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What is the biggest problem facing humanity?

Which of these would do the most good for the world?

  • Providing everyone in the world with access to information and communication (e.g. the internet)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Developing an effective, efficient transportation infrastructure in all parts of the world

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    62

Kandahar

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What, in your opinion, is the biggest problem facing humanity? Suppose that you had one wish, which you had to use altruistically to make the world a better place. Which do you think would do the most "good" (however you want to define that), and why?

- Providing everyone in the world with access to clean water
- Providing everyone in the world with enough nutritious food
- Providing everyone in the world with free, high-quality K-12 education
- Providing everyone in the world with access to Western-quality health care
- Providing everyone in the world with access to information and communication (e.g. the internet)
- Bringing peace, stability, and safety to every part of the world
- Bringing democracy and freedom to every part of the world
- Developing a 100% clean, very cheap source of energy that could be produced and distributed anywhere in the world
- Developing an effective, efficient transportation infrastructure in all parts of the world
- Other
 
Twidiots/Twitheads and Redditoeconomists.

For what it's worth out of the available options I voted peace stability and security. None of the others are possible without achieving that one.
 
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i voted clean water,it does no good to offer the rest when most countries have masses of people dying from dehydration because their water supply is undrinkable.i guess a number 2 would be food since most countries with undrinkable water also usually have no food.

its kinda bad when so many in africa cant even drink their own water yet a simple water purification system would help,but then again sb brings up a good point,without peace the warlords would just take the water purifiers and food anyways.
 
It would have to be provided all with quality education. Without that, none of the other good answers to the poll would have a chance of making it. We need smart people, to create new ideas, to get good results. It also helps, that those with a good education, do not fall victim to Radicals, and cleansing techniques.
 
I voted food , because if you can't have a good meal you can't think.

But the biggest thing that humanity is missing is a goal , something that they entire human race dreams works for , yes , we all want food , water , energy , peace even internet for all , but how much of our GOP goes into that goal ? How much of the population works for that goal ?
 
Providing everyone in the world with access to clean water
Providing everyone in the world with enough nutritious food
Providing everyone in the world with access to Western-quality health care
Bringing peace, stability, and safety to every part of the world

-These would bring to increase to natural growth and that would bring more harm then good and making these goals impossible

Providing everyone in the world with access to Western-quality health care

-Is this Ee type or US type? :mrgreen:

Bringing democracy and freedom to every part of the world

-That is pure egocentric

I am going with
Providing everyone in the world with free, high-quality K-12 education
-We need first to learn people why they should have 20 children and then give them all other thing also this would help us advance more quickly in all ways you cannot have education, healthcare, industry without high educated people(teachers, doctors, engineers etc.)
 
Freedom is number one.

A lack of freedom gives bullies control over all resources.

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Governments Stealing Money from the Hand of Their Own Citizens?

"The largest problem that most struggling African countries face is corrupt government. These corrupt governments receive lots of aid from foreign aid and other organizations and keep most of the money for themselves."

Corrupt Governments Slowing the Development of Many Struggling African Countries - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

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The cost of corruption in Africa – is estimated at more than US$ 148 billion a year. This is thought to represent 25% of Africa’s GDP and to increase the cost of goods by as much as 20 percent.

Corruption Data

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'Everybody knows it doesn't work'

Despite receiving more than $1 trillion from the west over the last half century, Africa remains in dire economic straits.

More than $1 trillion has been sent to Africa over the last 50 years. And what has it all achieved? She wants to know. "Between 1970 and 1998, when aid flows to Africa were at their peak, poverty in Africa rose from 11% to a staggering 66%" - roughly 600 million of Africa's billion people are now trapped in poverty.

G2 interviews Dambisa Moyo, author of Dead Aid, on why aid is to blame for Africa's dire economic straits | Global development | The Guardian

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Radical Islam and Radical Liberalism..........
 
