Materialism and Social Well-Being - Essay Example

Just like any other issue within society, the issue of materialism faces both negative and positive criticism as will be revealed as we proceed by my research. Social well-being on the other hand is an end result state, in which human needs are met, most especially the basic human needs, bearing in mind that the not so wealthy also make up a considerably huge portion of the entire population. Social well-being also considers a fact that the people involved, even in the wider picture, are able to coexist peacefully and harmoniously in the community tending to even show signs and opportunities of the general public growing.

It is common to hear or maybe participate in debates arguing upon how materialism in society affects the social wellbeing of the same. I set out to research a much similar case in which the main argument covered is whether or not materialism or what would in other terms be considered as income inequality in a country would or wouldn’t bring down and deteriorate the social well-being level of persons in the same country. It’s a common scenario to see a variation in individual’s lifestyles throughout the society. . It came out clear that in the western countries, as well as in the UK and its environs, social well-being has faced increased collapse of intergenerational mobility.

It is proven that, in developed countries such as the U.S. and the United Kingdom, the young youth, as well as children live a totally contrasting life to that of their parents and grandparents. It is evident that these children grow with very little expectation to improve from the condition in which they were born. In this case, the poor stay poor and the trend continues. Those individuals whom we could refer to as financially stable are in most cases ruled by materialism. This escalates to levels that, it comes a point when every decision they make is materialistic in nature at least to a certain extent.

This only results to further degradation of the morals in society, as social well-being is given less consideration every time. Social well-being is best showed when members in a society or an entire community show empathy towards their fellow members. In view of the current life styles as mentioned above, it is only true to say that there is an inverse relationship between materialism and social well-being. This is in that, individuals who have very high regard for material wealth or else those individuals and parties whom are considered to be materialistic in nature, tend to have little or no regard for social well-being on the other hand.

They view with less regard issues concerning others and could at times be deemed to be selfish. It also works vice versa, that individuals who treasure and have high regard for social well-being, have little or no interest in material wealth. Social well-being also sees to it that the general state of affairs meets the basic needs of the populace.