1. Writing Warm-Up: Utilitarianism<br />I believe that it is possible for individuals to take the concept of personal pleasure/happiness too far; the trouble is deciding when a person has crossed the line. I believe that an individual has taken happiness too far when they become greedy and unhappy with the simple things in life, they feel as if they need to fulfill their wants instead of others needs. When someone focuses just on their happiness they forget about the feelings and emotions of others and become selfish. In life we need to experience things that make us unhappy so we can appreciate the simple things that make us happy. In the term “utilitarianism” we understand that we need to maximize the pleasure/ happiness and minimize the pain but when we take our own pleasure and happiness as far as we can we tend to cause pain to the others around us which contradicts the concept of utilitarianism. In society it is harder to take pleasure/happiness too far because each individual would have to exceed their own happiness in order for the society to take it too far because the society is the collective identity of the individuals, but it is still possible to do. If the society makes decisions that are better for the society but harm others in some way I believe it has been taken too far because there is always other options which can make the majority of people happy.<br />In a society which is encouraged to pursue pleasure to the highest degree needs to be balanced among the society or else jealously between the individuals will cause people to do whatever they need to too gain what the others above them have. One law that would be put in place is the exemption of taxation so people can put their individual wealth towards things that increase their happiness and the second law that might be in this type of society is the whole month of July off to relax and enjoy things that maximize their happiness.<br />In life there are many activities or decisions that are painful or uncomfortable but still have value to the society. For example the oil sands in Fort McMurray, Alberta cause harm to the animals and the environment they live in but it gives many of us Albertans jobs and the opportunity to support our families. It also brings wealth to the province because many other countries look to purchase oil from Alberta which increases the wealth available to us. A utilitarian would support this because it is the best thing to do for the biggest number of people. There are more people that benefit from the oil sands then people harmed. Another example would be the paying of taxes, many people find taxes another stress and pain on their budget and believe it is not being put to any good. Taxes fund projects that give us enjoyment like having freshly paved roads, walking paths, recently cut grass to look at and recreational facilities to bring happiness to children. The utilitarian’s would still support taxes because of the cost benefit analysis states that even though something may be painful if it is a benefit a to the greatest number of people it is respected by a utilitarian.<br />I believe that the utilitarian idea that we as individuals must maximize happiness and minimize suffering is an idea that must be respected to a certain point. If we as individuals minimize the amount of pain in our life’s we can give every individual the same opportunity to have the best quality of life, but at the same time we must experience some sense of pain to learn how to cope with it and how to prevent it in the future. I disagree with the idea that we should overtax the wealthy people like Bill gates to provide money for the poor. I believe that the wealthy individual should have the ability to decide if they want to share the extra money to help the poor, but the individual shall be taxed the same as any other person.<br />