April 12, 200521 yr It's a question I have often asked myself. Looking outside the box, what do you think is the world's greatest problem? We can also ask the same thing for the United States of America. Please dont just give me a reason and no substance. Let's hear your thoughts on this and let's have a great and insightful discussion.
April 12, 200521 yr Skyrocketing populations all over the world is the biggest problem IMO. Its the harbinger of all the other ills. Waste managments is going to be ferocious in the future. More and more people are going to require food and water. As two largest nations in the world are now becoming powerhouse economies, they will produce and consume and emit just like the US has for so many years and they will do worse as their populations and other nations' increasing populations will be doing the same thing. All of this will lead to pollution, starvation...everything. People will be in terrible conditions. I think eventually the concept of the dominant middle class will be in folklore from old stories of the US during the mid 1900s.
April 12, 200521 yr The middle class is already eroding. The middle class is what made America. The middle class now gets zero benefits, while the rich and poor get everything. One day a leader of this nation may get it. While population may be a problem in the world, I am not convinced that food sources will be a problem. Granted its not a problem today in terms of total food produced. Hopefully we continue to find a way to re-distribute our food supplies to those of various lands that dont have the same capacity to produce food as nations such as ours. Pollution is a problem, our inability to address this problem either through Kyoto or through some real alternative shows that we have no concern for this problem on a global scale. For this we all know who I put 100% of the blame.
April 12, 200521 yr The biggest problem facing humankind today is not one that can be summed up in one single term. Das and F_M have flirted with the point I'm about to make - and that is that we, as a race, have a lack of a plan for the future and it shows. F_M brings up overpopulation. How in the world are we going to manage this planet in the next 50-75 years, as the human population grows exponentially by the minute? While money is being spent fighting wars and bolstering defense, American children at home will feel the effects of the growing strain on America's education system, among other things. Americans and other nations need to take a good hard look in the mirror, and concentrate on domestic problems - solve them, NOW. Start planning for the future. Don't let something that we can see coming, like the oil crisis, knock us off of our feet.
April 12, 200521 yr Well if Dubya would stop flat out ignoring domestic issues, maybe something can be accomplished.
April 12, 200521 yr Author Flying Mullosk, you bring up an interesting point regarding hunger. It reminded me of a great website that few are probably aware of. The Hunger Site This site used to have a powerful map which showed the effects of starvation in the world, I'm not sure if its still there, its not on the front page anymore. They have five sister sites also, touching on items such as rainforests, brest cancer, child healthcare, literacy and animal rights. Great site and it allows you to donate food to those in need with the click of a button.
April 12, 200521 yr Make no mistake, he thinks he's paying attention to domestic issues, he's just wrong. Altruistic crusades to save traditional values are not what is going to guarantee our nation's well-being in a few decades.
April 12, 200521 yr Make no mistake, he thinks he's paying attention to domestic issues, he's just wrong. Altruistic crusades to save traditional values are not what is going to guarantee our nation's well-being in a few decades. 739064[/snapback] Without a doubt. That's the second biggest reason I hate the man. The future of America is going to be largely dependent on taking care of America. It's something that he has ignored. Hell its what got Daddy defeated, well that and his little read my lips line. Instead of fighting this stupid war which means zilch about national security, we should be focusing our attention on issues that actually effect this nation. Hell the entire Dept of Homeland Security is a total waste of funds that should already of been allocated in various organizations.
April 12, 200521 yr Stupidity and laziness. 5 millenia of civilization and people are still stupid and lazy.
April 12, 200521 yr How do you guys think we can balance the needs and growth of the developing world with the problems that will come with it? What affect do you guys think revolutions in agricultural and energy technology could have on the problems we see..or better yet, how likely are innovations in these fields?
April 12, 200521 yr The history of the world is that technological innovations seem to come "just in time" to prevent various disasters, unpleasantness, and other problems. IOW - riffing on my laziness postulate, the perspiration that drives the innovation is itself driven by the necessity of the times. ex. feeding and distributing food to large population metro areas would REQUIRE the development of transport infrastructure and automated farming methods. Population migrations to the cities also dictated more automated ag methods as farm populations declined. Even "large" cities in the early 1800's had modest populations due to available transport infrastructure limitations that could provide the necessary food. Look at a society and examine where its people are going (in all regards) and you'll get a glimpse of what kind of developments are on the horizon. Its no accident that Fulton, the Wright brothers, Ford etc did what they did when they did it. It was inevitable.
April 12, 200521 yr Biggest problems: 1. Energy (or future lack-thereof) 2. Overpopulation 3. Religious Fanaticism
April 12, 200521 yr Funny that you put religious fanatacism. I'd assume you meant on the part of Islamic terrorists, but then again I'd bet that you were just talking about Christians, whose extent of fanatacism is voting for GWB.
April 12, 200521 yr Funny that you put religious fanatacism.? I'd assume you meant on the part of Islamic terrorists, but then again I'd bet that you were just talking about Christians, whose extent of fanatacism is voting for GWB. 739166[/snapback] I imagine he's talking about any religious fanatic. And I'd agree.
April 12, 200521 yr Stupidity and laziness.? 5 millenia of civilization and people are still stupid and lazy. 739086[/snapback] Solution? What "made" you smart? What forces/impetus caused you to achieve? Are you genetically superior? These arn't shots at you tonyi in particular, but I'm always interested to hear what answers people give for their wit/intelligence/common sense/etc. in contrast to the general global population's "laziness and stupidity." I know I need to say this again, SO this is not a personal attack.
