Individual greed and selfishness has been the basis of the modern society. Someone think that we must return to the olds, more traditional values of respect for the family and the local community in order to create a better world to live in. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

We are in a selfish world today. We are so busy looking out for number one, so saturated by our own problems, our own issues and our own little and often petty concerns that we failed to see how all could grow and being benefited by working together as a team. As far as I am concerned, the reason of the individual greed and selfishness were actually caused by the faster and faster development and more and more competition of the society.

Some people yearn to return to the old and traditional values of respect for the family and the local community in order to create a better world to live in. According to them , people were more honest and warm-hearted and the manner of traditional treating each other was simple and selfless in the past.

Personally, I do not support this view . Even in the past, greed and selfishness existed in our society. These two factors never disappeared since human have instinctive material needs, individual wants and desires would swell surely with the advances of life and society. Moreover, old tradition has its own limit and could only adapt for a certain period. I believe that the key point here is to create a better world is the way of formulating moral criteria and improving the spiritual education. For example, religions play a significant role in respect for the family and the community.

To sum up, selfishness and greed cannot be avoided and eliminated, because they exist, more or less, in everyone’s heart, even sometimes they contribute to the prosperity. To control them depends on the well basic education from every part of our society, such as family, communities, academic institutions, etc.

（上海新东方学校 张驰新）