Kinsley High School
Kinsley, Kansas
Teacher: Dr. Galen Boehme
Unraveling Excellence
By Anna K. Feyen
12th Grade
The role of personal responsibility in balancing individual liberty and the common good shows that community bodies must realize that each individual has the privilege to survive, to make his own decisions, and to be involved with the community.
To explore this subject, we must define selected common terms. We must know how to use the common good as it is right from wrong. Having liberty is also very important in today’s society. Liberty is the state of being free from control or a restriction. Having privileges gives us a special advantage, immunity, right, or benefit over someone else. Our rank and status are made through these privileges and we must strive for a better status in the public today. We must be a part of the community who are a group of people residing in the same locality and under the same government.
The government has given too much to the poor as they are being more and more dependent on handouts. At the grocery store, a mother uses her VISION card. This card lets the mother buy whatever she wants except for tobacco products. This card does let her buy junk foods. The WIC program is a more restricted plan which limits what one can buy. After all of these groceries are bought, the bagger at the grocery store carries out the groceries to find a new 2005 Mustang parked outside, which is more expensive than the buyer’s house. Are we overusing these programs? The answer is yes.
Many people are neglecting their duties which they are supposed to fulfill. A good example is when parents spoil their children and buy them everything. The children depend on the parents to buy them everything and little by little the children forget their responsibilities. If the parent does not let the child learn his own limits, then the child is more than likely going to be dependent on other people when he grows up. We are neglecting our duties and bestowing them upon other people. We are also neglecting rules that are set before us. If there were no rules in society, then everyone could do what he or she wanted. If someone wants to do what he feels, then he would have to have a great strength and a lot of force. If there were too many rules, then little freedom would exist. Private property is very crucial to freedom and survival. Practicing liberty teaches us responsibility, pride, honest communication, and a sense of trust. These factors produce cooperation and reasoning and show how very fragile the concept of liberty and freedom is.
We must have the privilege to survive as an individual. We need to be able to make our own choices which will teach us responsibility. To live as a human being, we must think, act, and create the conditions that life requires to survive and grow. Sometimes we neglect our responsibilities. For example, once the grass grows enough to bug someone, then that person has to mow it. We put it off until the insanity takes role. Another component we need to have to survive is to determine right from wrong which is the common good. To discover what common good is, it is necessary to determine what makes man what he is. Each person has the ability to think his own thoughts and control his own life. We must also be able to survive on what we have made by ourselves. This shows us our wealth or status in society. Depending on how much we work in society, we will find ourselves in a ranking whether it has to do with money or wealth.
We must have the privilege to make our own decisions as an individual. To make our own decisions shows us how our personality is. The process of making one’s personality starts at an early age when one learns about himself. To be able for our personalities to adapt we must take on duties. For example, we as children, expect our mom and dad to care for us, buy us everything, and make sure we are happy. The parents need to let the children develop their own personality instead of their own. We must also be ourselves and not someone else, which takes honesty and cooperation. Cooperation is very important, especially in the work force. When working at a grocery store, we may have a shortage of employees during a shift. When this happens, then we must strive to cooperate and show the community how well we compete against all other companies with a fewer number of workers. We must try to make it on our own instead of depending on other people to do the work. Each of us, in some time of our lives, are dependent on others. Someone can express himself in his own way and have no influence on anyone else’s life. People need to interact with one another so we can have these rules of social conduct. These interactions establish the characteristic of “liberty and license”.
We must have the privilege to be involved with the community. To do this, we must strive for the common good and learn right from wrong. The common good has dominance over people and takes priority over selfishness. We must feel good about ourselves and other people. If we show disrespect for people, then we do not achieve the common good and set standards. The only drawback to common good is that we do not have enough time for ourselves, but we may need to overcome this by being limiting our time toward community assistance.
In balancing liberty and the common good, we must conclude that these privileges are very important to our society and to ourselves.
Answers To Questions Triggered by the Required Reading
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.”?
This all comes into play to the question of “Do we really need the things we want?” We, as citizens, need to take action and be concerned about our budgeting. Yes, we do spend more money on items that we should not, but what is the point if we need money for needs such as bills and food? Americans spend too much money on entertainment and not enough on needs. People that are on welfare are being paid every month for their low income. Where is their income going in the first place if they have a job? Why do they use their food stamps for candy and pop when they could be using it for meat and dairy products? We must ask ourselves these questions when we think about our needs and wants. What is more important?
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.
As a family member, I have many personal experiences. Dust built up on the television set is one experience I have found. The only time the television is cleaned is when the dust is piled so thick on the screen that one can only see a mixture of vibrant colors with a dull, grey fuzz. Not until this factor bugs the family is when we clean the television set. Another example is the grass outside the house. Once the grass grows enough to bug someone, then that person has to mow it. We put it off until the insanity takes role. These two jobs at home are what we should do, but do not.
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.
Machan’s thinking has merit as many people believe in the fact that someone has to do something for someone else. For example, we as children, expect our mom and dad to care for us, buy us everything, and make sure we are happy. We depend on them, at least some of us do. Some parents need to back off a little and have the children learn a little responsibility. If this does not take place, then the child is more than likely going to be dependent on the parents and other people. We are neglecting our duties and bestowing them upon other people.
Q4- State Kershner’s First Law. Do you agree or disagree and why?
“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 with this statement because many people abandon self-responsibility and self-reliance and begin to vote themselves benefits. Some people believe that certain benefits should go to them and not to anyone else. Eventually people will have no money to spare. Giving to some and taking from others will eventually cause the taxpayers to pay a lot of money. The end result leaves the government with nothing else to tax. The government picks a little at a time until nothing else is left which leaves the economy and the people with nothing left to give because no money exists.
Q5- What industry was the first to be taken over by government in both ancient Rome and the USA?
Transportation-shipping was the first industry to be taken over in Rome. In America the control was just transportation, specifically the railroads. Whole sectors of the economy came under government domination in a manner of bankruptcy and nationalization. The state became the prime source of income for an increasing number of Romans. The high taxes needed to finance this drove businesses into the bankruptcy and nationalization. The government wanted to tax so they could control the service and the price. Another reason why the government taxed the transportation might be that all goods move via transportation which makes them more expensive. Furthermore, the government can control the direction and the price of goods.
Q6- Is cheapened money the cause or the outcome of inflation? Explain.
Yes, cheapened money caused the inflation. The numerous demands on the government to expend for everything produced pressures for the reproduction of money. The denarius, a Roman coin, was cheapened and violated by one emperor after another to pay for expensive programs. These coins only contained .02 percent of silver. American dimes, quarters, and half dollars used to contain 90 percent silver, but now contain hardly any silver at all. To cause inflation, prices skyrocketed; savings were battered, and the people became mad and aggravated. The people then had to use more coins to buy a certain item. The issue is how we are using what we have regardless of the value of the coins to control the economy.
Q7- How did the Edict of 301 affect Rome’s economy?
The people of Rome needed someone with strong virtues, so Diocletain arrived in the year of 301. He made the law of “Edict of 301.” This law established a system of comprehensive wage and price controls imposed by a punishment of death. He then set himself to regulate the prices of all vendible things. There were a lot of arguments and accounts on this matter. People would not go to the market because there was no reasonable price for anything. The government limited the economy monstrously. This increased the famine so much that numerous people died, so the law was laid aside. The economy was completely destroyed and turned out to be more of a dictatorship than a democracy.
Q8- Lee claims that individuals could be “entirely independent of others” except for what? Explain.
In a world without scarcity, each of us could be entirely independent of others. Someone can express himself in his own way and have no influence on anyone else’s life. People need to interact with one another so we can have these rules of social conduct. These interactions establish the characteristic of “liberty and license.” If we had the restrictions imposed by rules, scarcity would force us to be even more creative. For example, when working at a grocery store, we may have a shortage of employees during a shift. When that shortage exists, we remaining employees must strive to cooperate and show the community how well we compete against all other companies with a fewer number of workers.
Q9- Describe the dilemma concerning rules as discussed by Lee.
If there were no rules in society, then everyone could do what he or she wants. People would be forced to battle through the exercise of something completely wild and out of reach and there would be no freedom. There would no freedom in the random will of someone else. If someone wants to do what he feels, then he would have to have a great strength and a lot of force. Tomorrow may bring a completely different day if one is more powerful than someone else. The person overpowering may become a part of the low-life the next day. If society has too many rules, then little freedom would exist, but would find a lot of deviant behavior and not enough cooperation. For example, in today’s society many rules are not abided by. Some of us choose not to abide by such rules so we are labeled as deviant. Therefore, there must be consequences for our actions. With or without rules, the end result remains the same: Someone is trying to manipulate someone else. We realize then that the freedom and the liberty that we have are very fragile.
Q10- Why is the concept of private property crucial to freedom?
The rule of private property is essential to an individual. The rule of private property requires that individual civil liberties to property be well defined and subject to change when one individual interacts with another. When liberties are forced, then a system of social communication and cooperation is established within the liberty of each person. This individual is well-suited with the liberty of all. Practicing liberty teaches us responsibility, pride, honest communication, and a sense of trust. These factors produce cooperation and reasoning and show how very fragile the concept of liberty and freedom is.
Q11- Argue both pro and con that in his testimony Lawrence Reed was advocating compassion and aid for the poor.
The word compassion stated in Reed’s thinking means sorrow, pity, and mercy. Aid is the money, services, and the intangibles which go to the poor, which could carry different viewpoints for many people.
Principle number two states that “what belongs to you, you tend to take care of; what belongs to no one or everyone tends to fall into disrepair.” A pro would be that of tough love, or tough compassion. This would be a limited compassion because there needs to be an extent on how much we give to the poor and how much they’re actually using of it. The con of this is that the poor never learn to do anything on their own. Principle number five states that “nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as he spends his own.” Compassion for learning is the pro of Reed’s statement. The definite con would be that we only think about ourselves and our possessions. Society has definitely turned into a selfish world for many people. We do not care for other people as much as ourselves. Principle number six states that the “government has nothing to give anybody except what it first takes from somebody, and a government that’s big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you’ve got.” The pro of this principle is that we learn to use our lives wisely as a whole and not to “take from the government or from other people.” The poor people may take advantage of the fact that the government is supporting them. The con is that compassion can lead one to weakness and one could not be a leader.
In conclusion, these few facts about compassion and aid for the poor will definitely change minds for the future government funds.
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.
What Reed is trying to say is that so many people have so much going for them, as freedom, that they just use it like a baby blanket to protect themselves. So many people are receiving help from government aids and other aid programs just because they’re are on a low income. For example, a woman goes into a grocery store with WIC, a food stamp program. She buys her milk, juice, eggs, and cheese with the WIC check provided by the government. After purchasing her free groceries she decides she needs a little more so she grabs a candy bar and a soda pop. She then tells the cashier that she is going to put it on her VISION card, which is also another food stamp program. This card can give the receiver whatever he or she wants except for tobacco products. After she is finished the bagger takes out the groceries for the customer and notices that this lady has a 2005 Chevy Impala parked outside that was worth way more than anybody’s college tuition for one year. The question is: Are we overusing these programs? The answer is yes.