Social desirables are things that elevate a person’s standing within society and are instrumental in the opportunities they get and the relationships that they have.
The socially desirable are wealth (e.g. fi nancial wealth, property, businesses, investments, luxuries); power (e.g. influence over people, organizations, and communities/cities/provinces/ countries); and prestige (e.g. profession, legacies, educational attainment, awards, contributions to society).
But to me, social desirables are not just limited to wealth, power, and prestige. What good is your wealth, power, and prestige if you have stepped on many people and destroyed many people’s lives for you to get to the top? What good is your wealth, power, and prestige if you stole riches to get them? What good is your wealth, power, and prestige if you take unethical shortcuts? This should be the main point that you need to get across after discussing the typical parameters of social desirables. The main call-to-action that you should emphasize is that the most socially desirable things are ethics and humanity. Besides, getting wealth, power, and prestige in a way that is humane and ethical is extra impressive, as it shows someone’s moral aptitude, skills, and discipline. What good is your wealth, power, and prestige if you treat people badly?
We can do exercises like case studies to determine if something is ethical or not in the way that a person obtains their wealth, power, or prestige. We can also ask students if the person who has wealth,
power, and prestige is someone to look up to, depending on how they handle situations or how they treat people.
As we are preparing students for a life that has wealth, power, and prestige, we should remind them to keep their feet on the ground and prioritize ethics before anything else, as those things are real social desirables.
