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Mission Mains 2021: GS 4 Ethics Discussion

This is for those of you who are planning to write Mains 2020. Primarily, the agenda of this thread would be 


1. Answer Writing Practice

2. Sharing examples - anecdotes from Current affairs relevant for GS4 Answer writing

3. Any doubts wrt. Paper 4!

Feel free to pool in your suggestions!

jack_Sparrow,Neyawnand91 otherslike this
283.9k views

519 comments

1. In one of the districts of a frontier state, narcotics menace has been rampant. This has resulted in money laundering, mushrooming of poppy farming, arms smuggling and near stalling of education. The system is on the verge of collapse. The situation has been further worsened by unconfirmed reports that local politicians as well as some senior police officers are providing surreptitious patronage to the drug mafia. At that point of time a woman police officer, known for her skills in handling such situations is appointed as superintendent of police to bring the situation to normalcy.
If you are the same police officer, identify the various dimensions of the crisis. Based on your understanding, suggest measures to deal with the crisis.
Patrick_jane,
51.8k views
2. Ethics, not capitalism, will yield profits in the long run. Analyse this statement in light of COVID pandemic.
Patrick_jane,
51.7k views

Various dimensions 

1. Political- politics without principle as seen from nexus with criminals 

2. Economic- commerce without morality->gaining income via drugs impacting life of youth 

 ->parallel economy and loss of tax revenue 

 ->higher chance of  crisis being preceded by unemployment and decline in agriculture revenue 

3. Social- failure of public service dispensing officials in ensuring strong education infrastructure 

4. Cultural- declining societal ethics and role of parents in guiding youth 


In such a situation, following measures must be undertaken 

1. Short term- take steps to cooperate with district collector and find out holistic causes (economic and others) pushing locals to drug and arms business 

 - Use state intelligence apparatus to track key locations fuelling the drug menace and links of arms trade 

 - make small arrests of low hierarchy players for information and confessions 

2. Medium term- building trust with community to act as local intelligence and get back faith in State

 - Tying up with civil society community to raise demand side pressure for accountability to political representative. Success of this step help in making bigger arrests via intelligence gathered.

3. Long term - promote local police and empowering them with responsibility of their own locality (community policing)


Deepak802,Oscarat12and4 otherslike this
51.2k views
2. Ethics, not capitalism, will yield profits in the long run. Analyse this statement in light of COVID pandemic.

The pandemic of Covid as exposed the perils of following capitalistic model of development. Prime example being USA, which is facing high number of deaths and cases. In this light, essential to view the capitalistic model popularised post 1991. 


Why capitalism led model being questioned 

1. Capitalism fuelled by globalisation ushered mobility of people across the globe. This became the cause of spread of Covid 

2. Capitalism has led to an unequal model of prosperity having negative impact during Covid. Eg The spread of Covid in slums, and difficulties faced by migrants 

 Benefits of ethics centric model 

1. One health model- inclusive and sustainable. Remedy the ills of capitalistic model by focussing simultaneously on ->Animal health, environmental cleanliness, human immunity 

2. Humanity- human centric model where priority given not to material pleasure but ease of living and happiness. Will result in 

a. Focus on primary health centre

b. Boosting education for disadvantaged sections

c. Planned urbanisation for remedying slums and migrant issues 


For yielding long term benefit, the need is to marry the above models and implement Humanistic capitalism. It will rightfully yield benefits of capitalism->generate wealth and bring about decline in poverty, create investment avenues. And also yield benefits of ethical model->sustainability via clean energy, inclusivity via upgrading capability of disadvantaged in form of education and health. 

Deepak802,Oscarat12and6 otherslike this
54.5k views

rashivsaid

2. Ethics, not capitalism, will yield profits in the long run. Analyse this statement in light of COVID pandemic.

The pandemic of Covid as exposed the perils of following capitalistic model of development. Prime example being USA, which is facing high number of deaths and cases. In this light, essential to view the capitalistic model popularised post 1991. 


Why capitalism led model being questioned 

1. Capitalism fuelled by globalisation ushered mobility of people across the globe. This became the cause of spread of Covid 

2. Capitalism has led to an unequal model of prosperity having negative impact during Covid. Eg The spread of Covid in slums, and difficulties faced by migrants 

 Benefits of ethics centric model 

1. One health model- inclusive and sustainable. Remedy the ills of capitalistic model by focussing simultaneously on ->Animal health, environmental cleanliness, human immunity 

2. Humanity- human centric model where priority given not to material pleasure but ease of living and happiness. Will result in 

a. Focus on primary health centre

b. Boosting education for disadvantaged sections

c. Planned urbanisation for remedying slums and migrant issues 


For yielding long term benefit, the need is to marry the above models and implement Humanistic capitalism. It will rightfully yield benefits of capitalism->generate wealth and bring about decline in poverty, create investment avenues. And also yield benefits of ethical model->sustainability via clean energy, inclusivity via upgrading capability of disadvantaged in form of education and health. 

