In a real world if all people earned ZAR 620 000 000.00 for a year’s work, there would be so much income and spending going around that markets will eventually cease to exist. Businesses will stop competing for prices, thus leading to a downfall in the economy. There will also be shortages of products and services as everyone will want everything that money can buy. Market demand and supply will be non-existent. Therefore it is very likely that this maxim is not conceivable in the real world ruled by the universal law.

4. Ask whether you would rationally act on your maxim in such a world.

If I had ZAR 620 000 000.00 in one year, I probably would be overspending and overindulging in unnecessary items and food. I would have overeaten, gotten sick too early and wasted too many unimportant things. I would be really rich but then what? What would be my purpose thereafter? Therefore I think that I would never act rationally in such a world.

What would Kant probably have said about Whitey Basson (or you) earning ZAR 620,000,000.00? Based on what I understand about Kant’s theory, I would assume that he would have accepted the earnings. As Whitey Basson has not stolen from anyone, neither has he broken any rules. He did build the company into one of the most successful ventures of today. He invested his own time and intelligence into growing this company. The income that they earn now is based on the hard work of Whitey Basson, thus this would have passed Kant’s theory.