GRE Issue Topic 115

GRE Issue Topic 115

Topic:

Some people claim that you can tell whether a nation is great by looking at the achievements of its rulers, artists, or scientists. Others argue that the surest indicator of a great nation is, in fact, the general welfare of all its people.

Write a response in which you discuss which view more closely aligns with your own position and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should address both of the views presented.

برخی از افراد ادعا می كنند كه شما می توانید با مشاهده دستاوردهای حاكمان، هنرمندان یا دانشمندان، عظمت یك ملت را تشخیص دهید. برخی دیگر معتقدند که مطمئن ترین شاخص یک ملت با عظمت، در حقیقت، رفاه عمومی همه مردم آن است.

پاسخی بنویسید که در آن بحث کنید کدام دیدگاه بیشتر با نظر شما همسو است و استدلال خود را برای این موضع گیری توضیح دهید. در توسعه و حمایت از موقعیت خود، باید به هر دو دیدگاه ارائه شده توجه کنید.

موافق

  • آسایش و رفاه عمومی یک ملت می‌تواند مهمترین شاخص یک ملت بزرگ باشد چون نشان می‌دهد که دولت سیاست‌های درستی را اتخاذ کرده و رفاه ملت را تامین کرده است.
  • زمانی که یک ملت در رفاه و آسایش باشد می‌تواند نخبگان، دانشمندان و قانون گذاران بهتری را پرورش دهد و به این ترتیب یک ملت بزرگ به تبدیل شود.
  • رفاه عمومی یک ملت نشانگر تمدن عالی آن است و دقیقا می تواند به موفقیت دانشمندان و نخبگان آن کشور منجر شود و بزرگی ملت را تضمین نماید.
  • هدف تمام کشورهایی که دموکراسی در آنها برقرار است تامین رفاه و آسایش ملت است و به همین علت شاخص رفاه برای شناسایی ملت های بزرگ کاملا منطقی است. در حقیقت کشوری را می توان به عنوان یک ملت بزرگ تلقی کرد که مردم آن دغدغه‌ای برای پرداخت مالیات یا گذران زندگی روزمره نداشته باشند.

مخالف

  • بررسی این موضوع به این بستگی دارد که بزرگ بودن ملت را در چه چیزی تعریف می کنیم. به عنوان مثال بعضی از کشورها از لحاظ علمی در رتبه های اول قرار می گیرند و شاخص بزرگ بودن آنها در زمینه علمی، تحقیقات و پیشرفت دانشمندان شان است. برخی دیگر از لحاظ سیاسی یک ملت بزرگ شناخته می‌شوند که به عملکرد سیاستمداران شان بر می گردد.
  • برخی از کشورهایی که به عنوان یک ملت بزرگ در زمینه های تحقیقاتی علمی شناخته می شوند مثل هند، هنوز نتوانسته‌اند رفاه ملت خود را به طور کامل تامین کنند. بنابراین، شاید یک کشور در زمینه ای بزرگ باشد اما رفاه کافی برای همه مردم آن کشور تامین نشده باشد.
  • سنجش بزرگ بودن یک ملت بر اساس شرایط جهانی تعلین می‌شود. به عنوان مثال در زمان جنگ جهانی، همه، کشور آلمان را یک ملت بزرگ می‌دانستند چون هیتلر توانسته بود بر سایر کشورهای دیگر پیروز شود اما رفاه مردم آلمان در آن زمان به طور کامل تامین نمی شد چون در جنگ بودند. در عصر خودمان نیز مثال دیگر کشور نیوزلند است که پس از شیوع ویروس کرونا در حالی که تمام کشورها برای حفظ زندگی مردمشان تلاش می‌کردند، توانست در مدت کوتاهی این ویروس را کنترل کند که به علت استانداردهای سیستم مراقبت سلامت و پزشکی بسیار بالای این کشور بود در صورتی که شاید نتوان نیوزلند را در میان کشورهایی که رفاه مردم شان بسیار بالاست رتبه بندی کرد.
  • یک ملت بزرگ ملتی است که نسبت به سایر کشورها دارای قدرت بیشتری باشد. به همین علت کشورهایی مثل روسیه روی تحقیقات نظامی و پیشرفت های علمی برای رسیدن قدرت بیشتر سرمایه گذاری می کنند تا به یک ملت بزرگ تبدیل شوند و دیگران قدرت تجاوز به آنها را نداشته باشند اما این سرمایه گذاری آن ها ممکن است موجب شود که برای تامین رفاه و آسایش عمومی مردمشان بودجه کافی نداشته باشند با این وجود باز هم یک ملت بزرگ شناخته می شوند.

