Philosophy 2274 Business Ethics

Deanisha Williams

Philosophy 2274 Business Ethics

2/22/17

Business Ethics Paper No. 1

The word capitalism is now quite commonly used to describe the social system in which we now live. Apart of capitalism is that the individual is sovereign. So, a person’s thinking leads their actions and everyone is the master of their own destiny.  Capitalism in a nutshell is characterized by individualism, it is shaped by people owning their own things with private assets, private income and the law that supports it. When it comes to the political side it screams freedom and allows people to be successful through their own self with not much help. It forces things and the economy to be very competitive and make people work for their success and assets. After reading the novel, Ragged Dick, I found that it encourages and shows that people can benefits from a capitalistic society. The story took us through rise of the main character Dick from the bottom of society to growing into a valued member.

Many people don’t have the benefits of growing up wealthy or being a part of wealthy families. They also do not have the monetary or assets to pull themselves out from financial problems. So trying to become successful through capitalism just isn’t an option for a lot of people. To be successful through capitalism you must be individually stable and able to support yourself. Which is not the case when it comes to a lot of people and there is other constraint that takes place. In the case of Dick, he was able to surpass these constraints and change his appearance to become just as good as the upper class people.

In Dicks journey to living the American dream the importance of working your way up the economic ranks, sustaining a bank account, becoming industrious, and keeping up appearances. So it was important to “keep up with the joneses” which created a competitive atmosphere and how Dick was able to change in appearance by getting a suit and a place to live allowed him access to a whole new side of society that was blocked off from him before.

Dick was able to overcome his low class status by possessing good morals. He also became more successful by having high principles and having a good work ethic. He started off as a young bootblack that lives on the street. Unlike the other lower class children that choose to lie, cheat, and steal Dick does not.

In the beginning of the story Dicks we are given an inside look at dicks morals when a stranger asks Dick about his current situation concerning his financial practices, honest and they also talk about his home life. Dick starts to tell him that he believes in honesty and he lets that man know that he also does not believe in stealing. But even though he has those traits the book makes it known that he is not perfect just like everyone else. For example, the money that he makes throughout the days he turns around and spends it just as fast on things like gambling which many would consider to be a bad habit. He also spent his money on another bad habit of smoking. And he swore sometimes and every now and then he would play tricks on people or give people the wrong to the city.