pick one of the topic in the file below.
1. What is the difference between ‘real progress’ and ‘progress traps’ according to Wright?
Why does he refer to civilization as a ‘pyramid scheme’? What is the Victorian ideal of
progress, and how might this have contributed to an ideology of progress that has
helped to obscure the fact that our civilization is in the midst of ‘the biggest progress
trap in human history’?
2. What is the difference between the ‘social division of labour’ and the ‘detail division of
labour’, according to Braverman? What are the social consequences of the capitalist
organization of production? What is the Babbage Principle and how does its application
to the labour process result in the ‘degradation of work’? How can we use Rice’s play to
illustrate the effects Braverman describes?
3. How does Nace define the modern corporation and how is it different from the
‘classical’ form? What are the ‘essential characteristics’ of the corporation, according to
Glasbeek? How does limited liability help to protect investors (shareholders) and
executives, managers and directors of the corporation from individual responsibility?
Who—or what—is responsible for what happens to the farmers in Steinbeck’s story?
4. Should the corporation have legal and ethical obligations to society beyond promoting
the private interests—maximizing profits—of shareholders? Why does Friedman refer
to ‘social responsibility’ as a ‘dangerous doctrine’? Does Garrett’s main character (Mr.
Galt) behave the way he ought to, according to Friedman? How does Glasbeek’s critique
of the ethical justification of capitalism represent a response to Friedman?
