Social Problems			Name:______John Phillips__________

Answer the following questions pertaining to the article entitled “Greed”.

1.	Why does America allow poverty, misery and suffering? (2pt.)

2.	Explain the statement, “Society tries, 1st by education, now by medication, to avoid the inhumane causes of its collective actions”. (2pt.)

3.	How is poverty paying the price for others’ success? (2pt.)

4.	“Where people are homeless, starving or jobless, a civil society has failed”. Explain. (2pt.)

From this point of view, a civil society has a duty to ensure equal opportunity for all.

5.	What is greed? Define the different types. (2pt.)

According to the text, Greed is the acquisition of a desirable good by one person or a group beyond need, resulting in unequal distribution to the point others are deprived. In other words, Greed is the desire to obtain more than what is proportionally fair, creating an imbalance. While Competitive Greed seeks to leave an inequality, Punitive Greed seeks to inflict suffering onto those left at a disadvantage.

6.	“Greed is not a rational force”.  Read Weber on rationality and see if he would agree. (4pt.)

7.	How is greed sociopathic? (2pt.)

Greed is sociopathic in that discourages the societal unification and togetherness, favoring the isolation of the society's elite.

8.	Where did the idea that people were equal and possessed the freedom to create their own destiny come from? How did it get into 1770s European thinking when all they knew was Monarchy?  (This is worth extra credit, so research it carefully and use class notes.  Hint: the answer is NOT Adam Smith, Rousseau, or any European). (6pt.)

9.	Describe the myth and reality of the American Dream. (2pt.)

10.	Explain the statement that “Corporations are accountable to no one, are invulnerable and above the law”. (4pt.)

11.	Does money bring happiness?  Defend your answer. (2pt.)

The philosophical and cliché answer to this question would be no, it does not. However, the standards of the poor are benchmarked in many arguments in this text, and this presumably unhappy, poverty stricken environment is defined by its lack of money. Therefore, according to the text, money does in fact bring happiness, although at a seemingly exponential decrease.

	
	
12.	What are the paradoxical economic myths taught to school children? (2pt.)

One myth that is taught to school children, according to the text, is that relentless and single minded ambition will make a person invincible. In other words, with these virtues, one will inevitably excel in life, regardless of any predispositions they may experience in their society.

13.	Are there too many people to be supported by the earth’s resources?  Why or why not? (2pt.)

14.	What is synergy and where is the US on its continuum? (2pt.)

15.	How and why is scarcity man-made?  What are the results? (2pt.)

16.	How and why is the perception of humaneness crucial?  Where is it portrayed? (2pt.)

17.	Discuss the reality of ‘Freedom of the Press’ and honesty in news reporting. (2pt.)

18.	Why has television been termed the “boob tube”?  What role does rapid imagery play in this?  What are the results? (2pt.)

19.	How does TV generate consumerism, and how does fear enter in?  	(2pt.)

20.  Are the poor responsible for their poverty?  Is poverty due to laziness? (4pt.)