Would you want to substantiate your answer with some actual examples here ?

51.6k views

rashivsaid

2. Ethics, not capitalism, will yield profits in the long run. Analyse this statement in light of COVID pandemic.

The pandemic of Covid as exposed the perils of following capitalistic model of development. Prime example being USA, which is facing high number of deaths and cases. In this light, essential to view the capitalistic model popularised post 1991. 


Why capitalism led model being questioned 

1. Capitalism fuelled by globalisation ushered mobility of people across the globe. This became the cause of spread of Covid 

2. Capitalism has led to an unequal model of prosperity having negative impact during Covid. Eg The spread of Covid in slums, and difficulties faced by migrants 

 Benefits of ethics centric model 

1. One health model- inclusive and sustainable. Remedy the ills of capitalistic model by focussing simultaneously on ->Animal health, environmental cleanliness, human immunity 

2. Humanity- human centric model where priority given not to material pleasure but ease of living and happiness. Will result in 

a. Focus on primary health centre

b. Boosting education for disadvantaged sections

c. Planned urbanisation for remedying slums and migrant issues 


For yielding long term benefit, the need is to marry the above models and implement Humanistic capitalism. It will rightfully yield benefits of capitalism->generate wealth and bring about decline in poverty, create investment avenues. And also yield benefits of ethical model->sustainability via clean energy, inclusivity via upgrading capability of disadvantaged in form of education and health. 

Would you want to substantiate your answer with some actual examples here ?

1.  Increasing prices of hand-sanitizers forced Amazon India to take a tough stand against predatory sellers.

2. Tata Group has promised all its temporary and daily-wage earners full pay.

3. Healthcare spends of private companies as CSR - creates a healthy balance. 

I am sure we can quote many more from the current situation. 

ssver2,
51.6k views
there used to be a thread on quest where we collected various examples to quote. Can't find the link to that thread, I think it's lost :(
49.9k views

rashivsaid

Various dimensions 

1. Political- politics without principle as seen from nexus with criminals 

2. Economic- commerce without morality->gaining income via drugs impacting life of youth 

 ->parallel economy and loss of tax revenue 

 ->higher chance of  crisis being preceded by unemployment and decline in agriculture revenue 

3. Social- failure of public service dispensing officials in ensuring strong education infrastructure 

4. Cultural- declining societal ethics and role of parents in guiding youth 


In such a situation, following measures must be undertaken 

1. Short term- take steps to cooperate with district collector and find out holistic causes (economic and others) pushing locals to drug and arms business 

 - Use state intelligence apparatus to track key locations fuelling the drug menace and links of arms trade 

 - make small arrests of low hierarchy players for information and confessions 

2. Medium term- building trust with community to act as local intelligence and get back faith in State

 - Tying up with civil society community to raise demand side pressure for accountability to political representative. Success of this step help in making bigger arrests via intelligence gathered.

3. Long term - promote local police and empowering them with responsibility of their own locality (community policing)


It's a very well structured answer.

+  narcotics legally prohibited

Discuss social dimensions of problem and involve NGOs, Panchayat leaders

+ Reduce Demand - Drug awareness campaigns , drug de-addiction centres, counseling - to induce behavioural changes.  


51.6k views
there used to be a thread on quest where we collected various examples to quote. Can't find the link to that thread, I think it's lost :(

@Neyawn @root Can you please help?

51.6k views

3) What do each of the following quotations mean to you in the present context? 

- Our world is in crisis because of the absence of consciousness.



