Thomas (1996) points out neatly that development can refer to both deliberate attempts at progress through intervention, or to the efforts of people to improve their quality of life through their own efforts. As a verb it refers to the activities required to bring these changes about; as an adjective, it implies a value judgement, a standard against which things are compared the implication being that the South is undeveloped or being developed, while the North has already reached a state of development.