NOTE: Please remember that following ‘answers’ are NOT ‘model answers’. They are NOT synopsis too if we go by definition of the term. What we are providing is content that both meets demand of the question and at the same time gives you extra points in the form of background information.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Role of women and women’s organization,
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Live Mint
Why the question:
The Landscape Study on Women Entrepreneurship by EdelGive Foundation shows that women entrepreneurs spend most of their income on food (65%), children’s education (53%), clothing (51%) and health/medical facilities (24%), which results in better educated and healthier generations.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the impediments to India’s women female entrepreneurs and measures needed to overcome them.
Directive word:
Examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we must investigate the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question. While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by giving role played by female entrepreneurs in India.
Body:
First, write about various impediments to female entrepreneurs in India – unconscious biases, low confidence in business skills, difficult access to finance and networks, a lack of family support and child-care options, as well as insufficient safety in work and public spaces.
Next, write about the steps that are overcome the above.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward.
Introduction
It is quite evident from past studies that promoting women’s participation in employment and entrepreneurship in India can potentially increase the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by $0.7 trillion by 2025 . Yet, despite the positive impact that women’s entrepreneurship has on societal development and women’s empowerment, the contribution of women to India’s GDP is estimated at 17% as compared to the global average of 37%, with the share of women-led micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) being a meagre 14% .
Body
Impediments to greater participation of female entrepreneurs in India
- Deep-seated patriarchy
- Women have to work in the male-dominant world facing discrimination and social stigma.
- It dictates that women be relegated to household chores rather than engage in income-earning activities.
- Information asymmetry
- women entrepreneurs must often contend with a lack of information, technical know-how and access to technology, which adversely impacts the sustainability and scalability of their startups.
- Resource crunch
- It is not unheard of for women entrepreneurs to be denied basic enablers such as easy access to funds and sponsorships.
- The covid pandemic has exacerbated their low access to resources and affected gender parity through the adversities women faced in having to spend more time at home.
- Of the ones covered in the Landscape Study, 57% of women entrepreneurs reported that their businesses had deteriorated and 68% attributed this to a reduction in market demand, while 56% reported reduced availability of raw materials and 38% reported problems of transportation.
- Digital Divide
- As women-owned micro-enterprises faced the brunt of the pandemic, much of it had to do with little or no access to digital information and platforms that could sustain their businesses.
- In India, digital penetration in terms of mobile-internet usage by women was likely to be 33% less than that of men.
- Small scale business
- The majority of the businesses are self-funded and operate on a small scale.
- Uncertain times
- At the same time, uncertainty is an important concern for women. They fear failing, especially if the people are sceptical about their business capability.
- Under-representation
- Despite India’s rapid economic growth in recent decades, India still has very few women entrepreneurs.
- Lack of enterprise
- With fewer female business founders, the pool of women who can mentor and advise fellow entrepreneurs is consequently smaller.
- Lack of Female Mentors:
- With fewer female business founders, the pool of women who can mentor and advise fellow entrepreneurs is consequently smaller.
- One of the major barriers to women-owned-startups is the lack of role models for womenwhich makes it harder for enterprising women to learn from their peers and tap the help of those who have ‘been there, done that’.
- It is alsoharder for women to maximize the value of a business network, because networking has traditionally been done in male- centric groups and organizations.
Way Forward
- Providing Facilities that Encourage Women into Leadership
- Empowering half the country’s potential workforce offers significant economic benefits beyond promoting gender equality.
- Better education and health thatincrease female labour-force participation, reduced discrimination and wage differentials that encourage more effort, and improved career-advancement practices that promote talented women into leadership and managerial roles.
- Better access to resources
- The key drivers of women entrepreneurship are investment in infrastructure and education,which predict a higher proportion of businesses started by women in India.
- Promoting Women to Encourage Women
- Gender networks undoubtedly matter for entrepreneurship. Higher female ownership of local businesses in related industries predict greater relative female entry rates.
- Here, existing women entrepreneurs have an important role to playas they can reach out to other aspiring female entrepreneurs, not far away but within their own districts, industries or fields of work and provide them guidance.