51.5k views

rashivsaid

Various dimensions 

1. Political- politics without principle as seen from nexus with criminals 

2. Economic- commerce without morality->gaining income via drugs impacting life of youth 

 ->parallel economy and loss of tax revenue 

 ->higher chance of  crisis being preceded by unemployment and decline in agriculture revenue 

3. Social- failure of public service dispensing officials in ensuring strong education infrastructure 

4. Cultural- declining societal ethics and role of parents in guiding youth 


In such a situation, following measures must be undertaken 

1. Short term- take steps to cooperate with district collector and find out holistic causes (economic and others) pushing locals to drug and arms business 

 - Use state intelligence apparatus to track key locations fuelling the drug menace and links of arms trade 

 - make small arrests of low hierarchy players for information and confessions 

2. Medium term- building trust with community to act as local intelligence and get back faith in State

 - Tying up with civil society community to raise demand side pressure for accountability to political representative. Success of this step help in making bigger arrests via intelligence gathered.

3. Long term - promote local police and empowering them with responsibility of their own locality (community policing)


It's a very well structured answer.

+  narcotics legally prohibited

Discuss social dimensions of problem and involve NGOs, Panchayat leaders

+ Reduce Demand - Drug awareness campaigns , drug de-addiction centres, counseling - to induce behavioural changes.  


Some more steps which can be adopted to reduce the impact of drug menace like:-

1. Keeping a check on events like music festivals or rave parties as these events are often such places where drugs like ecstasy, mdma, etc are used for example- Sunburn Festival.

2. Undertaking a social audit in institutions such as schools and colleges to find out the scale of youth  into drug abuse if any, for example use of dope testing.

3. Promotion of Fit India movement to nudge the youth into sports and extra-curricular activities like hosting a football tournament, a natural body building competition etc.

4. Incentivising and protecting whistleblowers which may help in providing intelligence inputs which may further help in raids and seizures.

Dora-the_Explorer,Patrick_janeand4 otherslike this
50.1k views

rashivsaid

Various dimensions 

1. Political- politics without principle as seen from nexus with criminals 

2. Economic- commerce without morality->gaining income via drugs impacting life of youth 

 ->parallel economy and loss of tax revenue 

 ->higher chance of  crisis being preceded by unemployment and decline in agriculture revenue 

3. Social- failure of public service dispensing officials in ensuring strong education infrastructure 

4. Cultural- declining societal ethics and role of parents in guiding youth 


In such a situation, following measures must be undertaken 

1. Short term- take steps to cooperate with district collector and find out holistic causes (economic and others) pushing locals to drug and arms business 

 - Use state intelligence apparatus to track key locations fuelling the drug menace and links of arms trade 

 - make small arrests of low hierarchy players for information and confessions 

2. Medium term- building trust with community to act as local intelligence and get back faith in State

 - Tying up with civil society community to raise demand side pressure for accountability to political representative. Success of this step help in making bigger arrests via intelligence gathered.

3. Long term - promote local police and empowering them with responsibility of their own locality (community policing)


It's a very well structured answer.

+  narcotics legally prohibited

Discuss social dimensions of problem and involve NGOs, Panchayat leaders

+ Reduce Demand - Drug awareness campaigns , drug de-addiction centres, counseling - to induce behavioural changes.  


Some more steps which can be adopted to reduce the impact of drug menace like:-

1. Keeping a check on events like music festivals or rave parties as these events are often such places where drugs like ecstasy, mdma, etc are used for example- Sunburn Festival.

2. Undertaking a social audit in institutions such as schools and colleges to find out the scale of youth  into drug abuse if any, for example use of dope testing.

3. Promotion of Fit India movement to nudge the youth into sports and extra-curricular activities like hosting a football tournament, a natural body building competition etc.

4. Incentivising and protecting whistleblowers which may help in providing intelligence inputs which may further help in raids and seizures.

Great inputs. 

TheNotorious,
51.5k views

rashivsaid

2. Ethics, not capitalism, will yield profits in the long run. Analyse this statement in light of COVID pandemic.

The pandemic of Covid as exposed the perils of following capitalistic model of development. Prime example being USA, which is facing high number of deaths and cases. In this light, essential to view the capitalistic model popularised post 1991. 


Why capitalism led model being questioned 

1. Capitalism fuelled by globalisation ushered mobility of people across the globe. This became the cause of spread of Covid 

2. Capitalism has led to an unequal model of prosperity having negative impact during Covid. Eg The spread of Covid in slums, and difficulties faced by migrants 

 Benefits of ethics centric model 

1. One health model- inclusive and sustainable. Remedy the ills of capitalistic model by focussing simultaneously on ->Animal health, environmental cleanliness, human immunity 

2. Humanity- human centric model where priority given not to material pleasure but ease of living and happiness. Will result in 

a. Focus on primary health centre

b. Boosting education for disadvantaged sections

c. Planned urbanisation for remedying slums and migrant issues 


For yielding long term benefit, the need is to marry the above models and implement Humanistic capitalism. It will rightfully yield benefits of capitalism->generate wealth and bring about decline in poverty, create investment avenues. And also yield benefits of ethical model->sustainability via clean energy, inclusivity via upgrading capability of disadvantaged in form of education and health. 

