S'pore approach prioritises lives and livelihoods: Lawrence Wong
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Note the dichotomy btw lives vs livelihoods, where the latter refers to jobs. To save lives, many govts are now sacrificing jobs by imposing a lockdown to contain the virus, which means businesses are affected. Lives are seen as more important as they are irreversible, unlike jobs.
BUT the irony is that for some countries or people, lives and livelihoods are not that separate as their lives are tied to their livelihoods. Without jobs, the poor cannot put food on the table and cannot pay back their debts, and this can drive them to despair and eventually suicide. In fact, it was reported that in some countries, the number who died from suicide during this crisis period is actually higher than those who died from contracting the virus. Take their livelidhoods (i.e. jobs) away from the people, and u risk taking away their lives as well......
For the qn below, focus on the word 'continuous' to argue that sometimes, 'continuous' growth may not be tenable; we may have to slow down or even stop it temporarily, as seen in the current lockdown in many countries or the 'circuit breaker' in S'pore....BUT possible rebuttal is seen in how ironically, sacrificing growth temporarily to save lives may acutally result in the sacrifice of the very lives we are trying to protect......
Qn: To what extent is the pursuit of continuous economic growth a desirable goal?
Note the dichotomy btw lives vs livelihoods, where the latter refers to jobs. To save lives, many govts are now sacrificing jobs by imposing a lockdown to contain the virus, which means businesses are affected. Lives are seen as more important as they are irreversible, unlike jobs.
BUT the irony is that for some countries or people, lives and livelihoods are not that separate as their lives are tied to their livelihoods. Without jobs, the poor cannot put food on the table and cannot pay back their debts, and this can drive them to despair and eventually suicide. In fact, it was reported that in some countries, the number who died from suicide during this crisis period is actually higher than those who died from contracting the virus. Take their livelidhoods (i.e. jobs) away from the people, and u risk taking away their lives as well......
For the qn below, focus on the word 'continuous' to argue that sometimes, 'continuous' growth may not be tenable; we may have to slow down or even stop it temporarily, as seen in the current lockdown in many countries or the 'circuit breaker' in S'pore....BUT possible rebuttal is seen in how ironically, sacrificing growth temporarily to save lives may acutally result in the sacrifice of the very lives we are trying to protect......
Qn: To what extent is the pursuit of continuous economic growth a desirable goal?
posted by Dark Shadow | 1:39 PM
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