Responsive Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Responsive - Essay Example From this point of view, the benefits of progress are measured in terms of higher standards of living, better health, greater security and increased incomes. As a result of all these measurable factors, many have ignored their traditional cultures in pursuit of these â€Å"goodies.† Some individuals in the society willingly pursue this material targets while others are forced into the system by government policies. This means that the disadvantages of progress will affect both sets of individuals in the society. One question spurred by the reading is whether progress always impacts positively on the quality of life. This question is hard to answer because assessing economic development and progress is difficult. This leads to an assumption that the benefits of progress outweigh the detriments. Therefore, the most widely used indicator of positive progress is the standard of living which in my view is misleading. This means that an array of factors is considered when evaluating progress, and they include literacy, health programs and employment rates. In my view, money is not the sole measure of progress but the well being of individuals in the society should be also considered. Disregarding tradition implies that the ability of culture to satisfy psychological and physical needs of the population is compromised. This directly lowers the quality of life from the cultural perspective. From the article I can conclude that progress significantly lowers the standard of living due to degradation of mental and physical health, increased incidences of delinquency and crime, family instability, demographic structures and the strained relationship between the society and natural resources. It is also true that before progress took centre stage, all these undesirables were non-existent or minimal. Therefore, progress has done more harm than good to the quality of human life. The fact that many diseases arise because of economic development shows