Assignment 08

SUS1501 – Sustainability and Greed

Student Number: 68426267
Date: 25/04/22
Teaching Assistant Name: Neil Stuart ECCLES

Declaration:

By submitting this assignment, I implicitly declare that this is my own work.

I am aware that if ANY unacknowledged copying is detected in ANY part of this assignment, I
will get 0 (zero) for the entire assignment.

INSTRUCTIONS:
• Read the “1. Introduction” section below;
• Fill in your assignment contributions under the relevant headings 2-5 below;
• Save the file as a Word document with a short name (myUnisa will reject files with long names);
• Submit this file into the Assignments tool on myUnisa;
• Take a screen grab of the final submission acknowledgement on myUnisa and save this
somewhere safe in case of any disputes:
• Check under the Assignments tool that there is a date in the “Processed” cell for the SUS1501
Assignment 8.

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1. INTRODUCTION (Written for you by Prof Eccles)
In assignment 2 we debated the fact that Bob van Dijk earned R 1.9 billion in 2010. In the final analysis
we were asked two questions:

• “2. What do you think about Bob van Dijk earning ZAR 1.9 billion?”
• “3. Why do you think this?”

In effect we were asked to present an argument (the answer to question 3) supporting a conclusion (the
answer to question 2).

Students opinions on this could be divided into two groups:

• Those who had no problem with someone earning that amount of money; OR
• Those who had a real problem with someone earning that sort of money.

In this assignment, I’m going to:

• Analyze the argument of a fellow student whose conclusion I disagree with;

• Tell you what was wrong with the premises;
• Tell you how their argument might not be valid; and finally
• Present you with a much better argument supporting my own option on this matter

2. A BAD ARGUMENT
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU PUT THIS IN INVERTED COMMAS (“) AND THAT YOU PUT THE NAME OF THE
STUDENT WHO SUBMITTED IT

NONTUTHUKO ZOTHILE DLAMINI said “2.What do you think about Bob Van Dijk earning 1.9 billion?
to be honestly i envy the guy i mean who wouldn't want to earn so much money, i can think of all things
i can do with my salary buy a new house, pay my outstanding fees at school and take my young siblings
to prestigious school. but on the othe hand i look at the staff whom work for above 40years to earn such
amount while their are making 60million in a company but earn less of what their are making. although
"work hard pays off" it was his dedicated and talent to make his business to successful today.
3.Why do you think this?
there are many families and children who struggle to survive as they are too poor to afford any food and
shelter,. they cannot fulfill their need, i think that there are many different ways that one individual with
an earning that big can help better south african economy and help people in need of basic resources
such as food and shelter. if the rich only become richer, that would mean that the poor will only become
poorly which will make it most impossible to improve poverty. hard working and sacrifices pays off i
believe you will get out what you put in and therefore Bob Van Dijk earnings.”

3. THE PREMISES AND THE CONCLUSION

1. premises 1: the student said “to be honestly i envy the guy i mean who wouldn't want to earn so
much money, i can think of all things i can do with my salary buy a new house, pay my outstanding fees
at school and take my young siblings to prestigious school.”

Premises 2: “if the rich only become richer, that would mean that the poor will only become poorly
which will make it most impossible to improve poverty.”

Premises 3: “there are many families and children who struggle to survive as they are too poor to afford
any food and shelter,.”

2.
4. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE PREMISES
1.It is true and satisfying that there are exceptional talented persons such as van Dijk. Any organization
requires someone to assist them in developing a suitable and realistic purpose and vision for their
organization. Speculators just need to invest in a firm that is performing well. In the case that this is also
sufficient.

2. The implied premise is that the amount that van Dijk is winning will also attract speculators, but how
is this possible given that someone's compensation is confidential? This is not a commendable
statement.

5. MY BETTER ARGUMENT
1. Bob Van Dijk works hard for his money, and he is entitled to the highest pay since he puts in the
greatest effort. He studied hard in school and has all of the skills needed to be a successful CEO. The
position of CEO is tough to fill, and the responsibilities are huge. He earns thus much because to tough
competition and a lack of CEO talent. Given that he's worked with the business for years and has only
had great success, I don't see why he shouldn't make this much in a year.

2. Bob Van Dijk is the CEO of one of the most successful companies in our country. He is both the
company's public face and its most valuable and important employee. So, why isn't he making this much
money in a year? The company would not exist without him