Meaning Of Contentment (Civic Education)
Contentment is a mental characteristic that enables a person to be pleased with what they have and to live within their means. It is the acceptance of one’s condition, which may not be ideal, or desirable but cannot be altered easily.
A good example is when a poor student lives on the resources provided by his or her parent and is not enticed by his neighbors’ wealth. The individual does not live beyond his means and capacity. The spirit of contentment enables a student from a low-income family to be satisfied with what his parents offer and to compete favorably with students from wealthier families.
However, contentment does not imply that a person is not happy and satisfied with their current condition, even if they strive hard to improve it.
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Attributes Of Contentment
1. Satisfaction
A contented individual is comfortable with what he possesses, regardless of new acquisitions of his friends or neigbour. A good child would desires to live within his family’s limits. Even if they face hardships or deprivations, he should be content with his progress.
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2. Absence of Envy
A person who is content does not envy someone else because he is content with whatever he has. He is not envious of those who are more fortunate.
3. Detest covetousness and corruption:
To detest is to dislike something for being bad. A man who is content is not greedy. To become famous or wealthy, he will never cheat, steal or deceive others. He abhors all forms of corruption.
4. Humility
He is modest and he respects others meaning, he is not arrogant. He respects the status and accomplishments of others. He does not lose his composure as a result of his accomplishment.
Effects Of Lack Of Contentment On the Society
- Lack Of Contentment among citizens is a bad attribute that can cause serious harm to society in the present and also in the future.
- It promotes a culture of greediness and selfishness, dishonesty, and other social vices, such as exam malpractice, fraud, and misappropriation of public resources.
- It encourages corruption and a get-rich-quick lifestyle. It encourages persons in positions of authority to steal public funding intended for community development.
- Kidnappings, Ritual killing, Human trafficking, drug dealing, and armed robbery are only a few examples of the kind of illegal acts that are encouraged by this policy.
- It encourages the dominance of immorality as young girls and women engage in prostitution for financial gain.
- It promotes the dominance of personalities over others, and of groups over their contemporaries for undeserved advantage. This is the fundamental reason of ethnic conflict in Nigeria.
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The dominant racial group in Nigeria must flourish and allow others to flourish. In the interest of peace, the nation’s riches, including resources and opportunities, should be allocated equally.
