Chapter 1 – What are the greatest problems?
What are the greatest problems that we face and what are their causes?
Humans have spread across the globe, living everywhere from sea level to villages above 3,000m, in every kind of environment. Some of us live in urban spaces, dealing with noise, traffic, and other issues that arise from living close to others. Some live in rural areas centred around a town where many faces are recognisable. Others live somewhere more remote, where meeting anyone requires a walk or a drive. Some of us share a home with our parents, family, fellow students, workers or others. Some people live alone, and may need to compromise less, but must make an effort to maintain relationships. Some live in surroundings where they are constantly aware of the other species around them — deer, livestock, or pests like locusts and mosquitoes — while others rarely see any animal aside from dogs, cats, or the occasional sparrow or pigeon.
Our lifestyles are so varied. We live in different spaces and have diverse experiences. These influence how we understand our surroundings and give us different perspectives. It’s no surprise, then, that we rarely agree on which global issues matter most. Still, some issues must affect us all.
People who may not have such overwhelming problems affecting their existence, perhaps living in more affluent countries, or wealthy enough to have time to think about matters outside those of survival, may be more influenced by the news they watch and read — media that is both sensitive to its audience and influential over it. Institutions that focus on social issues and gather data may offer another useful source.
I’m assuming that my sources (from the media and institutions) are mainly written and funded by people living in or near cities. That assumption rests on two things: most news organisations are themselves based in cities, and human populations have grown steadily more urbanised over the past century.
Our World in Data supports this: in 2020, around 3.5 billion people lived in cities, another 2.8 billion in towns and suburbs, and around 1.6 billion in rural areas — meaning cities were home to 44% of the global population, with 36% in towns and suburbs and 20% in rural areas. Even as recently as 1950, only around 20% of the world’s population lived in cities by this definition, so the proportion of the population living in cities has more than doubled in 70 years.
If this is right, there is likely to be minimal input from people living in rural areas, and their perception of the world’s problems may be considerably different. Also one of my sources is quite regional (the USA) and all are from on-line searches in English.
While some of the problems I have found in main media sources may seem distinct on the surface, many have shared underlying factors, suggesting that focusing on root causes might be more productive than addressing individual issues in isolation.
Here are the seven problems I chose based on my simple research –
- Climate change & changes to Earth’s critical systems – my assumption is that these two are directly linked and fit one category.
- Interstate armed conflict – Regional conflicts, resurgence of great power competition between nations like the U.S. and China, and military tensions are shaping the international agenda.
- Natural resource shortages (this includes Water accessibility although hunger and access to food may or may not be included)
- Global health
- Involuntary migration
- Lack of economic opportunity & poverty
- Adverse outcomes of AI technology – Rapidly evolving, disruptive technology presents both opportunities and challenges and also effects misinformation & disinformation and weakening of democracies
My next chapter examines the first problem – Climate change.