The metropolis is seen as the seat of the economy. It is where money is centralized and it is where the seat of governance has been placed. Due to the fact that metropolis is equated with high monetary value, has been also equated to intellectuality and rationality. Metropolis is seen as the highest form of society where quantitative values are set high and material purchases are of importance.
A metropolitan society may never be referred as the heart of a nation, and it exists where power is centralized due to higher economic value. By this, money has become the main proponent of this stature. It shies away from the emotional and personal settings of rural life. Metropolis overwhelms an individual with the economic freedom it offers. One might argue that metropolis could be the ultimate plethora of abundance, but in essence, it devalues character and personality. A person in metropolis sees everything in a quantitative manner. Money reduces all quality and individuality to a purely quantitative level (Simmel). Every quality and personality are converted to its monetary equivalent. It turns an individual in a rational thinker rather than an emotional and personal creature.
In a way, self-preservation in the face of the great city requires a person to be no less a negative type of social conduct (Simmel). Though the metropolis encourage personal growth, it may not be in a positive way. In a metropolis, where population is dense and competition is higher, a person might develop a personality and skills that may not be humane in order to thrive and survive the urban jungle. Therefore, the metropolis foster regression of the culture of the individual with reference to spirituality, delicacy and idealism (Simmel). In a metropolitan society, these qualities are seen as something peculiar ad nonsense. It simply cannot easily be quantified into certain values.
But in rural communities, these setting fosters positive individual growth. It is where personality and conduct is far essential in order to thrive and survive. It is conducive to forming a communal relationship that could involve the many facets of a person’ life. In a way, rural communities act as the heart and soul of the nation and should also be seen as important as the metropolitan cities.
Reference
Simmel, Georg. 'The Metropolis and Mental Life'. The urban sociology reader (1903): 23--31. Print.
