Progress: such an ominous word. The world sees it and shudders, out of admiration, fear, or both. Some see it in a positive light, as a force that brings about constructive changes in today’s society. Others, however, view progress as causing a host of problems, including environmental damage. Industrial progress does cause environmental damage, but social progress does not necessarily do so. The claim that environmental harm is an inescapable part of progress and raised standards of living cannot be addressed with a simple yes or no answer. Progress may be a simple word, but it is by no means a simple concept. The word progress automatically cues images of technology, medicine, and industry. It is viewed as a way to make everything bigger, …show more content…
Yes, a few cases of societal advancement may cause environmental damage. Solving the hunger problem, for example, could require shipping large quantities of food overseas, which would increase air pollution. Generally, though, progressing socially causes more good than harm. It does zero environmental damage to allow women to vote, to fight for religious freedom, or to allow democracy in liberty-deprived nations. The human race has already made much social progress, with no proof of environmental damage whatsoever. Some forms of social progress can even benefit the environment. One good example is the reduction of corruption. According to The Hill, because corrupt leaders tend to slacken and not enforce regulations, corruption “leads to worsened environmental outcomes including increased emissions, higher rates of deforestation, and increased depletion of natural resources” (Cottrell). If corruption is reduced, less environmental damage is done, in addition to the elevated standard of living in that …show more content…
The use of the word “worldwide” suggests an assumption that progress is needed everywhere, which is doubtful. Worldwide progress is not always a necessity. Development is not needed everywhere, but only in certain locations. It is clear that progress is a must for some people, but it is inaccurate to assume that everyone requires it. According to Marian Tupy, “As long as there are people who go hungry or die from preventable diseases, there will always be room for improvement” (Tupy). The important qualification in this statement, though, is which people are going hungry and dying from preventable diseases. It isn’t the upper class of the richer countries, but the people of the developing countries. Progress is a necessity for those who are starving, suffering from avoidable illnesses, or are lacking basic human rights. Progress is not so vital, however, for those living with an abundance of healthy food, medicine, and liberty. It is by no means a negative thing that many people have happy, healthy lives; it is really quite wonderful. Since life is so wonderful for certain people, though, the human race should focus not on worldwide growth, but instead consider only the places that truly need
However, progress can become “a seductive trail of successes [that] may end in a trap” (Wright 5). Progression can mask the conclusion of a person’s actions. But progression does not only include large events such as the making of a gun or the change from hunter-gather to farming. Progression can include basic changes to necessities such as “clothing and built shelter… [we] opened up every climate from the tropics to the tundra. We moved beyond the environments that had made us, and began to make ourselves” (Wright 13). This migration and progression to various locations sets off the beginning of many different societies, some in which successfully make it, others do not. This is also called a trial and error process. Basically all civilizations are a trial and error, based on how they have dealt with progression; the society can either rise or
How do you see progress, as a process that is beneficial or in contrast, that it´s a hurtful process that everyone at one point of their lives has to pass through it? At the time, progress was beneficial for the United States, but those benefits came with a cost, such cost that instead of advancements and developments being advantageous factors for humanity, it also became a harmful process in which numerous people were affected in many facets of life. This all means that progress is awsome to achieve, but when achieved, people have to realize the process they had to do to achieve it, which was stepping on other people to get there.
The word progress has several different meanings. These definitions played a vital role in American thought. From the initial immigrants to the first government, progress was always on the American mind. Wars were fought on the grounds on progress. The first United States president represented progress. Everything America stands for is based on the progression of its people.
or not at all, seeing as there was no longer many other jobs and they
One way that globalization limits sustainable prosperity is the amount of environmental destruction that occurs in our growing world. For example, a process called shipwrecking is the deconstruction of ships that are no longer able to function properly. The ships are pulled up onto beaches in Bangladesh and are taken apart by workers with blow torches. The ships tend to rust leaving the beaches a reddish orange color. This rust can get into the ocean affecting many other parts of our world. Also, gasses that are produced and released into the environment from the blowtorches help contribute to the already occurring global warming. Another scary fact is that there is nearly one death per day in ship breaking yards, and nearly one quarter of them get some form of cancer due to the harsh chemicals. Ship breaking is a very dangerous job and puts many lives at risk. A big factor that helps wreck the environment is the large manufacturing plants that are located in many different countri...
