian, progressive policies, because once you're behind the veil of ignorance, you will want strong redistribution and generous social welfare policies just in case you end up as one of the poor people in your society.
With all that being said, the only way for the South Africa to eliminate greatly the issues of poverty and class struggle, the veil of ignorance should be taken into consideration when amending or implement a new rule.
Through the veil of ignorance we will be saying one out of 500 children is living under foot poverty line in the next coming two to three years. Poverty is a major issue that affects not only the lives of the individuals concerned but also the development of the country at large. 11. “Do not let's lose sight of what creates wealth. It is open markets, it is capitalism.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Absolutely – any threats to the free market must be squashed b. Yes – capitalism is how we create wealth, but the markets must still be managed a little c. I’m not sure about this – I think that it might be time to consider some sort of different economic system d. No – the market needs to be extensively managed to ensure that the wealth that is created is good wealth rather than bad wealth e. Rubbish – capitalism creates monstrous wealth for a few and abject poverty for many. We need a much more equitable economic system Choice now: E Choice in assignment 1: E Notes: WHAT IS CAPITALISM? Capitalism is an economic system in which goods are owned by certain group of individuals (usually very much fewer in number, for example, 2 percent of the population within the community) within the society, and they distribute these goods the way they want, they decide on what we eat and what we do not eat, how we eat and how we should not, who gets to enjoy dinner and who gets to sleep with an empty stomach. This group of individuals is called the bourgeoisie (the owners of wealth and means of productions). According to Karl Marx's anti-capitalist critique (Cited in Lowy, 2007), he argues that capitalism is the injustice of exploitation, the loss of liberty through alienation, venal (mercantile) quantification, irrationality, and modern barbarism. In the world of Capitalism a great number of people are enslaved and exploded. The minority becomes wealthy on the expense of the majority, for example here, in South Africa, the western elites enslaves the majority (South Africans) and benefit on our expense, they control us both financially and psychologically. The only equitable system that can perhaps safe us from this current economically injustice life is communism. Communism has been preached for years but there’s no country in the world which is willing to employ this economic system whereby the wealth is shared amongst us equally. Left wing populism has been created in many countries with the aim of fighting the injustice and employing
communism but all attempts failed. We have an equitable economic system, the only thing left is how this system can be employed without creating further alienation and internal or external war. The best way to employ this equitable economic system(Communism) is through John Rawls’s Veil of Ignorance
12. “It is estimated that humans are consuming natural resource at a rate that is 30% above the renewal rate. If we continue to consume in this way we are likely to suffer dire consequences which could include extinction.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Yes we are consuming natural resources too fast, but I don’t think this is a problem as there is plenty of time to find technological solutions to problems that emerge b. Yes we are consuming natural resources too fast. The first priority in solving this is to put the brakes on human population growth. c. Yes we are consuming natural resources too fast. The first priority in solving this is for rich people to reduce their consumption significantly. d. Yes we are consuming natural resources too fast. And frankly I don’t see any solution because increasing consumption is the basis of our economic growth. e. I don’t believe this tale of doom. Choice now: C Choice in assignment 1: B Notes: I changed my believe because at first I thought that the only thing which will result in human extinction is the growth of population and not the consumption of natural resource. However, through the knowledge that I have acquired through the study of sustainability I began to realize broadly how the world works According to a computational Scientist, Emmott (2013) (in his book titled "Ten billion"), other Theorists and rumors has it that; if population levels continue to rise at the current rate, our grandchildren will see the Earth Plunged into an unprecedented environmental crisis. I believe the only way to extend the existence of human species on earth is to at least move people from Upper Class to lower Class. if we can all live the life of the olden days, the earth can Accommodate at least 30billion or more before the environmental crisis begin, because with this life style the nature will be having more than enough room to regenerate. It’s sad to say this but even I do agree that one day the population will consume the earth and the environmental crisis will destroy all humanity. But if we can find an alternative that helps delay the arrival of environmental crisis perhaps during that "delay period" we can come up with a better alternative of eternal sustainability, because so far all these perspectives we are trying to put in as solutions are just nothing but delaying tactics. They just help slow down the arrival of environmental crisis.
