People have different views about the repercussions of economic growth. While some people believe that worldwide poverty and hunger can only be addressed by the development of economy, other people believe that this can be detrimental to environment and should be banned now. From my perspective, both sides are oversimplified and unconvincing.
On the one hand, economic growth can be a major driver of eradicating poverty and hunger the world over. Of course, with the relentless advancement of economy in this day and age, many impoverished people have elevated their living standard with more disposable income, which means that they could afford more food and lift them out of poverty cycle. However, this does not mean that this is the only approach to tackle these issues; instead, any drastic social changes is the interplay of many factors in the process of human civilization. If this was the case, with the global business growth, why there are still many people living in Southeast Asia and Africa who are afflicted by hunger? Nor do they become economically independent.
On the other hand, it is also argued that economic growth could be a major contributor to environmental contamination, which should be prohibited immediately. To a larger extent, human intervention aimed at boosting economy can be a main culprit for environmental destruction, including poaching, deforestation and overcultivation of crops. Due to these exploitation, the natural environment is becoming degraded at the cost of economic growth. However, this kind of development should not be banned without a second thought. If there were no any economydriven behaviors like global transactions, people living today would find it difficult to maintain their daily lives, such as being wellfed and watered. In this way, they might, in return, exploit natural resources, posing a more severe burden to environment and even leading to chaos in society.
Personally, I believe that both sides are too flawed to support with. I acknowledge that economic growth can be an effective way to eradicate world poverty and hunger in some regions, but the implementation of government policy and collaboration across nations can make a difference. Economic growth can be viewed as “a necessary evil”, which is reasonably matched by the deterioration to the environment, thus making a halt of this right now is unjustified.