Unity and discord in social development1

1. The paper was presented in the 15th Symposium of the International Consortium for Social Development (ICSD) at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 16 July 2007.

Abstract

This article is a keynote speech delivered at the 15th International Conference on Social Development at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2007.2 The author points out that one of the misgivings in development today is that many countries consider a higher GDP as the only worthwhile achievement one should go after. However, this economic indicator alone does not and cannot reflect accurately the real improvement of the standard of living of people. In this paper, the author suggests a better measurement for social development and improvement of livelihood should include public health, education, mortality and basic social security. There is no doubt economic development and wealth accumulation can bring certain improvements in daily lives, they should not be elevated to become the ultimate objective for human kind; rather, they are only means to improving life situations. What is more significant should be the pursuit of freedom for humanity. We have witnessed a continuous rise in the indicators measuring development in the developing world, but these increases have not brought commensurate reduction in poverty or advancement in livelihoods in real terms. Furthermore, by using the cases of China and India, the author has illustrated that there is no real connection between economic and social development. Instead better social policies can play a bigger role in advancing social and human development.

这篇文章是2007年在香港理工大学举行的第十五届国际社会发展年会的主题演讲， 作者指出当今世界发展的一个谬误就是许多国家皆把追求国民生产总值看成是唯一的目标， 然而这种经济指标的增长并不能代表人民生活水平的真正改善。 在这篇文章中， 作者真正要指出的是一个社会的生活改善的衡量标准还需包括卫生医疗、教育、死亡率、基本生活保障等社会发展的指标。 经济发展和财富的增加虽然能带来生活的改善， 但它本身并不是我们人类追求的终极目标， 而只是达致生活改善的手段而已， 我们更重要追求的是人类的自由。 在世界许多国家发展的历程中， 我们看到的却是经济指标的提升并没有带来贫困的消除和真正生活的改善。 在文章里， 作者尝试用中国和印度的例子来阐释社会发展并不一定与经济发展有必然的关系， 而完善的社会政策的推动其实更加能够带来更大的社会发展和人类的进步。

Keywords:

• social development
• human development
• China
• India
• crime
• health
• GDP
• longevity

Notes

1. The paper was presented in the 15th Symposium of the International Consortium for Social Development (ICSD) at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 16 July 2007.

2. The abstract is written by Editors of this special issue.

3. This symposium was arranged by the newly created Centre for Economic and Human Development at the Beijing University, led by Professor Minquan Liu.