April 12, 200521 yr Funny that you put religious fanatacism. I'd assume you meant on the part of Islamic terrorists, but then again I'd bet that you were just talking about Christians, whose extent of fanatacism is voting for GWB. 739166[/snapback] I imagine he's talking about any religious fanatic. And I'd agree. 739182[/snapback] I meant any religious fanatics, not just Islamic fundamentalists.
April 12, 200521 yr Biggest problems in the world I will give a top 3 and explain each: 1. The Environment 2. Religious Fanaticism 3. The destruction of the Middle Class First off, the environment. The environment, like it or not, is close to be completely destroyed. Without a stable environment, life doesn't exist. Global warming is the most obvious of the issues. With the increase in temperature, causing the ice caps to melt, people in coastal cities will be flooded and weird weather phenomena will start to occur. Of course, it is perfectly plausible that the earth is going through a cycle where the temperature is warmer on the planet, but thats not to say that humans don't have a hand in pushing it to dangerous levels. The destruction of the rainforest is going to have to stop now because otherwise, in 50 years, the world will have little or no rainforest. And rainforests have been proven to be where many scientists find is the cradle of all life on earth. Without the ecological variation there, it causes a landslide effect across the world. All animals are linked, even the Polar Bears of the Arctic to the Anacondas of the Amazon. All play an important and vital role on this planet, no matter how small. Overpopulation also extends into this. As wrong as China seems to have a one child per family limit, it is also pure genius in a sense. How much more can this earth take? Before 1900, there weren't even a billion people on this planet, now there are over 6 billion people. In 100 years, the tax on resources is immense. The immense growth doesn't allow for natural resources, time to heal and grow back. This isn't the early 1900s where families were large because there was a pretty good chance that possibly all your kids may not survive to 18. The population growth must be limited now to a healthy rate for this planet to recover. The second problem is religious fanaticism. I am refering to hardline Chasidic Jews, Islamic Jihadists, both evangelical and non-evangelical hard line Christians, Extreme Orthodox Hindi, basically anyone who takes religion to the extreme. These people are the ones who cause conflict in this world for the most part. These people, all citing "In the name of God" to force their religion on others or kill anyone who isn't of their extreme belief. And September 11th truly opened our eyes to this problem that countries, especially Israel and the state of Northern Ireland, have had problems with ever since their existence. Religious fanatics deserve their religion, but they do not deserve to live if they force people to believe in their belief system. This is just an incomprehensible problem. The third and final problem I will explain is the destruction of the Middle Class. The Middle Class built America. The rise of a middle class has been long an indicator of financial stability and political stability. Countries without a middle class: Uganda, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, I could go on. Notice that all these countries politics and finances are either reserved to the most "privelaged," and I use privelaged figuratively, or are entirely in doubt. For example look at Egypt. They are coming out of a dictatorship and the middle class is finally beginning to grow. Meanwhile, we see in America the third "enlightenment" and the rise of the hardline christian right. This has been going on for years and ever since the christian right became the dominant thought train of the Republican Party, their policies have begun to destroy the middle class with such bills as the bankruptcy bill in Congress right now. This bill will allow creditors to gain a lot of power over their users. Just my thoughts and there are so many more problems in the world but I think these are the big three, going down from most important to the next most important.
April 12, 200521 yr Is the problem of religion one of fanaticism or simply the fact that there are 3 major religions to begin with? That's the root of it, and fanatacism is just a product of it.
April 13, 200521 yr Stupidity and laziness. 5 millenia of civilization and people are still stupid and lazy. 739086[/snapback] Would you attribute the stupidity to crappy education systems, or just lack of education in general?
April 13, 200521 yr Stupidity and laziness.? 5 millenia of civilization and people are still stupid and lazy. 739086[/snapback] Would you attribute the stupidity to crappy education systems, or just lack of education in general? 740515[/snapback] obviously puns on sexual acts are more important than answering this question... :plain
April 13, 200521 yr Author Stupidity and laziness. 5 millenia of civilization and people are still stupid and lazy. 739086[/snapback] nice answer. thanks for doing what i requested for you not to do.
April 13, 200521 yr Author Most of you, great answers, I am truly impressed. Let me add these reasons, take them as you want and disucss them if you feel they have any merit. 1) Political unrest throughout the world. Now we can attibute this probably to the clash between religions, but if we did this as a rule, then where does North Korea fit in. I think that they break the mold of religious fantacism being alone a cause. The threat of the nuclear weapon alone should strike fear into our shorts. Only we have used it. Hopefully we remain the only nation that ever pulls that deadly trigger. 2) Economic distribution. I think we would all agree that all things considered a strong global economy is good for all of us. So having said that, how do we work about transforming the economies of some of the poorer regions of this world? Granted this problem is not a top priority on the list, but it will become one sooner rather than later.
April 13, 200521 yr Stupidity and laziness. 5 millenia of civilization and people are still stupid and lazy. 739086[/snapback] Would you attribute the stupidity to crappy education systems, or just lack of education in general? 740515[/snapback] Genetics. Education has little to do with what we think of as intelligence. There are completely uneducated people who are quite smart. I think there needs to be some serious research into how to unlock the unused potential of the human wiring. Its been shown that planaria worms can inherit a measure of "learning" by eating ground up planaria who were previously trained. This is an interesting mechanism that suggests there may be a way to "preload" infants with something useful that maybe could cut down learning curves for them or provide some sort of "social memory" that might be able to influence against criminal activity, drug abuse, etc.. Translating worm results to people is dicy of course, but there may be something there worth a look.
April 13, 200521 yr provide some sort of "social memory" that might be able to influence against criminal activity, drug abuse, etc.. 740559[/snapback] Yes, brain wash unborn fetuses! Score! /Sarcasm
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