- They mightalso organise seminars or workshops specifically for women aspiring to be the owners of local businesses.
- Encouraging Women Investors
- A majority of investor groups are composed of and are led by men, and investment committees are mostly male-dominated.Only 2% of the angel investors are women.
- To overcome such unconscious biases, at least one or more women investors can be included in the investment group.
- If there is a diversity of gender in the decision-making group, there is a likelihood that women seekers of funds will get a fairer hearingand possibly receive more favourable decisions.
- Role of Government
- Most of the women entrepreneurs are of the opinion that because of lack of training, they are not able to survive in the market.
- The government should conduct frequent training programmesfor new production techniques, sales techniques, etc. and make it compulsory for women entrepreneurs.
- The government can also provide interest-free loans to encourage womenentrepreneurs, increase the subsidy for loans and make provisions of microcredit system & enterprise credit system to the women entrepreneurs at the local level.
Conclusion
Even after centuries of struggle marked by gains made in terms of empowerment, women continue to face undeniably taxing struggles in all fields of life and work and the patriarchy is far from over. For India to become a $5 trillion economy, entrepreneurship by women must play a bigger role in its economic development. India’s gender balance is among the lowest in the world and improving it is important not just for gender equality, but the entire economy.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
Difficulty level: Easy
Reference: The Hindu
Why the question:
The ‘Mission Antyodaya’ project of the Government of India launched in 2017-18 (and cast in a convergence framework avowedly to eradicate poverty in its multiple dimensions among rural households) bears great promise to revive the objectives of these great democratic reforms.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the achievements and limitations of Mission Antyodaya and to suggest measures to improve its performance.
Directive word:
Critically analyze – When asked to analyse, you must examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a balanced judgment on the topic.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by writing about the aims and objectives of Mission Antyodaya.
Body:
First, write about the various features of Mission Antyodaya.
Next, write about the role played by Mission Antyodaya in poverty alleviation, enhancing livelihoods and rural development.
Next, write about the shortcomings of the Mission Antyodaya and suggest measures to overcome them.
Conclusion:
Conclude by writing a way forward.
Introduction
Adopted in Union Budget 2017-18, Mission Antyodaya is a mission mode project envisaged by the Ministry of Rural Development. It is a convergence framework for measurable effective outcomes on parameters that transform lives and livelihoods.
The main objective of Mission Antyodaya is to ensure optimum use of resources through the convergence of various schemes that address multiple deprivations of poverty, making gram panchayat the hub of a development plan.
Body
Role played by Mission Antyodaya
- It is a convergence and accountability framework aiming to bring optimum use and management of resources allocated by 27 Ministries/ Department of the Government of India under various programmes for the development of rural areas.
- It is envisaged as state-led initiative with Gram Panchayats as focal points of convergence efforts.
- It is carried out coterminous with the People’s Plan Campaign (PPC) of Ministry of Panchayat Raj and its’ purpose is to lend support to the process of participatory planning for Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).
- The Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Rural Development act as the nodal agents to take the mission forward.
However, challenges exist
- India’s decentralisation reforms have failed to take the decentralisation process forward in delivering social justice and progress in rural India.
- The traditional poverty line linked to the calorie-income measure lacked sense and failed to serve as a purposive policy tool.
- From the findings of the ‘Mission Antyodaya’ survey 2019-20 i.e.gap report and the composite index has exposed the fact that we have not achieved ‘economic development and social justice’ so far.
- The gap report and the composite index show in unmistakable terms that building ‘economic development and social justice’ remains a distant goal even after 30 years of the decentralisation reforms and nearly 75 years into Independence.
- The missing link or connection between the Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs)prepared and the gaps emerging from the Mission Antyodaya (MA) Survey findings has hindered the process of preparing comprehensive GPDP.
Way Forward
- The need of the hour is a serious effort to converge the resources – the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the National Rural Livelihood Mission, National Social Assistance Programme, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana,
- The government should reduce the growing rural-urban disparities across primary health care, literacy, drinking water supply and other issues.
- The data can be deployed to India’s fiscal federalism. It can improve the transfer system and horizontal equity in the delivery of public goods in India at the sub-State level.
