We then presented these philosophical dilemmas through specific contemporary case studies: smoking ban in public places, China's one child policy, and same-sex marriage. In each case, we had the opportunity to consider the nature of the social dilemma and whether the state should be seen as best suited to preside over this matter in the interest of all.
Additionally, we got to break up into groups to debate a specific, yet artificial issue. The exercise was called "Flutes and Justice" and it was an adaptation of Aristotle's famous thought experiment. Each group had to decide which of three children -- Anne, Bob, and Carla -- should get a flute about which they are quarreling.
Anne is the only one who can play the flute well.
Bob is the poorest child and has no other toys.
Carla crafted the flute herself.
It was interesting to see how everyone argued different aspects to address their case. I argued in the position of Bob with Alex and we pointed out about how the flute can be used as a "tool for success" for Bob. Since he had no other toys, this could be an opportunity for Bob to focus on something in his free time, instead of possibly getting into trouble during his open time in his lower socioeconomic neighborhood. The others, though, were very adamant about their points. The group that supported Anne said that she deserves the flute since she can properly use it and live out the flutemaker's intentions. Finally, the group supporting Carla argued that she should be able to enjoy the fruits of her own labor. It was very cool to get into such a philosophical debate and see my peers in a different sort of academic setting. :)
After lunch, we watched Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food. He works with people in Britain in order to help them cook more healthily. One man even said, "I'm 84 and I haven't scraped a carrot, peeled a potato, or cut an onion." I couldn't believe it! It was really cool though that he was really taking a proactive approach to helping increase the health of the English people.
We then took an interesting twist by examining pros and cons of Obama's Health Care plan. First we watched a controversial clip of Glenn Beck on European Socialized Medicine. We debated the positives and negatives and it was hilarious because all the people who don't like the plan had to argue for it, and vice versa, so that added an interesting dynamic!
After a tiring second day we all went back and crashed. Everyone took naps except me... I was hard at work filling out postcards (twenty of them!) and finishing up my Facebook album full of London pictures. At around 7 we all went to dinner. Upon arrival, the staff requested that we eat in the adjacent dining hall -- so we did (we didn't want to start any riots)... everyone was dead tired tonight, but we managed to get ourselves to head into the city in order to soak up as much London life as possible! :)
We hopped on some buses and trains and got to Trafalgar Square! It was so beautiful at night :) Then we walked down to see Buckingham Palace and we even got to see a couple of those guards with the fuzzy hats!!
After we got back, most people went to sleep, but Jason and I stayed up to hang out and we began to hear strange noises on the wall of my room on which there is no room attached... only a storage closet... after we heard a squeaky door sound, it was time to investigate! After we found the creepy, broken handle of the storage closet, Alex happened to walk out of the bathroom with PERFECT timing... But we're convinced there's a ghost. We definitely name him Peter and we're convinced that he's from 1841 :)
Second horrible pun of the trip: BLUETOOTH!... I don't even know how to explain this one.
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