Economic And Social Development - Essay Example

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT of the School: Social and economic development can be better understood if studied together since they are interrelated. In this paper I shall first discuss each of them differently and then show their relationship using the United States of America as a case study. I shall also discuss whether their relationship implies democracy. Social development can be viewed as progress or evolution of a community from a lower social status to a higher one. By higher status I mean greater levels of productivity, energy, efficiency, creativity, quality, complexity, and mastery. For example a change from feudalism to capitalism may be viewed as social development. Social development is driven by scientific, religious, cultural, economic, or technological forces. Social change can be observed in society relations, social institutions, nature, and the behavior of people. The need to cope with challenges is the prime motivator of social change or development. With enough resources and technology social development can happen very fast. Social development as early as the history of human beings, but in the last five centuries the rate has drastically increased. Improvements in social organizations have also helped in social change (Cleveland 1999, p. 4). Science and technology are the major factors that are known to have contributed to a great extent towards social development. A few centuries ago the social status of many communities is in no way comparable to the current status. People used to be confined in a specific geographical location for long periods with minimal changes in their ways of living. Currently, people move all over the world, interacting with different people from different parts of the world. This has been made possible by the increased discoveries and innovations in the transport and communication industries. Though the internet, in has been made easier for people to access information about others thousands of kilometers from them. The internet is one of the most effective tools of social change. It has really changed the way of living of people especially the youth. People have changed their cultures slowly by slowly due to the effect of other people from different areas. Successful social development depends on factors such as stability of a government with a flexible system, availability of resources, and a community with a diverse social organization. Religion as a factor of social development cannot be ignored in this study. It is through religion that many communities have developed. The activities of mainly Christianity and Islamic religions have influenced greatly in social development. The spread of religion all over the world was always involved with the spread of education. Through education, communities were taught new ways of living in order to accommodate the new teachings. This had a great impact on the social setup of the communities being which religion and education were being introduced to. There is clear evidence that really there is change in society organization (Cleveland 1999, p. 2). At least every person can observe changes in the social status in any social setting. I will outline some of the most important evidences of social development. The first one is the global peace. Over long periods of time cold war existed all over the world. Threats of nuclear war weapons and other dangerous weapons always hindered social development. The world wide peace we are now experiencing can be attributed to social change among communities. Proper understanding of the ways of living of other communities helps in maintaining peace among them. Without conflicts between communities, social development will in turn be hastened. Another evidence of social development is democracy. Just two centuries ago, the word democracy was a vocabulary to many communities. Most people could not enjoy their rights as they were oppressed by those who had power and authority. A clear indication of lack of democracy is slave trade. In USA, the blacks were originally from Africa. They had initially been brought as slaves to work in farms and industries. Slaves could not say anything about their situation as that was viewed as lack respect to their superiors. Nowadays such authoritarian regimes no longer exist which is as a result of social development. People can now air their views and complaints freely without fear of intimidation. In fact, the USA is one of the most democratic countries in the world. The third major evidence or social development is the global growth in economic status. Economic development in directly affected by social development. With peace and democracy enjoyed in most parts of the world today, it creates a conducive environment for economic growth. Due to the major economic development the Unites States enjoy, they are the world’s largest economy. The relationship between social and economic development will be discussed later in the paper. There are various theories of social development. They try to explain how a society develops from a certain status to another. These theories also explain the driving forces of social development and hindrances to the same. Among the most effective theories used are functionalism, conflict, and interpretive theories. The functionalism theories are related to linear development models of social change. These theories include evolutionary, neo-functionalism and criticisms theories. We can derive from the evolutionary theory, which can easily be understood, and see how functionalism theories are applied to explain social development. Due to the changing environment, people develop new ways of doing things in order to cope with the new demands. In USA, for example, the need for more and efficient energy prompted them to shift from using coal to crude oil. This again is now changing to use of more efficient and renewable forms of energy such as nuclear energy. Conflict theories are related to dialectic models of social change. Strains in the society are a major cause of social change. Due to the ever diminishing resources, people change their ways of living to fit the new conditions. Conflicts are based on religion, ethnic, and political ideologies. Conflicts in the United States were mainly ethnic and political. Ethnic conflicts between the blacks and the whites brought major social changes which are still evident today. The other theories are the interpretive