1. Communicable Diseases
2. Drinking Water
3. Famine
4. Drugs
5. Police Brutality
The reason why I listed communicable diseases at the top of the list is the very real possibility that a third or more of humanity could be wiped out in a pandemic. Worst case scenarios can have diseases arising that could wipe out a whopping 60% of all people infected. Drinking water is another major concern as it provides two needs: hydration as well as to create food. Without enough potable water then, there will be less food. Famine has historically killed billions over the years, yet, new solutions in terms of food creation make this problem less severe than a water shortage. Drugs result in billions of dollars in lost revenue each year as people have to help pay for overdoses as well as measures to combat the drug trade. This leads into the fact police brutality is made more severe as a direct result of the war on drugs resulting in thousands of deaths over the years.
(Dexedrine)
To contrast, I have created a list of solutions based solely on their possibility of implementation to solve these crises. (Cocaine)
1. Drugs
2. Police Brutality
3. Communicable disease
4. Drinking Water
5. Famine
Drugs are the easiest thing to solve since, people can simply switch to a better high that does not require going to an illegal source such as a drug dealer. Similar highs can be manufactured through new scientific
innovations as well as making marijuana legal to bring more revenue into the pocket of the citizenry and government. Police brutality would go down as result of less people going to illegal sources cutting off the power of criminal organizations and resulting in less militarization of police. Private police would also be an option for citizens in areas fed up with existing bias and ill treatment by the authorities. Another easy solution to implement as people can just expand an existing industry. Communicable disease can be wiped out through the concentrated effort of governments and medical corporations. It will take a lot of time and money to accomplish but, it is possible as shown by the eradication of smallpox. Drinking water can be filtered from the ocean through expensive plants that only the most advanced countries can afford thus making it a problem to be dealt with tens of billions of dollars. Famine would require a complete overhaul of corrupt and failed states which is nigh-impossible as these areas have no effective centralized bureau to deal with crises such as shortages or mitigate the risk of them occurring.
4 comments:
Hello Michael Thomson,
I enjoyed reading your blog, as I gained some perspective of problems I had not really thought of as major or affecting the entire world. I had not thought about the danger communicable diseases, but now I am a bit uncomfortable at the thought. How scary would it be to face the threat of biological warfare or an epidemic of a deadly, airborne disease? It is ironic that you mention that there is a possibility that 60% of the population could die out from infectious disease, because I actually listed overpopulation as the biggest problem facing the world today, and think, although it would be highly tragic, the earth could afford to lose a few billion people.
I agree that access to clean drinking water is a very important issue as well, and listed it in my top five also. Alongside drinking water, sustainable access to food sources is an issue I listed in my top five as well. It is alarming that so many are currently starving around the world. Since eating and drinking water are essential just for a human to survive, these are crucial problems to address if we want to save those who are dying from thirst and hunger.
I think that if all the non-profits, for-profits, and government agencies that try to provide areas suffering from famine and dehydration would combine their efforts, much more could be accomplished. I think, however, this is highly unlikely because of business owner's desire to brand themselves and take credit for their achievements as well as disagreements about what the people are entitled to.
I personally didn't have police brutality come to mind during this exercise, because I think it is something that is concentrated in America right now, although there is oppression by governments all the time, that is a bit different. When creating my list of problems, the issues that came to find had a recurring theme of basic human survival and fundamental needs, although I did touch on rights to freedom in one of the ten (not my top five).
I am not really sure if you understood the solutions section, because you just re-listed the problems instead of actual solutions. Your brief explanation following was helpful in understanding the solutions, though it wasn't at all specific.
Link to my World's Biggest Problem's :)
http://mariakongosfirstblogever.blogspot.com/2016/01/worlds-biggest-problems.html
Michael,
I think it was really interesting how you put communicable diseases at the top of your list. I agree with your point that 70% of the population could possible be wiped out due to a pandemic. In addition, I liked how you added drugs being one of the biggest problems. That was something that I hadn't added to my list and in restrospect, I wish I had because I view the drug, drug-trafficking problems, and drug-related violence as a problem as well.
I don't think you listed your solutions, but the solutions to the problems made sense as you explained what would be the least hardest to solve. Famine and hydration are just too wide of ecological and geological problems that would be hard to target exactly.
http://jaryprinent.blogspot.com/2016/01/top-5-world-problems.html
Here is the link to my blog
Post a Comment