Free Paper Example on Social Concept

Introduction

The aspect of scarcity is similar, regardless of the related notch and disciplines. In social psychology, scarcity refers to the deprivation of resources because of the impact caused by reliance on objects of higher value than those of lower value. The end results are such that the higher-valued objects end up being scarce, whereas the lowly-valued resources become abundant. Humans play a critical role in creating the gap between the limited and limitless resources. In the social domain, scarcity is manifested when there are limited and costly means meant to fulfill human wants. Some of the scarce resources include money and time. Humanity is the primary contributing factor to the quintessentially scarce resources.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Primary Factor

One primary factor that makes scarcity be placed among social concepts is the reliance on water. Countries to the north and south of the equator have scarce water. Some of the them include Israel, Qatar, Iran, and Lebanon. Most of the situations are attributed to human activity, including agriculture. Water contributes to the largest part of planet earth. At least 70% of the planet is covered with water. Even so, water remains a scarce resource. This is so since human beings rely on freshwater for their activities. Notable uses of freshwater include drinking, bathing, and irrigating farms. Therefore, the over-reliance on the water for human use has created situations of water crises in multiple parts of the world.

Scarcity is also manifested as a result of the stress placed on water systems as a result of human activities. Water is important to enhance sustainability, especially for ecosystems. However, the alternative rate of growth existing between the growth of ecosystems and the human population is high, leading to scarcity. The increased population engages in various activities, including industrialization and the discharge of waste materials directly to water, creating water pollution. The freshwater from rivers, lakes, and aquifers, which could have been useful for other activities, end up lacking importance. As such, the wetlands are affected, making humans rely on unpolluted water from other regions for their needs.

Social Concept

Scarcity is also a social concept because of the outcomes caused by climate change. One of the key importance of weather and climate is precipitation. Human survival calls for dependence on any form of precipitation, including rain and snow. Among the activities that depend on good climate include the extraction of minerals and metals. Human activities, such as deforestation that affect climate patterns, affect the mining of minerals and metals. For instance, altered climate patterns could affect the extraction of oil, which is an essential economic good for the world. Human beings are social animals because of the cooperation required to thrive and survive. The day to day interactions and activities among humans contribute to climate change, which creates a situation of scarce valuables such as oil.

Human activities also contribute to negative outcomes such as global warming, which is a human-induced environmental concern. The various activities, such as burning fossil fuels, indirectly lead to scarcity of limited resources. The scarcity, along with other global concerns such as overpopulation, force people to explore new lands with similar resources (Lustgarten 4). For instance, wildfires force people out of their homes into other areas from where they compete for limited resources. Human beings are agents of defying nature since they use expensive subsidies and incentives to make unsound decisions that affect the environment. Their decisions force countries to take significant steps to address the concept of climate change and also mitigate the unavoidable scarcity of resources as the aftermath. Climate change is, by itself, a social problem as it affects the less fortunate, older adults, and other significant minorities. As such, the scarcity of resources is directly related to social conditions.

Humans are social beings who interact to improve their health and well-being. However, the same human beings create a situation of scarce resources by engaging in activities that inflict harm to their health and well-being. The scarcity of resources contributes to the instability of climate conditions, which later affects their health. Humans are most suited to a single type of climate for a long period upon their adaptation. Activities such as destroying natural habitats alter the climate, and as a result, human adaptation. For instance, human beings with dark skin let them be more resistant to cold weather. Social activities that change the climatic pattern affect their health, forcing them to demand settlement in other favorable regions. It is in such new areas that humans create a situation of scarce resources.

Conclusion

Scarcity is one of the undebated social concerns in the contemporary world as human activities lead to the deprivation of resources necessary for living. Some of the scarce resources include water and oil as human beings engage in activities such as water pollution, deforestation, among other actions that create negative human-induced environmental concerns. Most human beings defy nature with or without consent without an understanding that they directly create a shortage of important resources for survival. The scarcity of resources, therefore, is a social problem and aspect because it directly impacts the less fortunate, older adults, among other minorities.

Works Cited

Lustgarten, Abrahm. (n.d.). “How Climate Migration Will Reshape America: Millions Will Be Displaced. Where Will They Go?”