- The strong policy interventions can help in the attainment of the constitutional goal of planning and implementing economic development and social justice in India.
Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Difficulty level: Tough
Reference: The Hindu
Why the question:
The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri recently announced that Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) have been established in 80 cities selected as part of the Smart Cities Mission, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the ICCCs role in improving urban amenities.
Directive word:
Analyse – When asked to analyse, you must examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them in a summary.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by writing about ICCCs in regard to Smart Cities Mission.
Body:
First, mention the various components of ICCCs – first is bandwidth; second, the sensors and edge devices which record and generate real-time data; third, various analytics which are software that draw on data captured by end devices to generate “intelligence”; fourth is data storage; fifth, the ICCC software.
Next, write about how ICCCs can ensure seamless delivery of services and improving public amenities.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward to ensure optimal utilisation of ICCCs.
Introduction
A ‘smart city’ is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications and market viability. It is a city where information technology is the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents.
The Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCC) of a smart city acts as a “nerve centre” for operations management. It processes a complex and large pool of data sets at an aggregated level. For example, it is now the go-to source for integrated traffic management monitoring.
Body
About Smart Cities Mission
- The National Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal mission launched on June 25, 2015, to promote cities to provide core infrastructure, a clean and sustainable environment, and a decent quality of life to their citizens through the application of ‘smart solutions’.
- The purpose of the Smart Cities Mission is to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local area development and harnessing technology, especially technology that leads to Smart outcomes.
- The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is the implementing ministry in collaboration with the respective state governments.
- It is a centrally sponsored scheme that initially included 100 cities to be covered between 2019 and 2023.
Integrated Command and Control Centres: Features and role in seamless delivery of services
- The aim of ICCC is to aggregate information across multiple applications and sensors deployed across the city and provide actionable information with appropriate visualization for decision-makers
- The centres comprise video walls for real-time monitoring, emergency response system, operations planning to include critical ones and 24×7 manual maintenance.
- The centres are being established to enable smart living, smart environment, smart economy, smart governance, smart population and smart mobility.
- The centre will also provide valuable insights by processing complex data sets at an aggregated level to derive intelligence for improved planning and policymaking.
- The ICCCs are now also linked to the CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems) network under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Out of the 100 municipalities in the Smart Cities Mission, the ICCCs of 70 cities are online or operational.
- These ICCCs were converted into CoVID-19 war rooms during the peak of coronavirus pandemic for public areas surveillance, tracking positive cases and health workers, heat mapping, virtual training, etc.
Use cases of ICCC and case studies
- Raise alarms of circumstances among civic authorities by working up the required software
- It can put together all the data from various departments of a government for better efficiency on results
- It can make decisions that are result-oriented in the time of emergency or even on regular days
- It connects with the supporting labour to handle the grassroot level grievances
- Processes are regulated to manage emergencies
- For any emergency or usual operation, the ICCC creates an opportunity of decision making which is data-driven.
- As COVID-19 War Rooms, the Integrated Command and Control Centers are implementing initiatives such as CCTV Surveillance of Public Places, GIS Mapping of COVID Positive cases, GPS Tracking of Healthcare workers.
- Smart Cities of Pune, Surat, Bengaluru and Tumakuru are using the Integrated data dashboards, developed by the data analysts and data experts working with their ICCCs (also functioning as COVID-19 War Rooms in many cities) to provide up-to-date information about the status of Coronavirus in different administrative zones of their cities.
- Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited (PSCDCL) has collaborated with Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to develop an Integrated data dashboard in the city’s efforts to fight the global pandemic of Coronavirus.
Conclusion
The Command and Control Centre Solutions can gain acceleration through Audio & Video technology which work as monitoring systems. Other processes that can boost its results are the mix of value-added services. Besides all of these, the expertise of dedicated professionals is always needed to get the best efficiency out of ICCC systems.
General Studies – 3
Topic: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Insights on India
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 3 and mentioned as part of Mission-2022 Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about IoT, its applications, concerns associated and ways to overcome those concerns.
Directive word:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you must debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You must give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by defining IoT.
