Government 1B: Lesson 125 Essay- (1) “What are some factors that have contributed to rising health-care costs in the United States?” (2) “Evaluate this statement: ‘World War II was a time of great prosperity in the United States.'”

The primary reason health care prices are rising is because people don’t care how much it costs to get medical work done. Since the insurance company pays the costs the consumer doesn’t shop around to find lower prices, they do what is convenient. Since the person providing the service knows the consumer doesn’t care about the price he or she will raise the price of getting medical work done.

The statement: “World War II was a great time of prosperity in the United States.” is a false statement. Two out of five Americans worked in fields that produced stuff for the war and government. This means two out of five Americans produced goods that other consumers didn’t want like tanks and planes. The other three out of five Americans that did work in productive fields were taxed so that the government could pay the other two out of five. Then the tanks and planes were used in war and destroyed meaning the resources used to create them were wasted.

Government 1B Lesson 30: Essay- (1) “What is the problem that Ludwig von Mises identified that a socialist economic planning board faces?” (2) “Evaluate this statement: ‘All workers have benefited from the existence of labor unions.'”

The problem that Ludwig von Mises identified was the socialist calculation problem. The problem is that a socialist government can’t calculate profits and losses. This is because they can receive as much money as they need to produce goods by taxing citizens (meaning they have no expenses to make goods). They can charge whatever prices they want because there is no competition. There is no way for them to tell if they are wasting resources because there is no competition or prices.

The statement, “All workers have benefited from the existence of labor unions.”, is a false statement. Many workers would have worked at wages that the union was complaining about, but could not because the government made the employer rehire the union workers. Then when the government forces the employer to rehire the workers and pay them more, he won’t be able to afford to hire as many other workers.

Government 1B: Lesson 115 Essay- “(1) Is ‘income inequality a problem, in your opinion? Why or why not? (2) What are the major assumptions identified at the beginning of the lesson on discrimination that most people make about discrimination? Is there a good reason to doubt these assumptions?”

In my opinion income inequality is not a problem. It is not a problem because people make what they CHOOSE to make. No one is forcing a Wal-Mart employee to work at Wal-Mart at low wages. If he does not like how much he is being made he can try to negotiate with his current employer or try to negotiate with a new one to get better pay. There is no discrimination, just free negotiating, between the employer and the employee as to how much he should be paid.

Here are the assumptions most people make about discrimination: discrimination causes poverty, group characteristics are stereotypes, differences in group incomes are cause by discrimination, and political action is necessary for oppressed groups to advance economically. First off, people choose to be poor. They could have chosen to work harder and/or get a better job. Differences in group incomes are caused by choice not discrimination. An entire ethnic group may choose to be lazy and that is why they will make less. All they have to do is work harder or get a better job. Stereotypes are just true statements about certain groups. Maybe if most of the group wasn’t living off welfare then they wouldn’t be called lazy. The truth hurts, but the truth is not discrimination. People just need to choose to work harder or do better work then there will be no income gap.

Government 1B Essay: “In your opinion, does the state have the right to redistribute wealth from some people to others? Why or why not?

In my opinion the state does not have the right to redistribute wealth. They do this through taxes. Taxes should only be used to pay governmental branches, armed forces, and our police forces. Taxes should be the same for everyone because the government provides everyone the same service. The government does not protect one group of people better than another.

Here is why it is morally incorrect to redistribute wealth. The first reason is because people DO have property rights. This means the only logical reason is for taxing people is to pay for the country’s defenses and governmental branches. The government can’t barge in and force you to give up some of your hard earned property, then distribute it to poor people. The second reason it is morally incorrect is because people have equal opportunities to succeed in the United States. This may sound crazy, but it is true. The government provides the SAME service to everyone living in the United States so everyone can choose to grow and excel on their own. Basically, they are RESPONSIBLE. Some people may argue that some kids are born into poor families or have a disability. Is it society’s fault your parents didn’t work hard enough too provide for you? No, it is your parents’ fault and society should not have to pay for you. Then there is the disability case. Here the family should provide for the disabled person. Is it society’s child? Is it society’s fault? No, so the family should support the disabled person. In that rare chance that a poor or disabled person has no family to help them, they should either GET A JOB, go to a local church seeking prayers and support, or make a website asking for donations.

Government 1B Lesson 10 Essay – 1. What is Robert Nozick’s point in The Tale of the Slave? Do you think his point is valid? 2. Explain the difference between positive and negative rights, using at least one example.

Robert Nozick was trying to point out that even though we don’t live in total slavery we still are slaves to the government. In an ideal government we would be paying a fixed amount to live in a country, but today the United States government can take as much money as they want from us. Yes, Robert Nozick has a valid point.

The difference between a negative right and a positive right is that a negative right tells someone they cannot do something to you, but a positive right requires that they do something for you. Some examples of negative rights are property rights. These say that others cannot mess with property that you bought, were given voluntarily, or a piece of nature that you mixed your labor with. An example of a positive right is the right to healthcare. This means that everyone can force everyone else to give them free healthcare at the same time. That is not possible and is ridiculous.

Government 1B: Essay- 1) How does the Age of Discovery provide an opportunity for Spanish thinkers to reflect on the idea of rights? 2) What does John Locke mean by self-ownership? How does he think goods in the state of nature came to be owned by individuals?

The Age of Discovery provided an opportunity for Spanish thinkers to reflect on the idea of rights because the Spanish government was trying to decide how to treat the Indians. The Spanish thinkers heard that the Spanish explorers were not treating the natives well. This prompted the thinkers to think that because the Indians could reason just as the Spanish could (because they are human) they should have the same natural rights the Spanish have.

John Locke believes self-ownership is when you buy something from someone, someone gives you something, or you take something in nature and mix your own labor with it. An example of mixing your labor with something in nature is cutting down trees to get wood. You own something if you did one of the three things listed above to obtain that object.