Most governments prioritize economic progress over everything for their nation while some individuals feel that other types of improvement are as important as the economic development. In my point of view, the later would be the most beneficial for a country to grow because other factors like defense, food, and a few other sectors are equally integral parts of a nation. This essay will discuss on both issues before converging toward my opinion.
On the one hand, economic development must be the prime concern for the government since it drives the nation to function it its ministries and corresponding activities. They think that by means of economic development, a country can improve the living standards, social security, and overall prosperity. For instance, many countries like China, UAE, and Malaysia have proved that how economic stability is crucial and how they have developed their infrastructure, living standard as well as attracting others to invest in their countries. Moreover, when a country is financially developed, they can invest on highly sophisticated programs like space research, building their own satellites, and so on. However, sometimes other factors seem more valuable as economic power, which cannot be neglected.
On the other hand, if a country is only concerned with increasing financial stability, they might lag behind in other invaluable sectors like country’s defense system, food, and so on. In today’s world, a nation is not protected until an adequate defense is ensured. In this geopolitical era, every country tries – sometimes unethical but done with diplomatically – to halt the progress of other countries, low in power, either imposing sanctions or political turmoil amongst their corresponding parties, for their own profit. For instance, a few middle east countries like Iraq, Iran, and Syria were once rich countries with their natural assets and financial conditions but they failed sustaining their status-quo as they had not developed their defense, and that has made them incompetent compared to today’s first-world countries. If we focus on Russia and North Korea, we can easily understand how power is important along with the economic strength. Additionally, if a country is not able to satisfy the hunger of its people or only depends on foreign imports to feed its people, it may not ensure prosperity for future. For example, China, after the first world war, imposed a strict regulation for their food manufacturing and agricultural development. They not only stopped education in every level but also deploy youth to the dairy farms, agricultural fields and it continued for a decade until the food demand for their own nation was confirmed. When the basic factors like defense or food are ensured, others like education, infrastructure, and international relation may get better for future.
In summary, to keep up a nation’s prosperity, areas like defense, food, and education are as important as economic strengthening. So, a good balance among these is nothing but obligatory.