The term, progress, is synonymous with phrases that denote moving forward, growth, and advancement. It seems unorthodox then that Ronald Wright asserts the world has fallen into a progress trap, a paradox to how progress is typically portrayed as it contradicts the conventional way life is viewed: as being a natural progression from the outdated and tried towards the new and improved. Wright posits that it is the world’s relentless creation of innovative methods that ironically contributes to the progress trap rather than to progress itself, the intended objective. Wright’s coinage of the term “progress trap” refers to the phenomenon of innovations that create new complications that are typically left without resolve which exacerbate current conditions; unwittingly then, matters would have been much better if the innovation had never been implemented. In his book, “A Short History of Progress,” he alludes to history by citing examples of past civilizations that collapsed after prospering, and ones that had longevity because they avoided the perilous progress trap. Wright recommends that societies of today should use indispensable resources, such as history, to learn and apply the reasons as to why certain societies succeeded, while also avoiding falling into the pitfalls of those that failed, the ones that experienced the progress trap. This can easily be interrelated with Godrej’s concept of “the overheated engine of human progress,” since humans for centuries have been risking environmental degradation for progress through ceaseless industrialization and manufacturing. This exchange is doomed to prevent improved progress and will lead to society’s inevitable decline since it is unquestionable that in the unforeseeable future, cl...
Overall, humans impact the global environment in multitudinous ways whether positive or negative. While creating issues such as overpopulation, pollution, biomagnification, and deforestation they also intrude into many other factors such as environmental, social, political, and economic. Problems caused by society itself are leading up to solutions to fix these environmental problems and may also just benefit the world as a whole.
Technology enables students and teachers to have a fast and easy way to acquire unlimited access to tons of information. With all of the useful technologies, the curriculum is bound to change in endless ways, creating more opportunity for learning.
...t of the condition of the mankind, it involves learning, and the outcome is discovering the yet unknown. And it seems that progress is the highest when freedom is present, in other words we can not get the most out of ourselves if we have constraints. So by the definition of progress we are unable to say what good is it going to make us, but it will do something generally valuable.
Social Consequences: Although the Industrial Revolution caused a drastic increase in the industrial production, the impact was not as positive socially. The two most significant social consequences of the First Industrial Revolution are the impact on the families and the hardships of relocating to find employment. In the first 60 years of the Industrial Revolution the quality of life for many people decreased.
Economic growth and social development are complementary and they have a close but complex relationship. With the economic growth, it is clear that there are many environmental concerns in today’s society. Air, water, and land pollution have worsened; the environment of wild animals and plants has been seriously damaged; many species are threatened with extinction, deforestation and over-exploitation of mineral resources.
Progress and the Total Destruction of the Earth Throughout all of history, humans have evolved not only genetically, but also culturally. Of the two evolutionary processes, cultural evolution happens more quickly, and has had a more noticeable effect on the environment compared to genetic evolution. Early hunter/gatherer societies evolved to agrarian society, which then had technological changes that affected the culture of the society. Unfortunately, while humans have been culturally evolving towards what is perceived to be progress, the environment has been compromised, marginalized, and degraded as it is continually exploited for human benefit and consumption. The culture of hunter/gatherer society was the least damaging to the environment in the long term before humans developed agriculture.
If these developed countries continue to prejudge underdeveloped countries by wealth or other conditions, when people are faced with serious problems in society, these problems become global. By helping each other, all countries offer hope and compassion, and share new knowledge with each other. Therefore, people all over the world suffer less, because they know they are not alone.
As you all know we are all different in some way or another. We all have different lifestyles, customs, skills, experiences, backgrounds, and personalities which makes every individual different, but have you ever wondered how the world would be if everyone thought of the same ideas, copied the actions of others, wear the same type of clothes, or even walked and talked the same way? Would this be a satisfying and happy lifestyle, will this bring about social progress? Or should we add uniqueness and originality in order to help everyone to progress in life? In the book “On Liberty”, Mill believes that we need individuality in order to be able to have social progress, if we don’t we will be in a standstill and remain during the time of the Stone Age. My report will focus on the reasons Mill believes individuality is essential for social progress.
By the time 1750 came around, American was experiencing what is known as the First Industrial Revolution (circa 1780-1850). It is hard now to fathom the idea of having to function economically without the use of factories, factory machines, and factory workers. By history shifting from the cottage industry, traditional agriculture, and manual labor into a factory-based manufacturing type systems made of complex machinery, constant technological expansion, and new energy sources and advanced in transportation, we evolved. The entire world evolved, soon to rely on industries to survive.