My answers: 1. Which of the following statements comes closest to your view?
A - Government regulation of business is necessary to protect the public interest Depends on the type and the level of regulation. I incline toward option A because the role and constituents of business and government are different, and I won't entirely sacrifice the interests of one in favor of another. 2. Which of the following statements comes closest to your view? A - Most people who want to get ahead can make it if they're willing to work hard It's the self-fulfilling prophecy. Some people have poor genetics and the world is rife with anecdotal evidence of contrary cases, but I think success is within reach of most people if they accept that mindset. 3. Which of the following statements comes closest to your view? B - This country has gone too far in its efforts to protect the environment It's time for environmentalism to un-couple itself from the anti-nuclear movement. While we're at it, it's also time for GMO detractors to put down their "alternative medicine" magazine quackery and look at some legitimate studies. 4. Which of the following statements comes closest to your view? A - Using overwhelming military force is the best way to defeat terrorism around the world ISIS has shown the world that simply being a non-Sunni, non-Islamic State supporter is enough to mark yourself as a potential terror victim. 5. Which of the following statements comes closest to your view? B - Blacks who can't get ahead in this country are mostly responsible for their own condition I don't answer this question lightly. There are still impediments to success for minorities, such as recent studies regarding hiring discrimination toward ethnic names. We should keep moving toward the colorless society, but we shouldn't be giving entire swaths of the population a ready excuse for disengagement just because their skin color is different. There's also increasing evidence that it's poverty, rather than race, that is becoming the primary impediment to success. "'It's time that America comes to understand that many of the nation's biggest disparities, from education and life expectancy to poverty, are increasingly due to economic class position,' said William Julius Wilson, a Harvard professor who specializes in race and poverty. He noted that despite continuing economic difficulties, minorities have more optimism about the future after Obama's election, while struggling whites do not." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/28/poverty-unemployment-rates_n_3666594.html 6. Which of the following statements comes closest to your view? B - Most corporations make a fair and reasonable amount of profit As stated in my first answer, corporations have an ultimate goal of maximizing revenue. Good corporate citizenship is important, but fulfilling their primary duty is paramount, so long as corporations act in a responsible, ethical and legal manner. It's the role of government to regulate excesses, which should be utilized as needed. 7. Which of the following statements comes closest to your view? B - Poor people have hard lives because government benefits don't go far enough to help them live decently I don't think poverty is easy. However, it's abusive of government to maintain a person's sad existence of chronic unemployment, lack of productivity, and all the health problems that arise from the sedentary lifestyle. We need the "right to employment". We must accept that every product we use is the result of our own and others' efforts. Every able-bodied person who is willing and able to work should be provided for, so long as they contribute. The mental health of refusers should be analyzed. Those who are healthy and sound-of-mind, and yet continue to refuse to contribute should be cut off. The benefits of the right to employment would include dramatically increased overall productivity and feelings of increased security and community morale. 8. Which of the following statements comes closest to your view? A - It is best for the future to be active in world affairs As I alluded to earlier, history tells us that whether or not you prepare for war, war may still come for you. Cutting yourself off from the rest of the world is not a cure for violence. Realism also dictates that individuals cannot themselves compete with entire countries, and that the United States sometimes needs to act to ensure that its citizens recieve the benefits of the healthiest possible economy. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
