Q1) Quality of life is where resources are allocated in an equitable manner. I believe all individuals of all social-economic standing have an opportunity to achieve satisfaction and happiness, in addition to having a good human development index. Allocating money resources to individuals provide equal opportunities in pursing education towards better job placements, with skill training advancement, thus brings greater satisfaction to individuals.
This may require the efforts of a justice system that regulates the allocation of resources. For example, the idea of “tradeable carbon quotas” from Wilkinson and Pickett’s reading to redistribute income from rich to poor is something that the government can implement to bring about equity.
Q2) Rights to quality of life should be applied to all individuals, as inequality, inequity and injustice brings about many consequences (eg. environmental impacts, war and conflict and famine). As individuals who are part of a society, we need to have more empathy towards others. Consequences should be made more transparent for individuals; thus, stimulating individuals to have concern for others and to work together to achieve equality.
Q3) Equal societies can foster better creative and innovations to address environmental issues in terms of having more human resources with greater education, funding, and resources. However, inequality can spark greater creativity and innovation as they are driven by limitations and constraints.
Q4) I think inequality increases pressure to consume even among poorer individuals. Less affluent individuals would find alternatives such as purchasing clothes from a thrift store, electronics through eBay, or purchasing replica goods. Though some of these examples benefit the environment, by reusing products, it still promotes consumerism. This consumerism demand places demand on manufacturers to create alternative or replica product. For example, in Kuala Lumpur’s China Town, street vendors sell replicas of branded goods such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and many more. In turn resources and fuel are used in the manufacturing of these goods.
Overall, I felt the virtual tutorial was unsuccessful with the ANU campus as my team only received one response from the ANU team, while all of us contributed to answering the questions. The response we received from the ANU team lacked detail and was less insightful. However, I thought it was interesting to be able to read detailed answers from all my team members. We all took our own unique angle in answering the questions and therefore it provided me with new ways to look at (In)Equity, (In)Equality and (In)Justice.
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