SUS1501 Assignment 8 PORTFOLIO (DETAILED ANSWERS) Semester 2 2025 - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED

SUS1501 Assignment 8 PORTFOLIO (DETAILED ANSWERS) Semester 2 2025 - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED Answers, guidelines, workings and references ,.. FINAL PORTFOLIO: BACK AT THE CROSSROAD? NB THIS ASSIGNMENT WILL BE SUBMITTED TO TURNITIN TO CHECK FOR PLAGIARISM Phew! Almost done. Just one last thing to do – assemble a portfolio. But before we get down to the nitty gritty of that, I’m curious. In the module welcome message on the home pages, wepromised you a crazy module. In fact we warned you that: “ If by the end of this module you have not: wondered whether you are registered for the wrong degree; wondered whether your lecturers have lost their marbles; wondered whether you have lost your marbles; had to go for a walk to clear your mind; wondered what the point of all this stuff is; or wondered what the point of everything is; well then you need to check that you have a pulse! ” So, did you? ...... Did you: wonder whether you were registered for the wrong degree?; wonder whether your lecturers had lost their marbles?; wonder whether you had lost your marbles?; have to go for a walk to clear your mind?; wonder what the point of all this stuff was?; or wonder what the point of everything was? Hope so! Ok, let’s get on with the final activity. AIM OF THE PORTFOLIO The aim of this portfolio is for you to reflect, in a reasonably organized fashion, on the things that you have thought aboutthroughout this crazy module. INSTRUCTIONS: Step 1: Download the Portfolio Template from a bit further down in this section. ASSIGNMENT Assessment 8 - 590471  13/08/2025, 23:07 SUS1501-25-S2-241T: Assessment 8 - 590471 Portfolio Template 25-S 31 July 2025, 6:09 PM Step 2: Fill in the template as per the instructions in it. In addition to the instructions on the template, you should understand that ultimately, we are really looking to see that youhave critically thought about your original choices in the multiple choice assignment with the benefit of all of the stuff youhave read – both the theory and any discussions. Now obviously all of this reading might have done 3 things: Put you to sleep – it will really help us improve the module if you explain this to us; Confirmed your original views – in this case we are looking for “Notes” which indicate how certain of the theoryor discussions have reinforced your original views. Changed your original views – in this case we are looking for “Notes” which explain how theory or discussionshave forced you to re-think your world view. In all cases be specific - which theories, which discussions. If we don't see references to theory and other discussions, itis highly unlikely that you will get more than 60% for this assessment. Besides these things, you might also have comments on the questions or options themselves. In terms of all these notes, we are really not looking for a "Note" on every single one of the questions unless your worldhas really totally shifted. We would rather have a good quality note on a handful – at least 10 – than a rubbish note (e.g. "Ichanged my mind") on all 20. Finally, please don't forget to do a good conclusion. A good conclusion will really make a huge difference to your mark. “Show me a great fortune and I’ll show you a great crime.” (a translation from Honoré de Balzac) My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Clearly Balzac had taken too much hashish when he wrote that! b. It is completely possible to make a fortune by legal means – in fact this is what I intend to do in my life. c. I don't care - watch out Elon Musk, here I come! d. I think that this is absolutely true. e. Even if great fortunes are acquired in a technically legal way, they are always morally problematic. Choice now: Choice in assignment 1: Notes: 12. "You won’t make the poor rich by making the rich poorer." (Winston Churchill) My personal opinion of what should be done is most closely described by: a. This is rubbish and we should attack extreme wealth wherever it arises. b. This is the sort of trite rhetoric that the rich try and sell to the world in order to protect their privilege. c. This is rubbish. If a few take a huge share, it leaves that much less for the rest. It’s simple maths. d. This is absolutely true. Without the money that the rich have, the poor would be that much worse off and lefty socialists would do well to understand this fact. e. Since my personal aim is to be rich, my opinion here is simple – just leave the rich alone. Choice now: Choice in assignment 1: Notes: 13. “60% of the world’s cobalt is mined in the DRC. Significant amounts of this is mined under appalling conditions often by child labourers.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. What’s cobalt got to do with to me? b. The DRC is a long way from where I live so I don’t really care. c. This is just a fact of global supply chains and necessary for global economic growth, which is in everyone’s best interest. d. I wonder who is profiting out of this? e. It breaks my heart to see children exploited. This is morally wrong and must not be allowed. Choice now: Choice in assignment 1: Notes: 14. “Of the top 10 wealthiest people (all men), eight are tech billionaires. Their net worth is US$ 1.6 trillion or ZAR 31 trillion!” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. I think that such wealth is utterly immoral when there is so much poverty and suffering in the world and so active steps should be taken to correct this. b. These billionaires are all tech visionaries and deserve every cent of their wealth because of their brilliance. c. Why would anyone want or need that amount of money? d. These are my heroes. I aspire to be like them. e. Bill Gates is one of them and look at how much money he is giving to the poor through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Choice now: Choice in assignment 1: Notes: 15. “Greed is good” (Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street) My personal opinion of what should be done, is most closely described by: a. It’s not good or bad. It’s just how things are. b. Absolutely! If it wasn’t for greed we would never achieve anything. c. I’m not sure. Sometimes I think that it’s good. At other times I think that it’s bad. d. It depends on how you define “greed”. e. Absolutely not! Greed is bad. It leads to much pain and suffering. Choice now: Choice in assignment 1: Notes: 16. “The most environmentally friendly product is the one you didn’t buy.” (Joshua Becker) My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. I really don’t care about the environment. b. Yeah – I really want a Range Rover so I am going to say this is rubbish irrespective of whether is makes any sense. c. This is a very subversive statement aimed at collapsing capitalism and human happiness. d. As much as I want a Range Rover, this is a really wise statement. e. Capitalism’s lust for consumption is the greatest threat to the sustainability of the human species. Choice now: Choice in assignment 1: Notes: 17. “Save the Eastern gorilla!!!” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Why? b. I really have never bothered to think about gorillas before! c. Let the DRC and Rwanda deal with this problem – Eastern gorillas are their natural resources. d. Morally we must save the Eastern gorilla. e. We must save Eastern gorillas because their survival is critical for sustaining healthy ecosystems. Choice now: Choice in assignment 1: Notes: 18. “Black lives matter.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. So do white lives matter b. “All lives matter.” c. The problem is that at the moment this is not supported by evidence. d. Finally we are starting to recognise this! e. Slogans are pointless. We need to enforce radical social changes aimed at actively destroying structural racism. Choice now: Choice in assignment 1: Notes: 19. “Even before COVID, one out of every five South Africans lived below the food poverty line.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Who cares? b. If population growth rates of the poor were not so high they wouldn’t be so poor. c. If they worked harder, they wouldn't be so poor. d. This is sad, but to be honest, it is not going to stop me from focusing on my own wellbeing first. e. I think that we must all strive to eliminate poverty together. Choice now: Choice in assignment 1: Notes: 20. “Every day some 20,000 children die prematurely from poverty related causes, mostly treatable diseases.” My personal opinion on this statement is most closely described by: a. Who cares? b. It’s hard to say it, but given the rising human population, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise for the human species as a whole c. It’s hard to say it, but this just means less people competing with me for scarce opportunities and resources. d. This is morally wrong, but practically, I think that it would cost too much money to solve e. It is morally unacceptable for a single child to die of a preventable disease and we should collectively fix this irrespective of the cost. Choice now: Choice in assignment 1: Notes: