Revisting the justice in making US$1 million question
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Ok, sorry to have overwhelmed you. It appears that my December post titled, “Is there a just way to make US$1 million,” having asked for comments, has received the least number of comments of any post on the site. I don’t want to scare you away. There are no wrong ideas or answers here. Since in Vietnam and Lao we continue to see major income gaps between rich and poor (brand new gold-tan Toyota Hilux 4-door pick up trucks for the have’s VS. dump trucks used as buses to move The People around), please allow me to revive the discussion:
From my original 3 questions, I want to focus only on #2:
Is there a just way to make US$1 million?
One of the ideas that came up in the discussion we here at Fueled By Rice had was authors. If one writes a highly successful book and makes US$1 million, that would probably be a just way to make that much money. Perhaps a central idea here is that as long as the money one earns all comes directly from the fruit of their own labor, it is just…assuming fair prices. I’m sure there are other possibilities and even arguments against this.
This raises questions about the justness of investments, banks, and the stock markets where one makes money from money by simply putting it in the right place at the right time. I’d be thrilled if someone could argue for the justice in earning money from stock markets and banking. I myself am earning interest on a savings account for doing nothing but having put the money in the account.
Any thoughts would be great.
Thanks,
Peter
January 26th, 2008 at 11:09 am
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Peter, have enjoyed your new pictures… sell those and make money. Keep writing. Money does give you freedom - to help others, to see different things in the world…. You always raise good questions about social justice. It is difficult ….. thanks for your insight. Netzy
January 28th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
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Peter,
You guys were born 40 years too late. You belong in the 60s and all that era stood for baby. I am seeing a very sweet attitude here that is most refreshing. Please do not get a job in corporate America, or become heavily involved in an organized religion, it may break you.
How about purchasing real estate for 300 grand that is now worth over a mil?
Never trust anyone over 30!
Mike, the gray
January 30th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
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(laughter)
You’re not the first one to connect us to the 60s and hippies. We were talking yesturday about what a hippie is and what the present day equivilant is. Unfortunately, the word “hippie” has come to have negative connotations, though as you reference, Mike, there are many quality ideas within the hippie movement worth preserving: a closer relationship to the earth/environmentalism, an end to war and violence, social justice, anti greed, more reflection on one’s life to be more intentional about one’s decisions and actions, etc.
There are some key differences between us and hippies. Unlike hippies, we don’t use drugs and we don’t believe in free love. We do believe in critical thinking, seeking the truth, and building friendly relationships with all people. Perhaps modern counterparts to hippies are those who are “crunchy,” “granola,” or “organic.” As Drew says, perhaps the best name for us is “truth seekers.” There are many in our generation (generation Y perhaps) who are similarly seeking truth. And while hippies could be called selfish in their indulgences in pleasure, I think seekers are striving for selflessness, with a tendancy towards volunteering and service to others, especially to those less fortunate.
Good idea, Mike, land certainly does seem to be the one investment that never goes out of style…or looses money. Except for a few places (like Hong Kong and places along China’s east coast) land isn’t being created, so once it’s used or accounted for the only thing that can happen is its value rising.
Peter
January 31st, 2008 at 4:53 am
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I was wondering why are you collecting all these ideas of the just way to making $1 million?
January 31st, 2008 at 1:06 pm
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I had meant to respond to this earlier… needed some time to cogitate though.
Yes. I mean, no. Or, maybe? I hope this isn’t to wishy-washy for you.
First, what is meant by just? The official definition is something like equitable, or fair. But some would say the emphasis should be on equitable or fair opportunities to be economically successful, or to pursue one’s own goals. This is a major part of the American tradition of rugged individualism. I think what we often mean by “just” is that people’s basic rights (and disagreements over basic rights are thick) are respected and that everyone should have their basic needs met inasmuch as the community (local, national or global) is capable of providing for those needs.
Another way of looking at this is that there are justice based ethics, and freedom or individualist based ethics (There are gobs of ethical systems, or perspectives… self-realization, deontology, utilitarian, religious…). Ethics are a system of moral principles, but people often combine ethical systems. So someone may be very motivated by pursuing justice, but also want to uphold the individual’s right to do what they will, even when allowing someone to do what they will causes suffering and injustice to others.
In considering what is just I think it’s extremely important to consider the many ways in which our actions affect others. Purchasing goods from Vietnam discourages corporations from employing Americans, or citizens of other countries where labor and environmental laws do more to protect the wellbeing of those citizens. But purchasing goods from Vietnam has also raised that country’s overall standard of living (based on some measurements, perhaps diminished it in others). At this point more individuals at least have the choice of how to build their lives, and that freedom is good. In some cases, this has allowed access to more food, shelter and health care… what we might consider basic rights. But environmental degradation, abuse of workers, and in some cases the fracturing of communities is not just. So is it good for me to spend money that way? Should I support just conditions and my local economy by buying American? And is it good for a venture capitalist to invest in such factories, taking significant risk given market fluctuations, and possibly reinvesting in Vietnamese markets and infrastructure, thereby improving Vietnam’s standard of living and their people’s ability to fulfill their basic needs?
