What does ‘with the development of the society’ actually mean?

The phrase ‘with the development of the society’ is often used in the essays of Chinese writers. The problem is that this really doesn’t intuitively mean very much in English.

What does it mean?

Does it mean that society is getting bigger or more complicated? If so, in what ways?

Does it simply mean that society is getting better? If so, according to what criteria is it better?

Does it mean that the individuals that make up that society are becoming more sophisticated or better educated? If so, according to what criteria could they be considered more sophisticated or better educated?

Is it some kind of sociopolitical statement about how many ‘developed world’ criteria a society meets? If so, how are we to judge places that were undoubtedly classified as developed but that slide down various world rankings. For example, my own country of origin (UK) seems to have fallen in many  global rankings since I was at school; would I describe this as ‘with the undevelopment of society’?

These questions are merely posed to get you thinking about the intended meaning. The question still stands:

What does ‘with the development of the society’ actually mean? Discuss.

I’ll leave it to you to discuss in the comments below 🙂

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