The well-being of a society is enhanced when many of its people question authority.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and s

The well-beign of a society is the welfare of its people which is directly affected by the actions and policies of its leaders. Leaders of a society in government, industries, religioous organisations etc., take decisions everyday that directly affect the welfare of the people. It's therefore important that people challenge these decisions especially when it has negative implications. The stength oof such questioning will depend on the number of people supporting it; the more the nuber of people the stronger the effect of the questioning.

Leaders sometimes take decisions they think will favor the institution without taking into account the efect of such decisions on the followers. Sometimes, the consequencies are untold hardship. What should these members do? Fold their hands and face the negative effects? Or question these decisions? People should question such decisions as thats the only way the authorities will see their own side of the decision. They may not have weighed correctly, the effect of such decisions on the members of the society. For example, on January 1 20011, the government of the federal republic of Nigeria announced an increase in the price of petroleum products. The change in price was a hundred percent increase. Members of the society realised that if they don't challenge this decision, the effect will be a significant increase in the price of goods and services and immediately, the trade unions sought audience with government. Despite series of meetings, government refused to bring down the price of petroleum products. At this point, the trade union was able to convince over ninety-five percent of the population and the resorted to an industrial action. Workers were asked not to go to work which they obeyed. A number of people took to the streets to demonstrate that they want a review of the hike in price of petroleum products. Government, seeing that they have lost so much as a result of the nation-wide strike, decided to have another set of dicussions withe trade union, this time, they all agreed to only increase the price of petroleum products by only ten percent.

Members of a society must also be careful in questioning the decisions of those in authority. We have given them mandate to make decisions on our behalf and that we will support the decisions they make. Therefore, we must weigh such decisions carefully before questioning them. Sometimes, the request for such questioning could be coming from a person or group of persons who will be sacrificing his or their selfish benefits as a result of such decisions. For example, in the year 2010, the bureau for public privatisation in Nigeria made public their decision to privatise the national power holding company. For years, Nigerians have been crying of epileptic power supply and because industries have to spend more on alternative power supplies, the cost of production is always high. The senior officials at the national power holding company of Nigeria instigated its members against such decision. One of the reasons they presented to the staff is that they will lose their benefits as workers in a special parastatal should they allow government to privatise the company. Eventually the members agreed and took to the streets in protest for the decision to privatise the company. Eventually, it was revealed that the senior officials at the company didn't want the privatisation because of gratifications they received from traders of alternative power supply equipments.

In conclussion, individuals in a society should question decisions made by those in authority especially when such decisions will have negative effects on the well-being of the people. However, people must weigh such opinions to challenge authorities, to be sure they are not helping others achieve their selfish desires.