Portfolio Social Sciences Essay Research Coursework

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.
Back at the Crossroads! (Assignment 1)
1. “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:
Choice in assignment 1:
Notes:
2. “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:
Choice in assignment 1:
Notes:
3. “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:
Choice in assignment 1:
Notes:
4. “ 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:
Choice in assignment 1:
Notes:
5. "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:
Choice in assignment 1:
Notes:
6. “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:
Choice in assignment 1:
Notes:
7. “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:
Choice in assignment 1:
Notes:
8. “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:
Choice in assignment 1:
Notes:
9. "You won’t make the poor rich by making the rich poor." My personal opinion of what should be done is most closely described by:
a. This is rubbish and we should attack extreme wealth wherever it arises.
b. This is the sort of trite rhetoric that the rich try and sell to the world in order to protect their privilege.
c. This is rubbish. If a few take a huge share, it leaves that much less for the rest. It’s simple maths.
d. This is absolutely true. Without the money that the rich have, the poor would be that much worse off and lefty socialists would do well to understand this fact.
e. Since my personal aim is to be rich, my opinion here is simple – just leave the rich alone.
Choice now:
Choice in assignment 1:
Notes:
10. “Do not 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:
Choice in assignment 1:
Notes:
Conclusion
To conclude, looking at the preceding sections of this portfolio, the most important things which I learned in this module were:
NB: This should be the most substantial comment in this portfolio and must give us a clear indication whether you have thought deeply about this module. It should be at least 500 words long. >