REVIEW EXERCISES A. Our society has chosen several methods of resource allocation, such as need, ability to pay, merit,

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Review Exercises A Our Society Has Chosen Several Methods Of Resource Allocation Such As Need Ability To Pay Merit 1 (56.67 KiB) Viewed 107 times

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REVIEW EXERCISES A. Our society has chosen several methods of resource allocation, such as need, ability to pay, merit, potential worth, past contribution, and equal share. All of these could form the basis of distribution according to formal justice (as long as equals are treated equally, and unequals unequally). Which do you think is best suited for the requirements of material justice? Defend your answer. If you chose "need" as the basis for resource allocation, consider the following rejection of need as a criterion for just distribution drawn from the works of Ayn Rand.? A morality that holds need as a claim, holds emptiness-nonexistence--as its standard of value; it rewards an absence, a defect: weakness, inability, incompe- tence, suffering disease, disaster, the lack, the fault, the flaw, the zero. Who pro- vides the account to pay these claims? Those who are cursed for being nonzero, each to the extent of his distance from that ideal. Since all values are the product of virtues, the degree of your virtue is used as the measure of your penalty; the degree of your fault is used as the measure of your gain. The emphasis of Ayn Rand's statement is similar to the reasoning used against providing welfare payments for able-bodied persons, as they seem to be getting "something for nothing." while those who work are penalized for their efforts. What gives anyone the right
STICE AND THE ALLOCATION OF SCARCE RESOURCES 145 to the services of health care providers, given that we do not claim any rights to the services of the butcher, banker, or baker? Some 40 to 50 percent of Americans,the aged, children in poverty, the dependent poor and those with chronic disabilities--require larger amounts of health care than they have the financial resources to purchase. Does their need provide a reasonable justification for their demand for service? Defend your answer.