 

Strategies
Statement breakdown:
a) Surest indicator – Welfare is not the only indicator of greatness; it is not a causality relationship – welfare doesn’t cause greatness, but can be used to measure it
b) Great nation – what constitutes a great nation? How do you define it? In terms of power, size, economy etc.?
c) Rulers, artists or scientists – categories of people whose contributions can be significant – are they the only ones with memorable achievements? What about athletes, spiritual leaders, military heroes, brilliant businessmen and other people that brought significant advancements in their fields?
d) General welfare – what is the degree of welfare? Meeting the basic needs of the people? What indicators do you use to measure it – safety, buying power etc.?

Assumptions:
a) Great nations have a high level of welfare
b) The welfare of the people is more important than the achievements of rulers, artists and scientists
c) Rulers, artists and scientists are the only ones with notable contributions

Pros and Cons:
Pros
a) High living standards are a hallmark of civilized society
b) Rulers, artists and scientists are not the only ones whose achievements contribute to a country’s greatness
c) Welfare is an indicator – something that when measured can tell the state of a country – it’s economical and cultural prosperity
d) Welfare encourages scientific development – in the sense that if people’s basic needs are met, that gives them the freedom to pursue their vocations/ideals
e) More programs and support systems for artists and scientists (scholarships, research funding etc.)
f) Happiness studies are directly linked with productivity/ creativity
g) People centered modern day philosophy – human resources are the most valuable
h) Great thinkers (scientists) and artists are great in themselves, regardless of the nation they came from – their contributions transcend boundaries
Cons
a) Historically speaking, countries are memorable due to the achievements of their rulers, artists and scientists
b) Great rulers make welfare possible – they promote policies that support good living conditions for the citizens of the state
c) Scientific advancements make life easier, increase the living standards
d) Greatness is measured in contributions to world benefit – ruling principles like democracy, freedom of speech etc.
e) Good rulers and scientific advancements drive the economy. Strong economies are indicative of great nations.
f) A country’s power is an indicative of greatness, and a major contributing factor in scientific advancements
g) Cultural ideals help shape not only a nation, but the entire world
Examples:
a) Civilizations of the past, to showcase what history considers being great nations
b) Current great nations
c) Economical theories on welfare
d) Great achievements in the fields of science, great artists and commanders

Sample 1:

Current society, as a whole, has become highly invested in people centric policies – from governments that ensure the welfare of the citizens, to companies that place customer and employee values at their core. This transformation is in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings, that “man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow–men.”

Throughout the ages, welfare has been an indicator of a nations’ economical and cultural prosperity. High living standards point to economical stability, growth, abundance of resources – all of which are necessary to ensure that the populations’ necessities are met. Moreover, the presence of welfare signals the existence of a cultural system capable of fostering the ideas necessary to support it. High living standards and civilization have always been linked – take for instance the great nations of the past, like Ancient Greece or Rome, hallmarks of civilization that have left a deep imprint on the world. In both of these cases, the quality of life of the average citizen was well above that of the people living in the neighboring countries – they had the buying power and the possibility to enjoy a wider variety of products and leisurely activities, while being less concerned with day to day survival.