13. "You discover that your best client is selling tickets to win cars, however, the winners are not chosen at random. The client makes a huge profit after marketing expenses and bonuses." My personal opinion of what should be done is most closely described by: a. Everyone is doing this kind of thing these days but still I worry that I will get into trouble if , this gets out. Maybe someone should try to convince the client to stop? b. I want to know how they decide who gets the cars. Maybe I can get one too! c. This should be addressed in a written report so that the client can respond formally. d. This should be discussed with the client from the perspective of the relevant laws to urgently find a solution which will be fair for participants but also good for the business. e. If this is a significant irregularity then it must be reported to the authorities as required in various prescripts. If this causes the client cancel my contract then I have a duty to report the facts to my successor. f. I worry a lot about the victims who bought these tickets and about why they are not adequately protected against this kind of scheme. I am going to tell the client that I do not want his business and I am going to lobby for more effective laws and enforcement thereof. Choice now: D Choice in assignment 1: D Notes: The Second Formulation of the Imperative On the second formulation of categorical imperative Kant argues that, we should all “act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end but always at the same time as an end.” I believe this should be discussed with the clients in a way that they will understand and it find the right way which will be fair for the clients and the business too. This means that no one will be treated as a means to end but at the same time as an end.
14. "Hard work always pays!!" My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. I absolutely believe this. b. The evidence supports this – look at the likes of Bill Gates. c. Perhaps this works sometimes. d. The evidence doesn't support this – look at mine workers in South Africa. e. I just don't believe this. Choice now: C Choice in assignment 1: A Notes:
I changed my mind because I realize that not all hard work pays, hard work only pays where equal opportunity system is employed or practiced On the capitalist system one can hardly say that the owner of wealth and means of production worked hard for their wealth, for example, in south Africa during the apartheid era and even in the nowadays life, the white minority took over the wealth in Africa and not through hard work but through force, mass killing and alienation. N the other hand there is a working Class, which is the slaves, the ones who ensures production, they work hard every day but we cannot place them anywhere near the word “wealth” In the socialist, anti-imperialist or anti-capitalist system, that is when we can say hard work pays because we all get fair and equal opportunity 15. "In 2014, Whitey Basson donated boerewors valued at R100 000 to schools in the country.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. If it were not for the good people like Basson, the lives of the poor would be so much worse than they already are. b. As with most wealthy people, Basson clearly takes his responsibility to society very seriously. c. R100 000 is about 0.016% of the R620 million he earned in 2010. So if he had earned R 1 million he would have donated R161 worth of boerewors. d. All this charity just makes rich people look like heroes that they are not. e. How can you possibly say something as ungrateful as option d? Choice now: C Choice in assignment 1: C Notes: Donating R100000 boerewors while earning an amount of R620 million it as good as doing nothing, the only thing he achieved in giving away that R100000 boerewors is adding a medal to his business’s marketing strategy. Psychological egoism Psychological egoism is a theory that holds that human beings always behave selfishly in everything that they do, and that it is impossible for them to behave otherwise. According to this theory, even when human beings appear to be acting out of altruistic, that is, selfless motives, they are actually acting because of some advantage or benefit that they perceive for themselves. For example; The owner of the company who stand out and say that they are going to help the youth within the community with the internships in order to help them gain experience, but knowing deep down that they are only doing that because they are trying to reduce their monthly tax money and grow the reputation of their business within that community. (Kline 2000, p.01)