Would you want to substantiate your answer with some actual examples here ?

1.  Increasing prices of hand-sanitizers forced Amazon India to take a tough stand against predatory sellers.

2. Tata Group has promised all its temporary and daily-wage earners full pay.

3. Healthcare spends of private companies as CSR - creates a healthy balance. 

I am sure we can quote many more from the current situation. 

Pertinent examples, shall note it down

upsc2020,
50.3k views

rashivsaid

Various dimensions 

1. Political- politics without principle as seen from nexus with criminals 

2. Economic- commerce without morality->gaining income via drugs impacting life of youth 

 ->parallel economy and loss of tax revenue 

 ->higher chance of  crisis being preceded by unemployment and decline in agriculture revenue 

3. Social- failure of public service dispensing officials in ensuring strong education infrastructure 

4. Cultural- declining societal ethics and role of parents in guiding youth 


In such a situation, following measures must be undertaken 

1. Short term- take steps to cooperate with district collector and find out holistic causes (economic and others) pushing locals to drug and arms business 

 - Use state intelligence apparatus to track key locations fuelling the drug menace and links of arms trade 

 - make small arrests of low hierarchy players for information and confessions 

2. Medium term- building trust with community to act as local intelligence and get back faith in State

 - Tying up with civil society community to raise demand side pressure for accountability to political representative. Success of this step help in making bigger arrests via intelligence gathered.

3. Long term - promote local police and empowering them with responsibility of their own locality (community policing)


It's a very well structured answer.

+  narcotics legally prohibited

Discuss social dimensions of problem and involve NGOs, Panchayat leaders

+ Reduce Demand - Drug awareness campaigns , drug de-addiction centres, counseling - to induce behavioural changes.  


De-addiction centre + counselling are good points I missed 

upsc2020,
50.3k views

3) What do each of the following quotations mean to you in the present context? 

- Our world is in crisis because of the absence of consciousness.



@TheNotorious @rashiv 

51.3k views

3) What do each of the following quotations mean to you in the present context? 

- Our world is in crisis because of the absence of consciousness.



The spread of Corona virus in 2020 has only compounded the impending crisis that humanity faced. From irreversible environmental damage highlighted by IPCC report, to rise in conflict in violence in Middle East ; the many crisis only made matters worse collectively.


In this light, the role of consciousness as cause of the ongoing crisis and also as a remedy is instrumental. Consciousness refers to an individuals awareness and resulting responsiveness to its surrounding. 

Absence of consciousness and it’s role in crisis 

1. Political- despotic government are unaware and unresponsive to needs of citizen. Which when unmet results in protests, instability and conflict. Eg- beginning of Syrian conflict 

2. Economic- the privileged class are often criticised of not being conscious of their responsibility to do more for the society. Their preference for living in a isolated bubble perpetuates inequality evidenced by Oxfam report 

3. Social- Not being aware of duties and boundaries of ones right often leads to societal clashes. Eg Gun violence in USA 

4. Environmental- Developed countries not taking cognisance of their historical responsibility and contributing financially and technologically is delaying achieving Paris agreement goals. 


Living in an interconnected world and being social animals, humans needs to be more conscious of their surrounding. That’s the first step in insisting remedying action. Doing our duties as global citizen and raising our voice when injustice is committed is the need of the hour. 

upsc2020,Ludvik_Jahn
50.2k views
madam meri GS 4 ki abhi bilkul tyaari nahi hai. I don’t have any idea on  how to write a full fledged, structure-wise GS4 answer.
I will observe how veterans and pro players like @rashiv bhai are writing here and then will try to attempt.
Maafi chaahunga. :/


rashiv,nerdfighter
49.4k views

@TheNotorious Had they been true, I would have loved to take those two adjectives as compliments. 

If possible don’t write a structured answer, just write pointers. Aim is for your brain to get adept at thinking about diverse questions 

Allen_Barry,upsc2020and2 otherslike this
50.4k views
Your answer’s content is good and the structure is crisp and well organised too that is the reason why I said so. It clearly reflects that you are one seasoned person and have prior experience of writing mains too(I May be wrong here)
And okay, i will try.
 


upsc2020,rashiv
49.4k views
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