Problems (from worst to less worse)
1. Global Warming
2. Nuclear Weapons
3. World Hunger
4. Apathy
5. War
Solutions (from most implementable to least)
1. Apathy
2. Global Warming
3. World Hunger
4. Nuclear Weapons
5. War
I had a difficult time coming up with an order for this list, as I feel all of these are huge problems. In the end, I mainly decided the order through their greatest possible detrimental impact. For example, global warming and nuclear war are both at the top as both are capable of rendering the planet uninhabitable. Global warming is placed above as it is steadily and progressively becoming a bigger issue, whereas we have avoided global annihilation in the form of nuclear holocaust for more than half a century. World Hunger is next due to the sheer number of consistent deaths it is responsible for. In that sense I realize that I should have put disease on this list, but it wasn't in my original list of world problems so, an oversight on my part. Apathy is next just because I believe it is the source of basically all problems. War is the last as, while it is indeed the cause of many deaths and a massive horrible problem, it is essentially inherent to humanity. I do not feel it is an issue so much as a condition.
I put apathy as the easiest to solve because, let's face it, all of them are really hard to solve or they would have been solved already. I feel like the apathy issue could be addressed soley by government programs, unlike the rest of these problems. Global warming, like apathy, can be addressed through government intervention but would require world coordination the likes of which has probably never been seen before. It is feasible, but unlikely. World Hunger is where I feel this list first dips into the unsolvable. I feel like global resource distribution will always be an issue. Likewise, nuclear weapons have been created and will never go away. As I stated above, I feel war is simply part of the human condition. While it truly is a terrible thing, I see it as part of who we are.
A relevant picture.
(Apathy)
I liked your list, and overall the order, but there is just one thing that I would change. I would put nuclear weapons a little lower in the problems section, and a little higher in the solutions section. One of the main aspects of nuclear weapons is Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). Basically, at this point the US has so many, that if anyone in the world were to use one against another country they know they would be obliterated in minutes, so unless a terror group gets a hold of one, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Luckily, the US has stopped countries like Iran from actually weaponizing their nuclear capabilities, as they cannot refine Uranium well enough to use it for anything but energy production.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to my blog.
http://natehooper.blogspot.com/2016/01/top-5-world-problems.html
Hey Jacob! So as much as I tend to despise those click-bait titles, I actually really enjoyed your post! And you were totally correct, I was a little surprised by your submission of apathy. However, after reading your reasoning and eventual solutions, I can't help but to completely agree. You obviously put lots of thought into this post and it shows. Here's my post if you're interested http://kwandersen.blogspot.com/2016/01/top-5-world-problems.html?m=1
ReplyDelete- Kate