【文章內容簡介】 business climate in which jobs are available on an equalopportunity basis, and in which candidates have a legal right to be judged on the merit of their educational background and experience.In conclusion, education is probably the main factor in opening doors to success for young people in our society. The fact that education has supplanted money and property in this role is owing to a more egalitarian system of higher education, as well as to more meritbased hiring practices that generally value individual education over family fortune or connections.13. “Responsibility for preserving the natural environment ultimately belongs to each individual person, not to government.”While nearly everyone would agree in principle that certain efforts to preserve the natural environment are in humankind’s best interest, environmental issues always involve a tug of war (n. 拔河, 兩派間的激烈競爭) among conflicting political and economic interests. For this reason, and because serious environmental problems are generally large in scale, government participation is needed to ensure environmental preservation.Experience tells us that individuals (and private corporations owned by individuals) tend to act on behalf of their own shortterm economic and political interest, not on behalf of the environment or the public at large. For example, current technology makes possible the plete elimination of polluting emissions from automobiles. Nevertheless, neither automobile manufacturers nor consumers are willing or able to voluntarily make the shortterm sacrifices necessary to acplish this goal. Only the government holds the regulatory and enforcement power to impose the necessary standards and to ensure that we achieve such goals.Aside from the problems of selfinterest and enforcement, environmental issues inherently involve public health and are far too pandemic in nature for individuals to solve on their own. Many of the most egregious environmental violations traverse state and sometimes national borders. Environmental hazards are akin to those involving food and drug safety and to protecting borders against enemies。 individuals have neither the power nor the resources to address these widespread hazards.In the final analysis, only the authority and scope of power that a government possesses can ensure the attainment of agreedupon environmental goals. Because individuals are incapable of assuming this responsibility, government must do so.16. “Public buildings reveal much about the attitudes and values of the society that builds them. Today’s new schools, courthouses, airports, and libraries, for example, reflect the attitudes and values of today’s society.”The extent to which new public buildings reflect societal values and attitudes depends on whether one considers a building’s intended function or its design. In the former sense, new public buildings do mirror society, while in the latter sense they do not.The intended uses of new public buildings say something about our priorities and values as a society. For example, proliferation of public cultural centers and schools reflects a societal concern for the arts and education, respectively, while new prison construction indicates a heightened concern for safety and security.The design of new public buildings, however, fails to mirror society, for two reasons. First, modern democratic states do not have the luxury of making cultural “statements” at any expense. Functionality and fiscal accountability dictate the face of public architecture today. Second, public participation in the process is limited. New buildings typically reflect the architect’s eccentric vision or the preference of a few public officials, not the populace’s values and attitudes. In England, for example, Prince Charles oversees and approves the design of new public buildings. The resulting conventional designs suggest his unwillingness to break from tradition. Yet it would seem unfair to assign his lack of vision to English society. In Denver, the controversial design of a new airport met with public outcry for its appearance, expense, and lack of functionality. Does the airport reflect the values of Denver’s denizens? Probably not.In conclusion, while modern public buildings seem to reflect the values and attitudes of a society in their function, they do not necessarily do so in their design.18. “If the primary duty and concern of a corporation is to make money, then conflict is inevitable when the corporation must also acknowledge a duty to serve society.”We take for granted that a primary objective and obligation of a corporation is to maximize profits. But does this mean a corporation cannot also fulfill its obligations to society? The speaker claims that the two duties necessarily conflict. In my view, however, a corporation’s duties to maximize shareholder wealth and to serve society will at times coincide and at times conflict。 and when they do conflict, neither takes automatic precedence over the other.Beyond the obvious duty to maximize shareholder wealth, corporations indeed owe a duty to serve society, especially the immediate munity, which permits corporations to operate in exchange for an implicit promise that the corporations will do no harm and will bring some benefit to the munity. These duties can often be fulfilled together. For example, a successful corporation brings jobs and related economic benefit to the munity. And, by contributing to munity activities and changes in other ways, the corporation gains a reputation for social responsibility that often helps it bee even more successful.However, at times these duties do conflict. Consider, for instance, a pany that unknowingly leaks into the ground a toxic substance that threatens to contaminate local groundwater. While the pany may favor an inexpensive containment program, munity leaders may want the pany to go further by cleaning up and restoring their environment—even if the expens