Problems of the World
A tripartite analysis of the most influential and pressing matters facing mankind in the 21st century.
Part I: Overpopulation
To divide all of the divers and complex problems facing mankind into only three parts may seem a task too Herculean for even one as capable as your author, but I assure you, it is not. If anything, it is rather I that is too Herculean for the problems of the world, not the other way around.
Egotism aside, there are reasons other than my arrogance that I have begun as I have. Though there are certainly not only three problems in the world today, I shall argue that these three problems (overpopulation, bureaucracy and technology) are simultaneously the most important and the most neglected issues of our time.
Each of these broad categories describes a broad spectrum of more tangible problems. It is my job to argue that, however unique many of the world’s problems are (e.g. poverty, war, nuclear energy), most of them originate within one of the three categories I have described. In other words, although global poverty is indeed a problem, you cannot reliably remedy it except by addressing the overarching problem of overpopulation.
So, if we were to enumerate all of the sub-problems that are, directly or indirectly, caused by overpopulation, what kind of list would we be looking at? Certainly both poverty and hunger would be on that list, as overpopulation causes scarcity of resources, which results in a significant portion of the populace living in destitution. The problem of global climate change, which has been given massive recognition, is also supplanted by the greater issue of overpopulation. The overabundance of people on this planet is one of the primary causes of global warming. Al Gore recognized this truth, but the majority of people still remain unaware of the connection between these two problems. If there were fewer persons on Earth, the resources expended by man would be reduced, resulting in a massive decrease in the amount of greenhouse gases released into the air. It seems intuitive that these problems are related, yet have you ever seen overpopulation addressed in the same conversation as global warming? When, if ever, is it considered in our quest to remedy global warming?
But more importantly, if overpopulation is one of the most pressing issues of the 21st century, how are we to bring about a worldwide reduction in population? If this is indeed the problem, how are we to fix it?
2 comments:
Lets hope that a Malthusian catastrophe won't be the only way to solve this problem.
the solution is pretty clear. education regarding birth control. but that answer is deceptively simple. as the old proverb says, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. educating people about birth control can only go so far. what else can we do? we can work on making birth control affordable and readily available. but again, this is obvious. so what is the real obstacle? what is stopping the horse from drinking, despite being led to the water, and having the water convenient and readily available? countless social factors. the catholic church, for instance, which frowns upon birth control and which guides the opinions and actions of millions upon millions of people. but, by no means is that the only challenge.
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