Like stated before by my colleague and friend Robert Stephenson, we are in a world of quick fixes. From abortions to marriages, society today likes to answer their problems quickly and efficiently. The question, though, is why? Why do people feel the need to take the easy route in life? I think the answer is more than laziness or carelessness or selfishness. The answer is drawn from consequentialism, and consequentialism is a small stem from a larger flower. A flower that has blossomed around the minds of generation-Y without us even knowing it. This flower is utilitarianism.
Coming from an open utilitarian, it has influenced more of us in our thinking than we know. Utilitarianism is the ideology that the moral worth of an action is measured through its propensity to maximize utility, and the probability, not possibility, of the action to minimize negative utility. To further understand utilitarianism, you must understand that a utility is defined as pleasure or preference to happiness. Determining whether the action is moral and if it is worth its means of producing the result is thinking like a utilitarian. It will be easier to comprehend with a few examples.
The biggest act of utilitarianism in history is the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan at the end of World War II. While many debate that this force was unnecessary, it could have saved millions of American lives because the Japanese were in the process of finishing their own atomic bomb. What makes this act utilitarian is this: yes, we did kill thousands of Japanese civilians and caused a lot of collateral damage, yet at the same time, it ended any threat of the Japanese dropping their own bomb on us (i.e. it minimized negative utility). It also showed every country, yet the world, that throughout the history of “the bomb”, we are the only country that has been able to press that button, and that has its utilitarian effects as well. A very simple way of defining utilitarianism is the end justifies the means. If the end result was worth the means of producing that result, then it was worth it and inevitably utilitarian. The same is true today with social issues like abortion and divorce. Abortion is a very touchy topic because of the ties it has to religious thought and beliefs, yet some people believe that getting the abortion is best for them, their family, and maybe even the unborn child. This idea holds true for marriages and divorce as it does for conception and abortion.
Generation-Y is not just looking for the quick fix. We are smarter than that. We are the generation that is going to change this world. Not just through american politics or social issues. Not just through technology and social networks, yet through a new form of thinking. A form of thinking that allows for the betterment of a whole, instead of the well- being of an idea or moral belief. Abortion is a great example because of the argument as to whether it is moral or not. Utilitarians do not care about the morality of an idea or action as long as at the end of the day, the action maximized your pleasure and minimized your preference to happiness.
Utilitarians are perfect for generation-Y because I feel that our generation is becoming less and less moral and a little more open-minded and lenient towards things that were once considered immoral. This is the cause for the quick fixes of society. If you are not happy with your marriage and the only way to maximize your utility is to divorce, then
By all means sign that contract. If the only way to minimize your negative utility is to get an abortion (for whatever reason), then get an abortion. Do not do these things because you have the right to. Get a divorce or an abortion because in the end it was whats best for you, your partner, and the people around you, whether it was immoral or not.
Utilitarianism is the new in. It is the new form of thinking. It is the new process of elimination. It is the new way of reaching decisions. Generation-Y is not lazy or careless. We actually care more now than we did in the past. We care about our well-being, your well-being, and his/her well-being. Utilitarianism allows us to make decisions , moral or immoral, with the attempt to make your life and everyone elses' around you better by maximizing pleasure and minimizing your negative pursuit of happiness.
Whether shunned or stared, immoral or moral, in the end maximize your pleasure,
Generation-Y’s first utilitarian,
Coming from an open utilitarian, it has influenced more of us in our thinking than we know. Utilitarianism is the ideology that the moral worth of an action is measured through its propensity to maximize utility, and the probability, not possibility, of the action to minimize negative utility. To further understand utilitarianism, you must understand that a utility is defined as pleasure or preference to happiness. Determining whether the action is moral and if it is worth its means of producing the result is thinking like a utilitarian. It will be easier to comprehend with a few examples.
The biggest act of utilitarianism in history is the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan at the end of World War II. While many debate that this force was unnecessary, it could have saved millions of American lives because the Japanese were in the process of finishing their own atomic bomb. What makes this act utilitarian is this: yes, we did kill thousands of Japanese civilians and caused a lot of collateral damage, yet at the same time, it ended any threat of the Japanese dropping their own bomb on us (i.e. it minimized negative utility). It also showed every country, yet the world, that throughout the history of “the bomb”, we are the only country that has been able to press that button, and that has its utilitarian effects as well. A very simple way of defining utilitarianism is the end justifies the means. If the end result was worth the means of producing that result, then it was worth it and inevitably utilitarian. The same is true today with social issues like abortion and divorce. Abortion is a very touchy topic because of the ties it has to religious thought and beliefs, yet some people believe that getting the abortion is best for them, their family, and maybe even the unborn child. This idea holds true for marriages and divorce as it does for conception and abortion.
Generation-Y is not just looking for the quick fix. We are smarter than that. We are the generation that is going to change this world. Not just through american politics or social issues. Not just through technology and social networks, yet through a new form of thinking. A form of thinking that allows for the betterment of a whole, instead of the well- being of an idea or moral belief. Abortion is a great example because of the argument as to whether it is moral or not. Utilitarians do not care about the morality of an idea or action as long as at the end of the day, the action maximized your pleasure and minimized your preference to happiness.
Utilitarians are perfect for generation-Y because I feel that our generation is becoming less and less moral and a little more open-minded and lenient towards things that were once considered immoral. This is the cause for the quick fixes of society. If you are not happy with your marriage and the only way to maximize your utility is to divorce, then
By all means sign that contract. If the only way to minimize your negative utility is to get an abortion (for whatever reason), then get an abortion. Do not do these things because you have the right to. Get a divorce or an abortion because in the end it was whats best for you, your partner, and the people around you, whether it was immoral or not.
Utilitarianism is the new in. It is the new form of thinking. It is the new process of elimination. It is the new way of reaching decisions. Generation-Y is not lazy or careless. We actually care more now than we did in the past. We care about our well-being, your well-being, and his/her well-being. Utilitarianism allows us to make decisions , moral or immoral, with the attempt to make your life and everyone elses' around you better by maximizing pleasure and minimizing your negative pursuit of happiness.
Whether shunned or stared, immoral or moral, in the end maximize your pleasure,
Generation-Y’s first utilitarian,
Carl D. Pitts
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