Please evaluate my IELTS Task 2 Essay

A person’s worth nowadays seems to be judged according to social status and material possessions. Old-fashioned values, such as honor, kindness and trust, no longer seem important.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

In our modern society, some people believe that belonging at the top of social hierarchies and possessing many valuable assets are the most important characteristics to judge a person’s worth. Other more traditional traits, such as kindness, humility, and loyalty, do not matter as much. I somewhat agree with this and will explain my point further below.

Nowadays it is not difficult to find those financially or socially superior individuals getting more attention from the public. While I am not trying to bring them down or deny their must-have qualities to be where they are, I think the sole focus on their materialistic traits from the media is not doing much good for society. Celebrities obviously have a whole community following them, many of which are kids, teens, or easily-influenced groups. This might lead to them setting an unhealthy goal of being rich and having a high social rank as if these are the only things that matter in life. Advantaged people need to be aware of their influence over others and promote other things such as intellect, philanthropic activities, et cetera.

Putting famous people aside, I think normal people in their day-to-day lives still value old-fashioned personalities traits. In many cultures, it is ordinary that parents are expected to raise their children to be well-behaved, good at hearts citizens. A person who is caring for others and has done so much good in life is also considered to be a rich person without having to have fancy cars and mansions. I personally strive toward this way of living instead of being rich and powerful.

In conclusion, a person’s financial ability and social rank are getting more and more attention due to mass media, however, other more traditional traits such as honor and kindness are still being valued to a certain degree. I think it is crucial that we shift the focus to those traits in order for our future generations to fully develop.