Economic development led countries to improve their standard of living; however, it also has a negative impact on social values. While many claim that social values can be lost due to these developments, its advantages are also too important to be ignored. In this essay, I will discuss both advantages and disadvantages, and take side with the former.
One of the most important advantages of economic improvement is that people feel less stress. This led to the increase in well-being of residents because they feel more satisfied with their lives as they afford more products. One indicator is that suicide rate of countries that are not face with economic crisis are less than poor countries. For instance, in Turkey, many people kill themselves because they can not gain enough money from their hard work to afford their life needs. Moreover, as a country’s economic situation goes up, investments on technology will also increase because the leading countries of the world have the most developed technology. Therefore, the government can develop a country’s technological infrastructure such as internet speed and communication tools which make people’s lives.
A disadvantage of economic developments is that demand on technological products increases. Technological goods are now in the luxury category, so individuals who have a lot of money tend to spend more on technology. This may result in individualism, so it prevents people from socializing. Furthermore, rich countries’ employment rate can decline due to one person’s wage becoming sufficient for a family’s expenses. This also negatively impacts socializing in the workplace which strengthens human interactions.
All in all, whilst one disadvantage of economic development is that it encourages people to buy more technology which triggers individualism, the effects of increasing the number of people who are satisfied with their lives overshadow its negative effects.