Body:
First, write about the working of IoT in brief.
Next, write about the various applications of IoT – “smart home”, including devices and appliances (such as lighting fixtures, thermostats, home security systems, cameras, and other home appliances) that support one or more common ecosystems, and can be controlled via devices associated with that ecosystem, such as smartphones and smart speakers. IoT is also used in healthcare systems.
Next, write about the concerns related to Privacy and security of IoT and suggest ways to overcome them.
Conclusion:
Conclude by writing a way forward.
Introduction
The internet of things, or IoT, is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers (UIDs) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
According to a market research report published by Markets and Markets, the global IoT security market size is expected to grow from USD 8.2 billion in 2018 to USD 35.2 billion by 2023.
Body
Applications of IOT
- Agriculture
- For indoor planting, IoT makes monitoring and management of micro-climate conditions a reality, which in turn increases production.
- For outside planting, devices using IoT technology can sense soil moisture and nutrients, in conjunction with weather data, better control smart irrigation and fertilizer systems.
- Consumer Use
- Wearables cover accessories such as Fitbit, smartphones, Apple watches, health monitors, to name a few. These devices improve entertainment, network connectivity, health, and fitness.
- Smart homes take care of things like activating environmental controls so that your house is at peak comfort when you come home.
- Healthcare
- Wearable IoT devices let hospitals monitor their patients’ health at home, thereby reducing hospital stays while still providing up to the minute real-time information that could save lives.
- In hospitals, smart beds keep the staff informed as to the availability, thereby cutting wait time for free space.
- Putting IoT sensors on critical equipment means fewer breakdowns and increased reliability, which can mean the difference between life and death.
- Elderly care becomes significantly more comfortable with IoT.
- In addition to the above-mentioned real-time home monitoring, sensors can also determine if a patient has fallen or is suffering a heart attack.
- Insurance
- Insurance companies can offer their policyholders discounts for IoT wearables such as Fitbit. By employing fitness tracking, the insurer can offer customized policies and encourage healthier habits, which in the long run, benefits everyone, insurer, and customer alike.
- Manufacturing
- RFID and GPS technology can help a manufacturer track a product from its start on the factory floor to its placement in the destination store, the whole supply chain from start to finish.
- These sensors can gather information on travel time, product condition, and environmental conditions that the product was subjected to.
- Sensors attached to factory equipment can help identify bottlenecks in the production line, thereby reducing lost time and waste.
- Other sensors mounted on those same machines can also track the performance of the machine, predicting when the unit will require maintenance, thereby preventing costly breakdowns.
- Retail
- Online and in-store shopping sales figures can control warehouse automation and robotics, information gleaned from IoT sensors.
- IoT can help analyze mall traffic so that stores located in malls can make the necessary adjustments that enhance the customer’s shopping experience while reducing overhead.
- Equipped with the information provided through IoT, a retailer could craft a personalized promotion for their loyal customers, thereby eliminating the need for costly mass-marketing promotions that don’t stand as much of a chance of success.
- Transportation
- Self-driving cars are just one bit of the vast potential in the field of transportation.
- There’s already significant progress made in navigation, once again alluding to a phone or car’s GPS.
- But city planners can also use that data to help determine traffic patterns, parking space demand, and road construction and maintenance.
- Utilities/Energy
- IoT sensors can be employed to monitor environmental conditions such as humidity, temperature, and lighting.
- With IoT-driven environmental control, businesses and private residences can experience significant energy savings, which in the long run, benefits everyone, including the environment!
- On a larger scale, data gathered by the Internet of Things can be used to help run municipal power grids more efficiently, analyzing factors such as usage.
- Also, the sensors can help pinpoint outages faster, thereby increasing the response time of repair crews and decreasing blackout times.
Measures to tackle the concerns associated with privacy and security of IoT
- While IoT technology is clearly of significant advantage to citizens worldwide, along with greater advantage comes a potential risk to privacy.
- This concern over data protection will need to be addressed and IoT manufacturers will have to build and sustain consumer trust in their devices.
- In this context, the Data Protection Bill,2019is a step in the right direction.
