Regicollis
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2009
- Messages
- 318
- Reaction score
- 163
- Location
- Denmark
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Very Liberal
What is the most important role of government; to raise the wealth of the people or to raise the well-being of the people?
In some cases these two goals are the same - for instance the people of poor developing countries will have greater well-being by having enough wealth to buy adequate housing or food.
However I don't think wealth always lead to well-being. Today's industrialised societies already have enough wealth to secure that the basic needs of all citizens are met. An increase in wealth don't necessarily mean that your well-being increases if the price you have to pay is working longer hours or engaging in fierce competition.
I am not convinced that people in the industrialised world was too poor to be happy 20 years ago.
So what do you think is more important to do for the government; raising wealth or raising well-being.
In some cases these two goals are the same - for instance the people of poor developing countries will have greater well-being by having enough wealth to buy adequate housing or food.
However I don't think wealth always lead to well-being. Today's industrialised societies already have enough wealth to secure that the basic needs of all citizens are met. An increase in wealth don't necessarily mean that your well-being increases if the price you have to pay is working longer hours or engaging in fierce competition.
I am not convinced that people in the industrialised world was too poor to be happy 20 years ago.
So what do you think is more important to do for the government; raising wealth or raising well-being.