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too many people reproducing who cannot take care of themselves and too many politicians using those people as excuses to rape our freedom
 
Without peace, stability and safety, none of the other things could ever be provided or accomplished. That has to be the beginning before anything else can be done on a global basis.
 
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No matter what you can not let Hussein Obama cut our military funding any more then he has..........We have to maintain a strong military as a deterrent.............It is to the bare bone already........
 
No matter what you can not let Hussein Obama cut our military funding any more then he has..........We have to maintain a strong military as a deterrent.............It is to the bare bone already........

Hey can you post your talking points in a thread that is REMOTELY related to them, instead of this one? Kthxbai.
 
For what it's worth out of the available options I voted peace stability and security. None of the others are possible without achieving that one.

Freedom is number one.

A lack of freedom gives bullies control over all resources.

Without peace, stability and safety, none of the other things could ever be provided or accomplished. That has to be the beginning before anything else can be done on a global basis.

I disagree. I think that peace, stability, democracy, freedom, etc are the RESULT of having the material items, rather than the cause of them. Granted, having stability and freedom makes it a lot easier to produce the other items...but I think the causal link is much stronger in the opposite direction. There are far more unstable/unfree societies that can nevertheless provide people with a minimal standard of living, than there are societies in dire poverty which are nevertheless able to maintain stability and freedom (India and Ghana are the only two that come to mind).

I think that's why when we ask questions like "How can we achieve peace in Country X?", at the root level it always comes down to something like a lack of education, lack of communication, or a resource struggle. Instability and authoritarianism are largely problems of poverty, and eliminating the root sources of poverty is usually the best way to promote lasting peace and democracy. To put it succinctly, I think that getting people access to water will eliminate conflict, more than eliminating conflict will get people access to water.

Personally I think water, food, and energy are the most important items on my list, because they provide the building blocks from which the others can form. Whereas getting an education is difficult/ineffective without water and food, getting water and food are still worthwhile even without an education. So I think they are the most important. Ultimately, I think clean water is a bit more important than food, for the simple reason that 50% of the global disease burden is caused by unclean water consumption.
 
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If you can bring STABILITY to the world, then you solved the rest. The single most important reason humans have exponentially multiplied through the past 150 yrs has been from modernization in living, water/food supplying, medicine, education and mainly that all came about as a result of ENERGY. Machines, lights, electricity, transportation makes it all happen. But you can't split it all up as you've done in the poll question and say, which is the most important because they're all connected. The most important factor in the future will be maintaining adequate water/food and energy supply but conflicts and disasters are uncontrollable, for now.
 
What, in your opinion, is the biggest problem facing humanity? Suppose that you had one wish, which you had to use altruistically to make the world a better place. Which do you think would do the most "good" (however you want to define that), and why?

- Providing everyone in the world with access to clean water
- Providing everyone in the world with enough nutritious food
- Providing everyone in the world with free, high-quality K-12 education
- Providing everyone in the world with access to Western-quality health care
- Providing everyone in the world with access to information and communication (e.g. the internet)
- Bringing peace, stability, and safety to every part of the world
- Bringing democracy and freedom to every part of the world
- Developing a 100% clean, very cheap source of energy that could be produced and distributed anywhere in the world
- Developing an effective, efficient transportation infrastructure in all parts of the world
- Other
Education because through education, all problems can be solved.
 
freedom > safety > health
 
I voted peace & stability as it is the closest to begin correct, but even that answer is incomplete.

Q: What is the biggest problem facing humanity? A: Humanity.

Human nature. Inherent greed, whether it be for money or power or both. There's always been, and there always will be, somebody that wants the wealth and/or power of their entire society. And there always has been, and there always will be, a larger number of people that are either unable or unwilling to tell them 'no'. And for everybody who wants wealth and power, there is always at least one who wants the same wealth and power... hence wars, civil strife, disagreements, and so on.

Our globe runs the gamut from a somewhat civilized form of disagreement in that there are at least elections and reasonably peaceable changes of power, to warlord-driven societies with virtually no societal structure, to everything in between. The bottom line is that nobody ever all agrees on anything, and humanity cannot focus on itself as a result and for it's own good. "Live and let live" is a wonderful idea, but unrealistic as long as humanity and human nature exists as it does.

