GMAT Essays (AWA)

"The purpose of government is not to ensure the financial well-being of its citizens, but rather to maintain order."

From your perspective, how accurate is the above statement? Support your position with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.


YOUR RESPONSE:
The author states that the purpose of the government is not to ensure the financial well-being of its citizens, but rather to maintain order. Although the author makes a realistic attempt to describe the role of the government, I believe that ensuring the well being of its citizens is no doubt the most crucial role to be played. This could ensure growth of the country in several aspects.

First, a nation can prosper only when there is equal growth across all societies. The role of the government is to provide infrastructure, facilities and security to all its people. When the citizens are financially sound, there is greater oppurtunity for the government to develop other areas of growth.. They should hence set up a program that provides financial assistance to those who are below the average financial index.

Second, If the governments role is to maintain order, then thy must ensure that there is lesser poverty and unemployment as there would be lesser crime among financially secure people. For example, the crime rate in Finland is negligible as the government plays a major role in the financial well being of all its citizens.


Although some may argue that introducing such programs may not necessarily reduce crime rate, it is without doubt that countries with such poilicies experience greater peace.This in turne lesser resources in terms of human resource and financial resource are assigned to maintaining order and further the government can concentrate in greater developments like infrastructure, public facilities, transport that advances a nations progress as a whole.

In conclusion, the financial well being of the citizens of a nation can in turn ensure order and peace without the government spending quality resources on maintaining the same exclusively.

This is good essay with strong reasons and the example of Finland is good...

According to the author, the purpose of a government is not to ensure the financial well-being of its citizens, but rather to maintain order. I do not agree with the author completely as the job of the goernment is very complex and tasks that a government has to accomplish are often inter twined. The government is required to maintain order and also ensure the financial well being of its citizens. Though in order of priority, maintaing order comes first as compared to ensuring financial well-being of its citizens.

Governement is required to maintain order in all aspects of life. Maintaining order is required, not only in the context of law and order, but in the broader context of providing a framework for politcal system, for financial markets, for acheiving social justice etc. The governement is required to provide a framework, in which people can go about doing their routine jobs and are resposible for their finances. If order is established, it may result in financial well- eing of citizens but in absence of order, this is very difficult to acheive. We have examples of countries like Sudan, Angola where due to civil war, there is no order, resulting in very poor living standards. We have also examples of current collapse in financial markets beacuse of excessive deregulation which has resulted in billions of dollars of losses to innocent citizens, just because government had stepped back and let financial system regulate itself.

On the other hand, government cannot absolve itself of responsibilities relating to financial well-being ot its citizens. Government has to take steps like providing liquidity, fiscal stimulus, investing in heavy industries and host of other measures, depending on the economic circumstances, to make sure that its citizens financial well - being is secured. We have eaxmples of country like Iceland where recently the government was over thrown because of problems relating to the country's banking system. If financial well-being of its citizens is not taken care of, it may lead to law and order problem. So, both issues are in a way related to each other.

To sum up, government job is to maintain order as well as provide for financial well-being of its citizens, as both the jobs are complimentary and the governemnt cannot ignore any of these. Though in terms of priority, maintaing order comes first but providing for financial well being is also equally important, if not the most important job of the government.