- Around the world, legislators, device manufacturers, and law enforcement agencies should come together to figure out how to benefit from IoT while mitigating risks.
- In case the device collects or transmits personal data, such data should be securely stored.
- IoT developers should provide a dedicated public point of contact as part of a vulnerability disclosure policy.
Conclusion
To insure the continued protection of an IoT system and maintain its trustworthiness, Risk Assessment, Intrusion Detection, Physical Security and Trust Management should be mandatory at all layers in IoT.
Topic: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Insights on India
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 3 and mentioned as part of Mission-2022 Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To differentiate between DNA and RNA and write about importance of RNA technologies for healthcare.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by giving a brief about genetic makeup – DNA and RNA.
Body:
First, write the about the differences between DNA and RNA – DNA is double-stranded and RNA is single-stranded, RNA contains the sugar ribose, while DNA contains the slightly different sugar deoxyribose (a type of ribose that lacks one oxygen atom), and RNA has the nucleobase uracil while DNA contains thymine etc.
Next, write about the importance of RNA technologies for healthcare system of India. Substantiate with examples.
Conclusion:
Write a way forward wherein India can further harness these technologies.
Introduction
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are perhaps the most important molecules in cell biology, responsible for the storage and reading of genetic information that underpins all life. They are both linear polymers, consisting of sugars, phosphates and bases, but there are some key differences which separate the two.
Body
Differences between DNA and RNA
- DNA contains the sugar deoxyribose, while RNA contains the sugar ribose. The only difference between ribose and deoxyribose is that ribose has one more -OH group than deoxyribose, which has -H attached to the second (2′) carbon in the ring.
- DNA is a double-stranded molecule, while RNA is a single-stranded molecule.
- DNA is stable under alkaline conditions, while RNA is not stable.
- DNA and RNA perform different functions in humans. DNA is responsible for storing and transferring genetic information, while RNA directly codes for amino acids and acts as a messenger between DNA and ribosomes to make proteins.
- DNA and RNA base pairing is slightly different since DNA uses the bases adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine; RNA uses adenine, uracil, cytosine, and guanine. Uracil differs from thymine in that it lacks a methyl group on its ring.
RNA Technologies and healthcare
- RNA interference (RNAi) is a gene silencing technology that inhibits protein synthesis in target cells using double-stranded RNA.
- RNAi has huge significance within the Indian context, considering the deep-seated resistance over the years to Bt cotton and other GM seeds.
- Recently, GM mustard received regulatory approval from the genetic engineering appraisal committee, only to get stalled later on account of a petition filed before the Supreme Court.
- So, RNA-reliant solutions could be a viable alternative.
- Also, RNAi technologies are now known to formulate drugs capable of reducing cholesterol levels by half.
- This technology also finds immense importance in treating acute viral infections like AIDS.
- Antisense Technology achieves the same result as RNAi, but only through single-stranded RNA.
- Antisense technology has shown promising results in producing a variety of tomato with increased shelf-lifecommonly known as Flavr Savr.
- The future could potentially be witness to the use of antisense technology to target cancer.
- Unlike a conventional vaccine, RNA vaccines present an mRNA sequence (the molecule that purports to form cells), which is coded for a disease-specific antigen, once antigen produced within the body , the immune system develops to protect against diseases .
- RNA vaccines develop more rapidly than conventional vaccines. It is also safe for patients as they are not produced using infectious substances.
- RNA sequencing is a technique used to identify the sequence of the bases that make up a molecule of RNA.
- RNA sequencing lets us discover more about which genes are expressed (turned on) or suppressed (switched off) at different times in different types of cells.
Conclusion
With the advances in nanotechnology and bioinformatics in place, India can be an attractive destination for a number of multinational pharma companies to either outsource some part of their research to India or buy the siRNA products or nano-carriers for RNA delivery from India. This can give a significant push to India’s gross domestic product (GDP) as well as help Indian companies do more innovative work in this space through knowledge-sharing and collaborations.