In this instant, Whitey Basson did not donate Boerewors because he wanted to help; he did that simply because he wanted to build a good reputation for his business within the school and the society at large 16. “I have missed my assignment 6 deadline for SUS1501 because I had an Economics assignment which is just more important to me.” My personal opinion of what should be done, is most closely described by: a. I’m going to a doctor I know to get a doctor’s certificate saying I was sick – I wasn’t really sick. b. I’m going to come up with a really tragic story about my best friend passing away in a car crash and having to attend the funeral – I’m sitting with my best mate now having a good laugh about this. c. I really can’t afford to fail this module so I’m going to do A. above even though I really feel bad about it. d. I’m not going to do any of the above because there is always a chance that Unisa will find out and charge me with misconduct. e. I’m not going to do any of the first three above because eventually Prof Eccles is going to stop believing these stories and then someone who really does have a problem is going to suffer. f. I’m not going to do any of the first three above because they are morally wrong. Choice now: F Choice in assignment 1: F Notes: I am not going to do any of the above because to me it is morally wrong, and not because I ma afraid that I might get caught or anything of that nature, but simply because I find it immoral. I also strongly believe that kant would have found it immoral or stated that “it is highly immoral and lacks humanity” because on the Universal law of categorical imperatives, Kant stated that “Always act in such a way that you would be willing for it to become a general law that everyone else should do the same.” (British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) 2014) Kant states that a true moral proposition must not be tied to any particular conditions, including the identity of the person making the decision. A moral maxim must be disconnected from the particular physical details surrounding its proposition and should be applicable to any rational being. (Seven Pillars Institute 2018) 17. "Save the rhino!!" My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Why? b. Let the people who want to use this resource pay to protect it. c. We have bigger problems than worrying about rhinos. d. We must save the rhinos for our children. e. We must save the rhinos because it is the right thing to do. Choice now: D
Choice in assignment 1: D Notes: Saving Rhinos is saving the most lucrative sector, which is tourism, and we will be ensuring the stability of the economy as tourism sector in South Africa generate a significant amount of money towards the stability of the economy. And in that way, the next coming generation will also benefit from the Income Rhinos generate. According to Fin24 (2013), “The Tanzanian Wildlife Research Institute has reported that there may be as many as 30 elephants being poached per day. This is believed to be contributing to a declining tourism economy over the last two years.” Similarly, tourism in Mozambique is extremely important as it has shown a 13% year-on-year increase since 2006 and is estimated to account for 14% of the GDP by 2014. That is why I chose to argue that animals are not valuable in themselves but they are valuable only insofar as humans have need. They are instrumental values; they are valuable to us because they ensure our country’s economic stability. We use things that are instrumentally valuable to get us something else. In this case, we use Rhinos on Tourism sector to generate an income for us. [Fin24 2013] 18. "With a shift of only 2 percent of global household income, all the great deprivations of the poorer half of humankind could be avoided." My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Who cares? b. Let the poorest work for their money like the rest of us. c. So long as no one takes 2 percent of my income. d. Just proves - if poverty was an issue for the rich we would solve it by throwing money at it. e. Let's solve it then! Choice now: E Choice in assignment 1: E Notes: I went with option “E” on the first assignment and even now and not because I agree with the statement of increasing the household income but because I had to choose an option. I still believe there should have been option “F” that reads “Let the richest share some of their wealth with the poor”. Allow me to explain why I’m saying there’s no better option on the above stated options and what needs to be done to minimize the issue of poverty without putting more strains on other sectors. By increasing the house hold income by two percent we would not be solving the problem but we will be making things much worse than they are at the current stage. We see the strategy of increase household income in many countries including south Africa in order to resolve the issue of poverty or
trying to pull the poor out of their financially unbalanced life. By increasing family income each and every time the people complain, they are only putting more strain on nature and increasing hectares per capita. The environmental crisis has already begun as it is, and we do not want it to get much worse than we expected. The rich people or capitalists have enough wealth that they can share with half of the poorer population if not more. This takes me back to my argument that the only way to minimize poverty is to share some of the wealth of the capitalists with the poor. This will help minimize poverty without a serious environmental consumption or putting more strain on nature. If we keep on encouraging each and every single person to accumulate more wealth for themselves, they will definitely put more strain on nature and this will lead to human extinction before I could say Jack Robinson.
