SAT

In contemporary society, most people want to pursue power, money, or fame. When asked about whether conscience is a more powerful motivator than money, fame, or power, the overwhelming majority of individuals would probably say that it is not. People tend to want to be rich or famous, however, others disagree with this view and believe conscience is more significant than these desires. I am inclined towards the latter view.

On the one hand, the desire for wealth, for power, or for fame spawns selfish behaviors which can cause many detriments to our life. An illustration of this point are the individuals who pursue these things without having an awareness of helping people and may instead care only about achieving materialistic aims, regardless of who they harm along the way. Secondly, money or fame may render individuals alienated, even from family bonds. It goes without saying that it can cause social instability if everyone does his/her job solely for the accumulation of profits. Obviously no one can fully ignore their conscience even if they have done something wrong; however, a few people may decide to continue their selfish behavior. Although everyone can gain profits, power, fame, or wealth, most people cannot lose their moral values or block out their conscience.

Accordingly, people tend to be driven by selfish motives. In the first place, individuals will become poor if they do not earn a vast amount of money under the rapid tempo of life. The reason they give for this, is that only wealth, fame, or power can make their life better. Furthermore, sometimes people find it difficult to judge what is right and what is wrong because everything has two sides. For example, businessmen earn plenty of money from customers but we cannot say they are wrong just because they earned money off the citizens. Therefore, earning money can promote the development of national economy and marketing but should not be achieved at the expense of others.

In regards to the question, “Is conscience a more powerful motivator than money, fame, or power?”, this paper has presented two viewpoints: one; that one’s conscience is more powerful than desires for these things, and two; that the desire for money, fame, and power is stronger than what our conscience can control. Judging from all the evidence offered, we may reasonably come to the conclusion that the former view has more weight than the latter one. By taking a clear-eyed look at the situation from a wider standpoint, it is shown that conscience wins over selfish wants. In short, earning money, becoming famous, or gaining power is important to us, but the majority of us do not forget our conscience and our code of ethics to do so.