General Studies – 4
Topic: Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators;
6. What does this quote means to you? (150 words)
Difficulty level: Moderate
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 4 and part of ‘Quotes Wednesdays’ in Mission-2022 Secure.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by explaining the literal meaning of the quote and highlighting its core meaning about inaction.
Body:
Write about how bad actions can lead to evil in the society. However, also emphasise that inaction could also be lead to evil, that is, failure to stop evil despite having the means to do so. Mention that inaction is also accountable for failing to prevent evil. Substantiate with examples.
Conclusion:
Summarise by highlighting the importance of the quote in the present day.
Introduction
As per Mill, a person taking the easy choice of not doing anything through his inaction or being oblivious to something, he is to be held accountable. Normally, to make anyone answerable for doing evil to others is the rule; to make him answerable for not preventing evil is, comparatively speaking, the exception. Yet there are many cases clear enough and grave enough to justify that exception
Body
Anything one does has consequences. There is no true ‘inaction.’ There is only “Do A” or “Do B.” As John Stuart Mill points out, the difference between what we call “inaction” as opposed to what we call “action” is relevant to the balance between law, social opprobrium and individual conscience as checks against a socially bad choice. But the fact that something is called “inaction” does not make it any more innocent when one is examining oneself.
Take the example of the Nazi Germany, the fact that millions of Germans turned a blind eye towards the atrocities inflicted on Jews shows how grave inaction of people can lead to a holocaust. Germans collectively failed their fellow Jews through inaction and the cruelty became banal and ordinary as a day-to-day happening.
By choosing to not act regarding a situation, one may be excusing himself from preventing an evil. Take for example, the act of voting, by not voting, which is a duty of a responsible citizen, he or she is enabling a tyrant to take control of the State.
Conclusion
Hence inaction is also injurious in many situations and those who are guilty of inaction must also be held accountable. If we do nothing, nothing will change. So, inaction is worse than making a bad decision. One must not be a fence-sitter, rather always take a decision and act upon it. Only then, there can be experiences learning and personal growth.
Topic: Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators;
7. What does this quote means to you? (150 words)
Difficulty level: Moderate
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 4 and part of ‘Quotes Wednesdays’ in Mission-2022 Secure.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by explaining the literal meaning of the quote and highlighting its core meaning about inaction.
Body:
Write about the importance of contentment. Mention the when humans seek to desire more, it leads to greed and ethics and moral are violated for the gratification of the greed. When we have contentment in life, we enjoy whatever we have. Substantiate with examples.
Conclusion:
Summarise by highlighting the importance of the quote in the present day.
Introduction
For Socrates, one of the greatest ancient thinkers, happiness doesn’t come from external rewards or accolades. It comes from the private, internal success people bestow upon themselves. By paring down our needs, we can learn to appreciate simpler pleasures.
It’s not a gift other people or things give to us, in other words. It’s something we create from within and have a responsibility to protect.
Body
We usually equate happiness to having more in life. And by more, we think of physical possessions. But route to minimalism is the key to happiness. Socrates taught us to be happy with less. In other words, enjoy the things you have today instead of worrying about those things that you cannot possess.
The idea of “less is more” is not about owning less for the sake of having less. It is about our capacity to enjoy with less things in life. To some, our less might be a lot to them, and vice-versa. Each and every one has to find their own capacity to enjoy life, that is the key to happiness.
Enjoying less can also turn modest pleasures into a luxury. Sometimes, it can be saving the planet from exploitation as well and key to climate change. Minimalism can become a solution to many of earth’s resource problem. It can lead to sustainable living.
Socrates makes it clear that the key to happiness is not to be found in the goods that one accumulates, or even the projects that form the ingredients of one’s life, but rather in the agency of the person himself who gives her life a direction and focus. Also clear from this is a repudiation of the idea that happiness consists merely in the satisfaction of our desires. For in order to determine which desires are worth satisfying, we have to apply our critical and reflective intelligence.
Conclusion
Socrates recommended gaining rational control over your desires and harmonizing the different parts of your soul. Doing so would produce a divine-like state of inner tranquillity that the external would could not effect. True to his word, he cheerfully faced his own death, discussing philosophy right up to the moments before he took the lethal hemlock.
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