In this sense, it can be said that welfare encourages creativity, by meeting people’s basic needs which in turn gives them the freedom to pursue their vocations/ideals. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs supports this idea. Maslow’s theory states that an individuals’ fundamental needs have to be fulfilled before he can focus on the higher–level needs. What this means is that, for instance, metabolic requirements will tend to supersede self–actualizing actions, namely, artistic or creative activities will have to take a backseat to hunger or thirst. Countries where people’s basic needs are being taken care of can afford to dedicate more time and resources to higher pursuits.

Moreover, countries with a high standard of living have the means to create programs and support systems for artists and scientists. The countries in northern Europe that is famous for the quality of life of the average citizen, have significant government support when it comes to education. Their tuition fees are much lower than in the USA, and they invest a greater deal of resources into scholarships and research funding than countries like India. More than that, the northern European countries strive to ensure not just the physical welfare of their citizens, but also their mental and ideological wellbeing by providing an open–minded climate where diversity can thrive. As Plato postulated in the Republic, the stability and success of a political community depends on the moral character of the people who make up that community.

From these arguments, it becomes apparent that rulers, artists and scientists are not the only ones whose achievements contribute to a country’s greatness. But rather, economical power, one of the main characteristics of a strong nation, is dependent on the consumers and their buying power.

Ultimately, when assessing a nation’s greatness, it all comes down to what traits best represent it. From what we have seen so far, the welfare of a nation’s citizens, closely tied to their economic power, provides a nurturing environment for talents that will end up shaping the rest of the world and contributing to the benefit of mankind. As such, it can be said that general welfare is one of the surest indicators of a country's greatness.

 

Sample 2:

How is a nation classified as great? Does this classification depend on the achievements of the rulers, scientists and artists that the nation has produced or does it depend on the satisfaction and happiness of the citizens of the nation? It is evident that a nation cannot be termed as a great nation if there is widespread discontent amongst its citizens no matter how successful the nation has been in producing illustrious rulers, scientists and artists. Therefore, the general welfare of the people of a nation is definitely an indicator of the greatness of a nation.

A nation marches ahead on the path to progress with support from the contributions made by its people. The citizens need to be employed, literate, healthy, satisfied and happy in order to assist the nation on its way to progress. A nation plagued by poverty, famine, slow economic growth, unemployment will have to deal with several related problems that will make it difficult for the nation to progress and to be known as a great nation.

People who are below the poverty line will resort to unscrupulous means to make money. Unemployed youth can easily be lured into carrying out criminal activities because of the probability of high monetary gains. Corruption would be rampant and we all know the effect that corruption has on the well-being and progress of a nation. Living in the country would no longer be safe either for the citizens or for the tourists visiting the country. The nation may boast of several well-known scientists, artists and rulers, but will the achievements of these people help in improving the image of the nation in the eyes of the world? The answer to this question would be a definite, “No”. People judge the greatness of a nation by the living conditions of the nation and the greatness of some of its citizens makes little or no contribution to the greatness of the nation.

Breakthroughs in the world of science and technology made by the scientists of a nation cannot do much for the well-being of the nation unless the technology is made use of for improving the living conditions of the citizens of the nation. For instance, if a team of scientists from a developing country makes a path breaking discovery in the field of generation of power, the nation can progress ahead only if the technology is applied for generation of power within the nation. The team of scientists may move to another developed nation for further research work or the nation may not have the necessary funds to implement the newly discovered technology for the betterment of its citizens. In either of the cases, the scientists would not be able to contribute anything towards the progress of their nation.

A nation is determined by its people. If the people are looked after well by their leaders and their welfare is always kept in mind whenever major political decisions are taken, then it is evident that the nation will progress on the path which leads to greatness. This is because the well-being of a nation is directly related to the well-being and welfare of its people who constitute the nation. The greatness of a nation cannot be determined by a handful of people who have gained popularity and fame because of their achievements in the field of science and technology or politics.


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