Camden Central High,

 Camden, Tennessee

Teacher: Mrs. Wanda Allen

Teamwork

By Chris Carney

12th  Grade

 

The issue of personal responsibility and individuality has always been in contrast with that of the common good of society. This is not only an issue that we deal with today among each other, but one that people have been dealing with since the Roman Republic. At the time of the Roman Republic they promoted a system of common good, which meant to do what was best for society. Another term would be civic virtue; it was used in the Roman times and still means that a person sets aside personal interests to promote the common good for others. So the Founders of the Constitution saw and learned from examples from the Roman Republic and examples of the French that the government should be based and organized to promote the common good. James Madison, known as the Founder of the Constitution, understood the importance of civic virtue but he knew he had to modify it in America. He felt that the common good could be served by each individual pursuing self-interest. But each could contribute to the general prosperity of the community. At the same time Madison realized that all people were not going to agree with civic virtue or common good. If that was so there would be no reason to have an active government.

 

The result is that you have to see what is most important to you. The Constitution and the federal government give us many things to aid and give us freedoms. But sometimes those aids and freedoms are misused. I am 17 years old and I have a part time job at a grocery store stocking and bagging groceries for people. I have worked there for almost 3 years and I still make minimum wage which is $ 5.15. Every week I get my weekly pay check which has money taken out to go towards various programs and aids for those who are in need of help. It makes me proud to know that I am helping people who aren’t able to work themselves, because of illness or injury etc.  But when the money that is taken out of my check goes to people who are just too lazy to work and receive aid from the government, I’m not happy to say the least. Because while I’ve worked in the grocery store for the last three years on the weekends, I have seen people come into the store with food stamps, and WIC, various aids that government provides with taxpayers money. People I know and are just to lazy to work and fake an injury so that they can come into the store and buy 250 dollars worth of food and then I have to go place it in their new 2005 truck. That is not right but the government can’t catch all the people who steal themselves pay checks from the taxpayers such as myself.

 

But then it just goes back to the beginning back in the Roman times when way back then they worked for the common good. We are given examples in the worlds and history’s past that give up there own individual interests so that others can live in common good. The probably the biggest scarf ice for the common good is that of Jesus. He gave his life so that every person who lives can have a chance to go to heaven after death. Of course in this case just as others in history people do not obey the laws that give the outcome of common good because  their own individual interests get in the way of the common good that was intended for by the act.  I believe that for the most part that in today’s society  the common good is achieved for the most part. You know there are always going to be people who get by or cheat the government but the people who need aid and the programs like food stamps usually need them.

  

I am a basketball player at my school and there is nothing better from an individual standpoint than a 25 point game, but a lot of times you as an individual have to sacrifice the 25 point game so that the team as a whole can win the game. Just like in basketball, the way the word team is used it can also be used when saying that about America. If America works together like a team the common good will be achieved and the country will exist in a more unified way.

Questions

Q1- Why does Machan use "steal" in his statement: "Private property solves this problem, but was abandoned a long time ago when taxes reached the point where we can steal our way to being provided with all sorts of things we desire, never mind thinking about paying for them or long-range budgeting."?

A1- Because today people who choose not to work receive aid from the government, which in a way is like stealing from the working people and taxpayers.

Q2- Machan said: "For that which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it." Give two examples of this from your personal experience.

A2- Time, I have a lot of time to do things but I sometimes take it for granted. Relationships, long time friendships and new ones are at times for granted.

Q3- Do you agree with Machan that "...everybody is more inclined to neglect the duty which he expects another to fulfill; as in families many attendants are often less useful than a few."? Give an objective example of this.

A3- In a household of 5 people a husband, wife, and 3 children. The family expects another member of the family to cook dinner but won’t do it themselves.

 

Q4- State Kershner's First Law.  Do you agree or disagree and why?

 

A4- When a self-governing people confer upon their government the power to take from some and give to others, the process will not stop until the last bone of the last taxpayer is picked bare. I agree because I believe there are more people that will have money taken away because they are working than those who are being given money for not working.

Q5- What industry was the first to be taken over by government in both ancient Rome and the USA?

A5-Transportation shipping

Q6- Is cheapened money the cause or the outcome of inflation? Explain.

A6-The outcome of inflation, because cheap money means more of it is needed to buy things so this causes inflation.

 

Q7- How did the Edict of 301 affect Rome's economy?

A7- The Edict of 301 sent society into a state of chaos.

Q8- Lee claims that individuals could be "entirely independent of others" except for what? Explain.

A8- In a world without scarcity each of us could be entirely independent of others. Because we live in a world of scarcity, individuals must interact with one another and this interaction is shaped by rules of social conduct.

Q9- Describe the dilemma concerning rules as discussed by Lee.

A9- If there are no rules then you must exert force to make people follow thoughts of others or set rules will make you follow them.

 

Q10- Why is the concept of private property crucial to freedom?

 

A10- Because this concept helps you to be an individual and makes people have the need and the want to excel.

Q11- Argue both pro and con that in his testimony Lawrence Reed was advocating compassion and aid for the poor.

A11- The poor people that seriously need aid should receive help in their situation, but people who are to lazy to work and just like to sit at home and they receive aid I do not agree with because they have themselves to blame for being poor.

Q12- "If people are free, they will not earn equal incomes; conversely, show me a people who have equal incomes and I will show you a people who are not free." Explain in your own words Mr. Reed's meaning.

A12- To look at the communist people, they are equal but not free because they are made to be equal. People aren’t allowed to make equal incomes because of the variation of jobs and the skills that each worker or person has to offer that job.

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