theories by Weber. These theories are different from the two above. In this theory, the change itself is the starting point, while in functionalism and conflict theories the structure is the starting point. In this theory, a change in external factor does not guarantee an automatic social change (Jacobs 1999, p. 1) Economic development, on the other hand, is the growth of the economy of a country or a region in terms of its quality or quantity. It involves transition from agricultural based economies to industry based economies and the use of new technologies (Columbus 2004, p. 2-4). In the USA, industrial development was the heart of its economic development. There are industries in almost all towns and cities. These industries provide the products needed around the area thus reducing transport costs. They also provide employment which is a vital requirement in a country’s economic development. Economic development is observable in the development in areas of infrastructure, health, literacy, human capital, and communication. The rate of economic development differs from place to place. The rate of economic development is determined. Below I have discussed some of the factors that lead to economic development in the United States (Sudoh 2005, p. 4) Availability of natural resources in a country is the prime determinant of its economic development. These natural resources include soil fertility, water, forest wealth and most important mineral resources In USA resources are in abundance partly because of its geographical size. When there are enough resources to be used in industries, it means that the industries will never lack raw materials. With more resources, more and more industries are established. Another determinant of economic development is availability of human resource. For a country’s economic development to be achieved, its entire population should be healthy, skilled, educated, and efficient. Another aspect in the population is that it should be patriotic. A country that is overpopulated, most of its people are uneducated, unemployed, and unskilled. The USA boasts having most of its population educated, skilled, and above of all, patriotic. With enough human resource, a country will develop its economy at a higher rate. Power is the foundation of economic development of every country. The main sources of power are oil, thermal and geothermal electricity, gas, coal, and nuclear power. Harnessing of power has developed from the old sources such as human, wind and animal power, to modern power sources such as oil and nuclear power. These sources of energy are important in that they provide economies of scale, reduce material wastages, and ensure high quality standards. In the United States most of the above mentioned sources of energy are available although a large amount of oil is imported. This has contributed to its fast economic development The last determinant I am going to discuss is availability of good transport and communication network. In the modern world, speed is a very important factor in almost all sectors. With a well connected transport network, that is, roads, rails, and seaports, it increases productivity. A good communication and transport network improves the quality ant the quantity of goods due to its efficiency and also reduces the cost of production. From the discussion above it is clear that economic development and social development are indeed interrelated. Whenever one is talking about social growth and development, in is almost inevitable that they have to incorporate economic development and vice versa. Social development promotes economic development and economic development to some extent also promotes social development (Midgley 1986, p. 7) The economy of a country will only grow when the environment is conducive. When people are at peace they are able to do business and therefore contribute to the development of a country’s economy. During wars the economy of a country deteriorates due to lack of good environment for business. Also, most of the resources are destroyed and the country’s funds are used to support the war. The long periods of peace enjoyed in USA as a result of social development as discussed earlier have contributed to fast economic development making in the world’s largest economy. Bad politics in a country always lead to social disintegration. A country that enjoys democracy where people are not intimidated and are allowed to freely air their views is said to be socially developed. As a result, its economic development is hastened. Social cohesion among different ethnic groups ensures that they live in harmony and can do business anywhere. This is the case with the United States of America where both the blacks and whites are not restricted to do business anywhere. On the other hand, economic development promotes social development in a number of ways. First, whenever people are economically stable they are likely to live in harmony. Crimes such as thefts, which are always a hindrance to social development, are reduced when people are economically stable. Another way in which economic development promotes social development is through technology. In the modern world technology has been used, especially in communication, in a way that the world is now termed as a global village. People can keep in touch with others who are millions of miles away using phones or through the internet. Travelling has been made much easier. Journeys that used to take years now take a couple of hours. The relationship between economic and social development implies democracy. One can develop even without the other but in one way or another one will affect the other. For example, it is not a must that for a country to develop socially it has to develop economically. However, it is important for both to be incorporated together. References Cleveland, H. a. (1999). Human Choice: The Genetic Code for Social Development. Futures Research Quarterly, Vol. 31 , 964. Cleveland, H. a. (1999). The Genetic Code for Social Development. Human Choice, World Academy of Art & Science , 7. Columbus, F. (2004). Asian Economic And Political Issues. New York: Nova publishers. Jacobs, G. a. (1999). Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Social Development". . Human Choice, World Academy of Art & Science , 51. Midgley, J. (1986). Community Participation, Social Development, and the State. london: Routledge,. Sudoh, O. (2005). Digital Economy And Social Design. New Mexico: Springer. Read More