Class 10 Social Science Short Notes 2026-27

1.1 DIFFERENT PEOPLE, DIFFERENT GOALS

What does progress or development mean? If we were to ask this question of a number of people, we would receive a variety of answers, and some of them might even contradict one another. A landless rural labourer may hope for more days of work and better wages; a prosperous farmer may want assured prices for his crops; an urban unemployed youth may want a job; and a girl from a well-off family may ask for the same freedom to decide her future as her brother enjoys.

People's ideas of development thus depend on their situation in life and on what they consider most important. Sometimes the goals of one group conflict with those of another. Building large dams to produce electricity for industry may be seen as development by some, but it may submerge the land of the people living in the area and force them to move, so that for them it means loss rather than gain.

Income is clearly an important goal, but it is not the only one. People also want security, equal treatment, freedom and the respect of others, and they resent being discriminated against. These non-material goals can sometimes matter more than additional income or consumption.