Development has a broad sense of meaning to it, with growth and advantageous stages as its descriptive key terms. Development also has many dimensions. A person can develop oneself in an infinitive number of ways with numerous skills and knowledge to acquire, where each skill and knowledge topic has endless stages of improvements or viewpoints. Personal development is what makes humans distinct. Our consciousness demands ourselves to self-actualize, as Maslow formulates this highest need in life. One needs a self-image of competence and autonomy.
At first sight this seems an innocent and desired life value. But Maslow also mentions the room for limitless development. And as improved well-being is considered to be development as well, this is not a need without side effects; especially in an individualistic and capitalistic environment. In a broader scope, countries can strive for this same type of development by improving the well-being of their population. Capitalism in combination with our endless needs to improve but also the relativity of our satisfaction makes this development going hand in hand with grim side effect: development at the cost of other countries and therefore other people.
Prominent examples are the problematic climate change and exploiting labor for underdeveloped countries. Desertification makes people starve and creates another incentive for those to migrate to more fortunate, timid climate countries. While at the same time children deep down in mines are scraping the metal resources to satisfy our technological needs. These facts should give the ones able to self-actualize and consume at the cost of others a bad conscience, including yours truly.
Luckily development isn’t inherently bad. As soon as the focus change towards CO2-neutral lifestyles, human rights or more satisfying ideals about well-being, the means to our end of well-being lose their bad connotations. Think of technical developments like artificial meat, renewable energy sources and electric cars. These alternatives do not conflict well-beings across the world, such that more people will have the chance to acquire the life standard to move their concerns up to the highest level in the Maslow hierarchy of needs.
Bron gepubliceerde (ingekorte) versie: https://issuu.com/intermania/docs/intermania_july_2017_opt/44
4 opmerkingen:
Tekst en titel moesten worden ingekort, zie online versie.
Laatste alinea klinkt veelbelovend, maar ik weet zo net nog niet of daar niemand onder hoeft te lijden.
And so far no one has made a remark or even reproach as to the term 'underdeveloped countries'?
In the eighties of the 20th century we have banned that term and spoke only about 'countries in development'.
excuses oop, ik had het niet persoonlijk bedoeld.
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