"Governments must ensure that their major cities receive the financial support they need in order to thrive, because it is primarily in cities that a nation's cultural traditions are preserved and generated."


The speaker claims that the major cities of a nation must receive financial support in order to thrive. The reasoning behind author’s claim is that it is primarily in cities that a nation's cultural traditions are preserved and generated. A view contrary to author’s would be that sometimes there are major issues that needs to be addressed first, issues which require financial assistance primarily for proper functioning of the economy and if the budget allows, then the cities should get financial assistance to preserve a nation’s traditions.

One reason for my agreement with the author is that rarely any traditions can be preserved without financial assistance. Cultural traditions are important not only for posterity but also for children so that they can understand their roots and respect society and traditions. For example, In Khujurao, Madhya Pradesh, a city in India, Ancient temples of India, which are around 20 in number and which were constructed between 800 AD and 1200 AD are in poor conditions because of negligible financial assistance from State Government as well as Central Government. Almost all art inscribed on walls and rock paintings are ramshackle.

Another reason for the agreement with the author is his correct assumption that no one except the government helps the cities financially. We have seen many philanthropist helping schools, NGO’s and public welfare schemes but no one helps the cities in order to preserve their cultural traditions. To look for an example one need to look no further than the states of Rajasthan and Bihar in India. There are many programs run by national and international foundations such as Bill and Melinda Foundation Gates, which are focused on helping only people from poor background and till date no one except the government helped the cities.

However, government can only help major cities when there is sufficient budget. The author’s claims that government must ensure that cities must receive financial support is not fully correct. There is always a fixed budget and many factors has to be taken into account. Issues such as poverty, medical assistance, government pension schemes for senior citizens and public welfare schemes requires the financial assistance first. It is not sensible to give financial assistance to cities than to other important issues mentioned above.

In sum, governments should provide financial assistance to cities in order to preserve and generate cultural traditions only when other important sectors are provided with assistance first. Governments should maintain a balance between not caring too much for preserving cultural traditions, which can result in neglecting other important sectors and not ignoring major cities too much, which can result in degradation of cultural traditions.