Basis and Concepts of Social Progress

Development is a tool for competition between countries and their ranking according to international criteria. Different perspectives exist in this area, which the most important models are: the Capitalist, Socialist, and Iranic-Islamic. An overview of the concepts and the foundations of development may help clarify the manner our society wants to obtain and provide needed facilities.

A comprehensive literature review with regard to basic concepts, definitions, values and socio-economic consequences of development models was conducted. National and international books and articles were reviewed analytically.

There are several theoretical and practical definitions for development. It sometimes refers to reducing gaps, transforming potentials to reality, or enforcing regularities and expanding appropriate structures. The first model of development, Capitalist, was formed during the industrial revolution, and resulted in conspicuous consumerism, domination, destruction and abuse of natural environment, colonialism and slavery. The second model, socialist, was structured in Revolution of October 1917. Despotism was the immediate and most direct consequence. The Iranic-islamic development model was designed in early 2011. Supposedly the main expected consequences for this model are "improvement in the fields of thought, science, life, and spirituality."

There are several mechanisms designed for promoting the well-being of communities. One of the most important of them is democratization of the workplace and creation of an atmosphere in which everybody feels worthy, valuable and performs a participatory role in the workplace. More equitable distribution of socio-economic advantages not only increase the social trust and well-being indices, but also prevent many social pathologies.