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  • Essay / My interest in the study of politics, philosophy and economics

    Politics, philosophy and economics intertwine to act as major global driving forces. Because of the interactions between the three, exemplified by tax cuts leading to greater inequality in the United States, I am deeply interested in studying these disciplines combined at a higher level. Inequality is an issue I encountered during my visit to India and witnessed its devastating effects. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay To begin to understand its economic foundations, I read “Capitalism: A Ghost Story” by Arundhati Roy. I was intrigued by the way the text was presented as an expose of the Indian government, offering deeper insight into the sacrifices people were forced to make to fuel the government's thirst for growth and consumption (and, in turn, global conglomerates). Shocked, I decided to look further into the matter, discovering that India's top decile owned almost 75% of its wealth, while the trend in the GINI coefficient showed that the problem continued to get worse. I also thought about how widespread the problem was within our own local communities in the UK. This led me to attend a talk by Danny Dorling, called “Peak Inequality”. I was particularly interested in his example that the UK private school sector is now the second most expensive in the world, whilst also demonstrating a clear market failure as inequality of access to education clearly exists. My desire to study economics comes from a desire to deepen my understanding of these issues. I am interested in the interaction of politics and economics. I recently reflected on the impact of the fall of the Turkish lira to 50% of its value in one year on international politics, as President Erdogan's continued rule during his 15-year rule relied on economic stability and, like Berlusconi's Italy in 2011, this economic crisis could put an end to his political career. My interest in international politics was further fueled by following the Brexit negotiations. As evidenced by the resignations of David Davis and Boris Johnson on the same day, the volatility of the political climate was exposed. This particular case poses a significant threat to the government, potentially placing the UK in a weaker position heading into Brexit negotiations. The volatile nature of politics at the moment has constantly captured my attention and so I am excited to study its intricacies in a more academic capacity. After taking a MOOC with Yale in political philosophy, I became captivated by the theory of utilitarianism, which led me to further research in which I found that Mills' rule utilitarianism was the most complete, where we no longer needed to rely on a case-by-case calculation as we see. in Bentham's version. However, Bentham's version intrigued me with its assertion that men can be ruled by two sovereign masters; either pain or pleasure. This seems to contradict the idea that men can be ruled by love or fear, as shown in Machiavelli's "Discourses on Livy." With further study, my goal is to examine many viewpoints to draw my own conclusions and understand if men could really be as simplistic as both researchers claim. Outside of university studies, I developed