Individual selfishness and greed has been the basis of modern society. But some people think that we should return to older and traditional values of respect for family and local community in order to create a better world to live in. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
It has been thought that selfishness and greed deeply rooted in human nature have provided incentives for the development of modern society. However, in the pursuit of higher and faster social development, a number of traditionally-held beliefs are lost as a result. Obviously, we are caught in such a dilemma whether it is justified for us to revive our respect for traditional values such as family and local community so as to make the world a better place.
Traditional values include a series of moral codes and conceptions formed by our ancestors who have thrived for centuries in the same place. This means that those experiences learnt from so many historical events of life and death can provide us with guidance and orientation about the present. If we attach sufficient importance to family and local community valued by our society for thousands of years again, we will probably be able to regain happiness and enjoyment which are lost in our desperate efforts to seek economic success and economic development. Individuals’ desires will never be satisfied completely, because another desire will always appear when one is diminished. Family and local community are definitely perfect places where we can find comfort and encouragement, especially when we are exhausted by faster pace of life and fierce competition in modern society. If we go back to the old times when we put family and local community in the centre of our life, it will put our lifestyle and life itself on the right rail.
Nevertheless, there is high possibility that family and local community will fail to provide the ultimate solution to individual greed and selfishness. Scientific research indicates that greed and selfishness are determined by human genes, so the ignorance of family and local community is not the key factor for individual selfishness and greed. So many corrupted officials (who have been sent into prison) in China confessed that they made embezzlements in order to satisfy the increasing desires of their families. For the purpose of achieving a “happier” and more stable family bond, some officials even risk their lives to seek illegal profits for their sons, daughters or other family members. Furthermore, concentrating too much on one’s own community may remove its citizens from more important issues like human rights and global environment. Nowadays, the whole human kind is confronted with the danger of natural resources loss and nuclear weapons, but only by international cooperation and mutual understanding between different societies can such problems be resolved efficiently. The concept of “local community or nation state” is losing its importance at a rapid speed, but “global village” and “international community” are gaining momentum instead. Therefore, only focusing on local community will be a futile attempt to pursue further development and welfare.
Evidently, returning to older and traditional values may serve no useful purpose for achieving a happier and sustainable society. Also, respect for family and local community is not an effective antidote for reforming human selfishness and greed. It seems that the present social values shaped by modern industrialization cannot be reversed in the short term. However, it is still possible that people will treasure the concept of family and local community if modern civilization reaches a end some day.