Author Archives: Ashlee B

The Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges from 2015 which granted same sex couples the right to marriage is one that can be argued for very successfully from both a stance of accepting/encouraging individuality and from a stance of utilitarianism. To begin, I want to turn your attention to the idea of individuality. As I said in the third chapter of my book On Liberty, “it is essential that different people be allowed to live different lives.” Put another way, so long as your own version of living out your life does not infringe on others’ rights of happiness, there is no reason to hinder your ability to live however you would like. This idea shines through in ideas such as freedom of religion and freedom of speech as well. Being able to practice whichever religion you like allows for more diversity in a community which can maintain the small truths in all religions until a more full truth can be discovered through the combination of them all. Similarly, being able to lead whatever type of lifestyle you find most comfortable (whether it be in a heterosexual, homosexual, asexual, or otherwise relationship) allows for a community to remain diverse and keep rigorous debate up which may lead to a better understanding of the truth or relationships which can lead to greater happiness of the society. Conformity puts the nail in the coffin when it comes to the death of social advancement, so requiring couples to conform to heteronormativity may end up making the community so similar that social progress stops.

The best way to live is by “pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.” With that said, from a utilitarian standpoint, allowing same sex couples to pursue their own happiness through being able to marry their partner increases their utility and capacity for achievement. There is no valid argument that says that letting homosexual couples marry will keep a heterosexual couple from being able to either marry or obtain their own happiness through that union. Each person is in charge of maintaining and cultivating their own happiness and health, so if being allowed to marry the person they’re with helps someone to maintain their health or happiness, then they should be able to do it. Just as “different people also require different conditions for their spiritual development,” they also may require different conditions for their own happiness that may not be in line with the current ideas of the time. It is our obligation as a society to encourage individual tastes to keep up the diversity of our community.

http://gaymarriage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=006193

In recent years, America has been putting lots of emphasis on the importance of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs. The idea behind it is that science allows for critical thinking skills to develop in students that will allow them to be more innovative in the future. The more innovative our society can become, the more technological advances we can make, and thus, the more important we can become to the global markets as they vie and trade for our inventions. As a whole, I think the STEM program is an incredible initiative for two reasons: The first, being that it will edify the society and increase the utility of its members, and the second being that it will further increase the genius of the community exposed to the STEM programs. As I have stated before, “genius can only breathe freely in the atmosphere of freedom.” We have to allow for individuality and differences in the STEM program to help more people to find the most new and innovative ideas. That is why it is so important that we also help minority groups learn STEM skills too. The diversity in the program will allow everyone to share their differing ideas and by building off of each other, the most original and innovative invention ideas can take root in students’ minds. Allowing for genius is the most influential way to help a community prosper.

From there, it leads me to my next point that the STEM program would increase the utility of the people in the society. By teaching students critical thinking skills, it turns them from pigs into humans who can utilize more of their capacities and capabilities. Thus, it is to the benefit of the most people to both encourage involvement in the STEM initiative as well as contribute to the government funding of it. Recently, Obama has proposed a 100 million dollar initiative to help with the creation of STEM teachers. Granted, some older citizens may have qualms against their tax dollars being used for funding a program that they will never get to partake in, but it is for the greater good of the community. From a utilitarian standpoint, we can see how lifting up the younger generations and edifying them into civil, intelligent, critical thinkers would help the society as a whole. With more intelligent youth taught by STEM teachers, more intelligent adult populations emerge as the youth continue to age, and a community is always in need of leaders who can think critically and make more civil and intelligent decisions.

http://www.ed.gov/stem

http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/at-work/education/stem-education-in-the-us-is-more-or-less-needed