Today, we’re highlighting a thoughtful essay by an MLC student from Germany, debating the following question: based upon Pamela Withers’ article, “Born for Each Other”, write about whether a country’s quality of life more or less important than its gross national product.
Quality of Life or Gross National Product … or Maybe Both?
By Maximilian Juergens
May I ask you a question, what is more important, quality of life or gross national product? My first impression was, “Easy question, it’s the quality of life,” but the more I thought, the harder it was to decide which is more important. In the end, I came to the conclusion that both are equally important for the country and its people.
The quality of life is something very important for the people of a country, because if the quality of life is getting better, the people will be happier and more pleased. They might work even more efficiently than with worse quality of life. They will consider their lives more fulfilled if they don’t have to think about bad circumstances in their country. Even though material goods can please many people, we shouldn’t forget Francisco Orozco’s words: “It is a mistake to look only at the material side and ignore the spiritual side when considering quality of life.”
The gross national product is something that is very important for the country because when it’s rising, then the government can give the people some benefits. Some benefits could be new and better technology for the people or better wage for workers. With the higher amount of money that the people have they can buy the new technology for their homes. The government will also pay some money to improve infrastructure of the country, so that the industry and the citizens are happier about the infrastructure.
Both the quality of life and the gross national product are dependent on each other. For example if the quality of life is improving, the people will get happier and more motivated to work. And if they are more motivated to work, they will work more efficiently, and as a result the GNP will rise because of the more efficient working. If the GNP is rising the citizen will receive benefits, and as a conclusion the quality of life will improve.
In the end, not one of them is more important than the other because they are depending on each other. Except for one point: the spiritual part of the quality of life, but maybe if the GNP is rising, the manager of the company will give their workers more free time, which they can spend on their social lives.
In the end, I could choose one to be more important, but maybe you can choose what is more important, because every human being has a different opinion on every topic.