19. “A woman was near death from a rare form of cancer. There was one medicine that the doctors thought might perhaps prolong her life. This was sold at the only local pharmacy at 10 times the cost. The woman had no medical aid cover and her only son could simply not afford the medicine.” The most ethical option available to the son is best described by: a. The son should not steal the medicine because he might end up in prison. b. He should steal the medicine regardless of a possible prison sentence because saving his mother for a few more months would bring them the most happiness. c. He should not steal the medicine because stealing is bad and he is not a criminal; he tried to do everything he could without breaking the law so no one can blame him for the consequences. d. The son should steal the medicine but also accept the prescribed punishment for the crime and eventually pay the pharmacist what he is owed; actions should have consequences. e. He should steal the medicine because everyone has a right to life, regardless of the law. f. He should not steal the medicine, because others who are fortunate enough to be able to pay for it may need the medicine just as badly. Their lives are equally significant. Choice now: C Choice in assignment 1: C I suggest the son should not do an immoral act by stealing medication for his mother because whether a situation is good or bad depends on whether the action that brought it about was right or wrong. What makes a choice "right" is its conformity with a moral norm The First Formulation of the Imperative (Universal law) I strongly believe that if the child decided to steal the medication to save her mother’s life, deontologists would have found it immoral or stated that “it is highly immoral and lacks humanity” because on the Universal law of categorical imperatives, Kant stated that “Always act in such a way that you would be
willing for it to become a general law that everyone else should do the same.” (British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) 2014).
20. “Greed is good” My personal opinion of what should be done, is most closely described by: a. It’s not good or bad. It’s just how things are. b. Absolutely! If it wasn’t for greed we would never achieve anything. c. I’m not sure. Sometimes I think that it’s good. At other times I think that it’s bad. d. It depends on how you define “greed”. e. Absolutely not! Greed is bad. It leads to much pain and suffering.
Choice now: E Choice in assignment 1: D Notes: I changed my mind because I thought that some can actually try and define greed in a different way to represent a good future for us all. But through a thorough researching, hypothesizing, conjugating and contemplating I have learned that there’s no way you can use greed for the better, greed is just wrong, it creates a class struggle and creates capitalists that are always ready to alienate and enslave a great population for their own self-serving motives
Summary Number unchanged: Number changed:
Conclusion The desire to accumulate more wealth is what let to the beginning of environmental crisis. I used to believe that as long as you have the means to do whatever you want with nature then you should go ahead and do as you please without even thinking twice about it, I had never thought that our actions, life styles it is what worsen the environmental crisis. I always thought that being rich is all that is needed, I always thought that if we were all rich then life will be good, I never thought of what will happen to nature if we were all rich. I had never thought of the
danger of environmental crisis. I did not know that wasting of things such as electricity, throwing away foods that are still in good condition is another way of worsening the environmental crisis. I have never took into consideration the serious damage that the people from upper class do to nature, I always wanted to live life like the rich people, buy meat just to throw it away the following day, buy a mansion while staying alone and buy more than fifty wooden chairs because I have money. This module made me realized that people are actually living way above 1.8 hectare per capita and there measures to be taken in order to make sure that everyone live their lives below 1.8 hectare per capita in order to give the land a chance to regenerate and for the earth to accommodate more people as the population is growing daily at an amazing rate. I have also discovered an important perspective that I believe I will try by all means to uplift through my academic years; “The Veil of ignorance”, which argues that when designing rules for your society, you should be ignorant of what social position you yourself will occupy. So, for example, the veil of ignorance would lead people to refuse slavery, because even though slavery is very convenient for slaveowners, for slaves, not so much, and since behind the veil of ignorance one would not know whether they would be a slave or a slave-owner, they would refuse slavery. The most important thing that I have learned is that if we keep on encouraging everyone to accumulate more wealth for themselves, if we keep on promoting “greed” within the society, more people will continue to be enslaved and human extinction will come much sooner than we all expected. I have realized that it is high time we put our heads together to try and come up with a strategy that will help save nature and stop environmental crisis from getting any worse than it already is. And lastly and most importantly I have learned some of the strategies that can be employed to stop the the environmental consumption, this include control of economy and not growth of economy, dismantle and overthrow the bourgeoisie class as they are the ones who consume more hectares than any other class. I have also learned that Veil of ignorance will bring about fairness, equal opportunity for resources and creates a just and equal society
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