Adam Smith and Political Economy - Essay Example

Lecturer Adam Smith and Political Economy The prosperity of individuals and the community is determined by rules which are set to influence individual conduct and their sense of responsibility. Adam Smith work has influenced thoughts of many people regarding what determines prosperity and the duties of individuals in influencing growth of the economy (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 257). The intention of individuals manipulates their input in the community and how they relate with other people. People always engage in rivalry activities in an attempt to achieve personal status in the society. Being kind to others and to oneself is of prime significance because it promotes harmonious living and individual accountability in the community affairs. The quality of life and individual prosperity is determined by social and economic progress of individuals and the community at large (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 243). People should engage in activities that promotes fairness and unity in the society for common interest of the society. Therefore, individuals must show concern for others in the society, in order to achieve harmonious and significant living. The individual’s liberty in fulfilling social obligation is one of the driving forces of a nation development. People make their own choices without interference from others to maximize their personal gain. The choice to be made must satisfy a certain need in the society (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 264). Adam Smith perceived rivalry as an important element in an advancement of the nation. Exercising this personal liberty sets persons mind free to engage in activities which brings benefit to both individuals and to the community. This liberty has made people to choose their own activities to engage in. However, individual liberty should not obstruct the rights of other people in the society. No one is coerced to undertake any activity whatsoever. This is imperative for advancement of a nation because, people maximize their input in activities of their own choice (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 271). People have chance to select and competitively participate in economic activities of their own interest. If people work live without interfering with others affairs, this will promote peace and understanding in the society. Fairness should be the guiding principle in making decision to fulfill communal obligations. The communal regulations are set to guide individuals in choosing their own activities for economic progress (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 274). It is always essential to take into consideration the needs of the public before engaging in any activity. People should carry out those activities which will result to individuals benefit and serve the needs of the entire community. Therefore, it is fair to engage in activities of the society as an individual and try to avoid doing things which are likely to cause damage to other people. This means there is an extent to which a person can do things and going beyond the set principles will be unjust to the society. For example in business, traders should sell legal goods otherwise this will be unfair to the consumers. They should also sell those commodities at a fair price and avoid overexploiting the consumers. Fairness should guide them in deciding what to sell and the price at which they will sell those commodities to the public. Fairness will also ensure equality in the nation and people will have a sense of life. On the other hand, injustice limits achievement of individual goals and achievement of their obligations to the society. For example, if some students were allowed to cheat in an exam, this would be unfair to the society and negligence in fulfillment of their obligations (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 286). Therefore, fairness will determine the individuals’ performance towards their social obligations. Living a moral life is a triumph against evil. The author has emphasized on the importance of living a good life on earth. People should ensure uprightness in all their dealings in the community (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 354). This involves being wise in all undertaking while one is alive. It is not easy for people to live righteous life but they should try to please their supreme being. The importance of living a good life is to make it possible for a person to acquire immortal body after the earthly life. Adam Smith emphasized on living righteous life as prerequisite for successful living. He emphasized on living communal life rather than individualistic life. He was selfless and worked hard for the goodness of the community. People should practice goodness for all and take precaution for future life. What people do during their life time will influence their eternal life (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 369). Honesty will ensure harmonious living and regard for society and the individuals. Being morality upright will promote unity and will help people to work for the interest of the nation rather than pursuing self-interest. It will also encourage people to offer their contribution to the society, free interaction and peaceful coexistence with others. People’s love for their nation and for their own lives determines the extent to which they execute their obligations in the society (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 387). What people do for others or for the nation is dependent on their affection for them. It is not always necessary to do something because of personal gain but for the interest of others. Patriotism requires a people to devote their lives for the interest of the community. Affection inspires people to exercise their liberty towards economic advancement. People will learn to live together and interact positively if there is affection for each other (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 389). The way people interact in the community is what determines the level of their affection and what they can achieve. When people are working together as a group, they are likely to achieve more economically than when they work as individuals. People should cooperate and work as a group in order to promote the goodness of the society. When people interact closely with others, they work for the interest of the community rather than for individual interest. Instead of competing they will utilize their effort to promote the interest of the society. Affection extends beyond working together and involves sharing what one has with others. People no longer view others as rivals but as companions who should not suffer but should share communal resources mutually (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 394). Love for others will therefore promote fairness and peace in the society. It will make living sensible as people will be mindful of others. Exercising personal liberty in making decisions may contradict with desire to fulfill communal responsibility (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 443). This is because, sometimes people end up engaging in activities which are less productive and declining those which could maximize both communal and individual gain. Also, personal liberty is limited by the existing rules in the society. There is an extent to which people can not exercise their own liberty in making choice. For example the states rules may hinder some economic activities from being undertaken in some parts of the nation. This may occur where the state want to control distribution of public goods for the interest of the entire community. This hinders individuals from engaging in those activities because they are not allowed by the state. This contradicts with Adam Smith opinion of a competitive economy as opposed to monopolies hence limiting freedom of national building (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 448). For individuals to be competitive in the economic development, they should be given liberty to participate in economic activities of their choice. Sometimes people tend to relax and become less productive if there is no rivalry among them. After all people may become less reluctant to work because they know others will have sympathy on them (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 478). Therefore, if people live without regard for others, they tend to be more productive in the economy and this will promote economic advancement. Pity may result to laziness and less economic progress. In a poor economy, people have limited choices to make and therefore they will not be able to exercise their liberty fully (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 484). If this tendency is prolonged, people become poor and will have no love for each other. Consequently, this will lead to moral decadence in the society and a worthless life. Harmonious living in the society can make people live a better quality life. This can be achieved through people showing affection for each other. Also, justice in the community will improve interrelationship and equality (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 321). People become more responsible for each other and this will promote unity. Having liberty to decide what to do will make people more accountable for their own deeds. This will also make them more productive since they will take consideration of others in the society rather than thinking about their own lives. Finally, being honesty is the most unifying factor and an act of mercy for others. Morally upright people will promote peace and love in the society hence creating communal advancement. There is probability that having concern for other may result to poverty because it creates overdependence. There are those who may fail to work because they will gain from the achievement of others. These may result to low economic progress since people have limited choices to engage in constructively due to lack of rivalry. Selfishness may propel people to work hard and achieve more developments (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 327). However, harmonious living can yield better quality life than disunity. This can be achieved though show of concern for others. To achieve excellent life, people should live harmonious life in the society. This can be achieved by individuals regard for others. People should show affection for others to create unity in the society (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 586). They should have liberty to make their own decisions in the society as long as they do not infringe the rights of others. Being honesty and morally upright will also influence unity in the society. Practicing these virtues will bring people together. People will also work for the common interest of the community rather for individual interest. Work Cited Bowie, Lee, G., Michaels, Meredith, W. and Solomon, Robert, C. Twenty Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy, 7th Edition. ISBN-10: 1439043965 Cengage, 2010. 765 › Visit Amazon's G. Lee Bowie Page Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author Are you an author? Learn about Author Central Read More