By publishing a book, one has the capacity to touch many lives. Some for the better (Calvin and Hobbes), some for the worse (Mein Kampf). Regardless, you’re using paper, causing deforestation, pollution (papermaking can be a very dirty, chemical intensive process)… basically building up an unseen debt to the balance of justice in the world. But also employing loggers, factory workers… and the balance tips the other way? How far the other way?
By buying land at a low cost and selling high… from my perspective that’s indulging an economic system that commodifies land and the beings that thereon dwell. It turns it into currency rather than a living system with its own intrinsic value. It also diminishes (depending on if and how it is used) the relationships that exist between different landscapes and their critters, including human critters. While this may come across as radical, religious and cultural traditions have almost always incorporated ways of honoring the non-human among us (even when land was owned, overseen, used, and/or stewarded). Western perspectives on land commodification have shaped American perspectives, and the extreme commodification fostered by American capitalism has shaped most of the world in the past 50 years. This is where conflicting ethical systems arise… I think it’s basically unjust to use land and other living things as currency (we and these other beings are more than objects), but I want to respect other’s balance of ethical systems of thought. At least, respecting them to an undefined point at which their systems become destructive (disrespectful of others). So we’re in a situation where we are always infringing on others ethical systems. From Peter’s initial question, I believe that nothing is simply from the fruit of our own labor, but is always based on interdependent relationships.
Most of us are also always infringing on others basic rights to existence, and health, security, freedom, etc. By using carbon based fuel (I do), I am contributing to global warming, contributing to smog (athsma, lung and heart disease), causing lead and other micrometal and chemical pollution and poisoning, as well as facilitating unjust regimes far from my home. But I’m supporting Exxon, Mobil, Shell employees in their pursuit of basic needs and what we in America have decided is a right to pursue wealth (to prevent that pursuit is injustice, by our nation’s dominant ethical paradigm). I also purchase food that was grown in industrial food plots (much of it in Iowa… 2-4 species occupying millions of acres for the sake of a 5th species… doesn’t seem very just to me… it also doesn’t jive with my sense of beauty, which I also think is an ethic worth considering in balance with the others… industrial food systems also do little to support rural human communities). These food plots are grown with chemicals (supporting oil, again), which wash into rivers and water supplies, demonstrably killing and causing debilitating diseases in many who are no less innocent than ourselves.
So what’s a fellow to do? I think recognizing our infringements on others, our sins, if you will, is critical. This leads to humility, an inclination to forgive, and also leads one to look for ways to better balance our individual scales of justice. We have obligations to always re-evaluate how our actions affect others, and modify them as we’re able. The combination of actions may be different depending on an individual’s situation and security, so I think legislating through government, while one way to address the challenge of justice, is ultimately ineffective or a limited tool. Developing a culture with a justice dominated ethic, based on self-examination and undistorted information, perhaps through social pressure, is the way to pursue the ideal of justice.
My question is not whether there is a just way to make US$1million, but whether there is a just way to keep that million(though, most Americans will make over a million in a lifetime… I assume we’re talking about a shorter term boon). Many wealthy philanthropists do great good with their money, much more than I’m able to manage with my wages. Does the generally small fraction of their income given diminish the overall value of their gift? And there is also the reinvestment argument (reinvestment may be seen as unselfish if a minimum of the profit is used for self-indulgence). I dunno. I think many of the luxuries evidenced not just by upper class, but also by upper and middle class Americans, are very disheartening. A fraction of 1mil is plenty to live on comfortably, securely, and even interestingly. Given our knowledge of injustice, and the many proven ways to successfully remediate injustice, it’s hard for me to conceive of a just way for someone to spend 1mil on luxuries and self-indulgences. It’s also true that throwing money at problems won’t make them go away, but information and study combined with money can surely help. I wonder how trends of amassing fortune have changed over the millennia. It’s also true that I, in my relatively unwealthy but still secure position, could give more away. I fritter my dollars on self-indulgences, though relatively inexpensive ones. It’s said that no matter how much we have we always want more, perhaps natural given the fear of not having enough… our squirreling instinct. But I have to believe that basic needs, security, health, a few low-cost personal pursuits and an intact social community can offer more fulfillment than wealth-based luxuries. I don’t want to legislate any of this, of course. The economic fundamentalists from American Capitalism and 20th century communism seem very unbalanced ethical systems to me. We need to watch our personal scales of justice as closely as we watch our bathroom scales. And, I suppose, watch the scales of whatever political and social entities we consider ourselves members of. By and large I think our collective balance has been pretty poor, but I myself have debts of justice I will never be able to repay. But to commit to trying is surely our obligation, and when it leads us closer to others, surely a challenging pleasure.
The American ethic is ingrained in me, you see… but if we emphasize the personal freedom along with personal responsibility, we’re on our way to a good world. I think Americans (and certainly not only Americans) have generally developed an oversimplified sense of responsibility (mind my business, pay taxes, maybe vote), or perhaps subscribe to an ideology (another simplification, but perhaps more damaging… blind patriotism, jihad, fundamentalist capitalism or communism). This just plain isn’t going to be enough to keep the Union going, and won’t lead toward justice.
Humble and informed personal freedom and responsibility is my answer to the question.
March 13th, 2008 at 1:20 am
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Ryan,
Excellent post. THANK YOU.