Cost And Benefit Analysis

Danni Chen 383677

To tell or not to tell?

Introduction

After almost two years of studying at the Erasmus University, my surroundings constantly serve as a reminder that I am an economic student. Cost and benefit analysis, rationality, utility…these terms seem to be engraved in my brain. We, as human beings, always aim for the highest utility. Attaching a monetary element to a situation removes the intangible factor. To me, decisions based on numerical values are very clear. Quantifying situation and other areas of human life makes it measurable. For instance, last Christmas my parents offered to pay for my round trip ticket to Aruba. The first thing that came to my mind was: “Is it worth it?” I had less than two weeks’ vacation and the ticket

I experienced this during the exercise of last week, even though I know which values are important to me. It was hard to pinpoint what the source of my values were or where did I learn them. After some careful consideration, I determined that the most important values to me were attained in my oikos. My oikos stands for all that I share with my immediate family and a few close friends. From my parents I learned the value of unconditional love and determination. The willingness to sacrifice for their children and the dedication for a better future. From my one and only brother I learned the value of loyalty. The need to fulfill our duties as a son/daughter, as a sibling, as a friend or as a partner. For instance, his duty as a son in our family is to take care of my parents (even after marriage) and this is the reason why he stayed in Aruba and gave me the opportunity to study abroad. From my best friend, Yvonne, I learned the value of honesty. An important value that I learned outside my oikos was equality. I would say that the source of this value is the society. The society seems like a very broad term but only crediting one aspect of society with the value of equality seems incomplete. Equality is displayed in the education system, the justice system and the employment system. It is the exposure to these areas that showed me the importance of equality. However, equality was not prominent in my home. In my parents’ household we were taught to be respectful and that entails not objecting the opinion of the elders. The cultural difference between the society and our household was a source of many disagreements, especially related to fairness. I interpret society’s values as the ones that have goal of keeping order in a country. These values could be justice and equality. These values have very clear distinction between right and wrong.