GRE Issue Essay 41
If a goal is worthy, then any means taken to attain it is justifiable.
There is no doubt that goals are necessary for the growth of an individual and the development of the society. Every individual dreams to achieve his goal. However, to say that any means taken to attain it is justifiable is not correct. There are both positive and negative aspects of this statement. It depends on the individual whether he/she takes the positive side or the negative side. Sometimes, based upon the distinct function of the worthy goals, it appears that any means taken to achieve the purpose is justifiable. However, a balance is required considering the morality factor.
It is a common accepted fact that goals provide directions to people’s actions and make their actions more purposeful. It helps in improving the conditions of human beings and the world. Sometimes it is essential to take extreme steps in some sense; it becomes justifiable to use some extreme tackles to gain the meaningful goal. For example, independence war of India against British Empire. Usually wars are considered a serious loss to nations, however, this war was to eliminate the slavery in India and for setting true democracy in India. It is also true that the benefits of attaining the goal of this war cannot reverse the effects it had on the nation’s heart and mind. However, it cannot be ignored that it gave birth to the largest democracy of the world.
However, it cannot be said that one can use any means to achieve his goal. A very general example is that if a person has a goal to become a millionaire then it does not mean that he can attain his goal by any means. He cannot be allowed to rob a bank and say that his goal is now achieved and it is justifiable. On the other hand, if the goal for an individual is to study in the best university and if he/she works very hard to get through it and studies day and night without any concern about what people say, then this can be called justifiable. Hence, it is difficult to predict whether any goal, which a person is seeking, is worth. At times, maybe some measures would lead to a side effect and even worsen the situation.
People have to take some basic moral standards into account before taking extreme measures to fulfill their goals. In the absence of logical steps, a valuable goal loses its meaning. A worthy goal is a purpose that would benefit the entire humanity and the society. A personal goal should not be above the national or global cause. For example if you take the instance of cloning, it can achieve a peerless level in the biology science. However, all the nations are very cautious to develop this technology as cloning may lead to a chaos in ethic. Moreover, it can be misused by terrorists. Thus, you cannot justify all means of attaining a worthy goal.
Hence, an individual should consider the means, which help to achieve a worthy goal. The result should be materialistically as well as morally correct.