Example: Years ago during the Rwanda civil wars I heard a farmer interviewed on NPR. He said that he planted crops, and one army came along and burned his crops... for reasons he never was really sure of, but he suspected it was done so to prevent the other side from having access to them. He replanted, and a couple months later the other side's army came along and did the same thing, and for essentially the same reason(s). This happened three or four times before he finally gave up and stopped planting altogether.

I have read, and I think this is very plausible, that our planet can grow more than sufficient food to feed itself. More than we need (at present), actually. But, it is politics and the such that prevents proper growing and/or distribution... hence, famine and starvation result. And all for what? Because some greedy power-hungry a-hole is willing to sacrifice large portions of their own people just so they can gain the wealth and power they crave.
 
Education because through education, all problems can be solved.

Great talking point.........Since the sixties we have poured billions into public education and it has not worked....We have kids graduating from HS who cannot read or write........We need to go to Vouchers, private schools, homeschooling....
 
Education because through education, all problems can be solved.

Great talking point.........Since the sixties we have poured billions into public education and it has not worked....We have kids graduating from HS who cannot read or write........We need to go to Vouchers, private schools, homeschooling....

Umm those are all forms of education too. :roll:

In any case, the question refers to GLOBAL problems, not just American problems. Are you really suggesting that a kid growing up in Nigeria or India or Haiti who can't attend school wouldn't be better off if he/she had a high-quality education available?
 
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What, in your opinion, is the biggest problem facing humanity? Suppose that you had one wish, which you had to use altruistically to make the world a better place. Which do you think would do the most "good" (however you want to define that), and why?

- Providing everyone in the world with access to clean water
- Providing everyone in the world with enough nutritious food
- Providing everyone in the world with free, high-quality K-12 education
- Providing everyone in the world with access to Western-quality health care
- Providing everyone in the world with access to information and communication (e.g. the internet)
- Bringing peace, stability, and safety to every part of the world
- Bringing democracy and freedom to every part of the world
- Developing a 100% clean, very cheap source of energy that could be produced and distributed anywhere in the world
- Developing an effective, efficient transportation infrastructure in all parts of the world
- Other

Stupidity

char/10
 
I disagree. I think that peace, stability, democracy, freedom, etc are the RESULT of having the material items, rather than the cause of them. Granted, having stability and freedom makes it a lot easier to produce the other items...but I think the causal link is much stronger in the opposite direction. There are far more unstable/unfree societies that can nevertheless provide people with a minimal standard of living, than there are societies in dire poverty which are nevertheless able to maintain stability and freedom (India and Ghana are the only two that come to mind).

I think that's why when we ask questions like "How can we achieve peace in Country X?", at the root level it always comes down to something like a lack of education, lack of communication, or a resource struggle. Instability and authoritarianism are largely problems of poverty, and eliminating the root sources of poverty is usually the best way to promote lasting peace and democracy. To put it succinctly, I think that getting people access to water will eliminate conflict, more than eliminating conflict will get people access to water.

Personally I think water, food, and energy are the most important items on my list, because they provide the building blocks from which the others can form. Whereas getting an education is difficult/ineffective without water and food, getting water and food are still worthwhile even without an education. So I think they are the most important. Ultimately, I think clean water is a bit more important than food, for the simple reason that 50% of the global disease burden is caused by unclean water consumption.

Except it isn't possible to get water/food to the people who need it in areas that are wracking by instability, war, and tyranny. Governments take the resources, and distribute them amongst themselves. In effect, such donations are to the despots, soldiers, rebels and those who have kept food/water from the populace in the first place.
 
Education because through education, all problems can be solved.

It's difficult to educate those who are being persecuted through tyranny, wars, famine, contaminated water, etc. You cannot educate the starving, the dying, the oppressed.

Until people are safe, in a peaceful, stable environment, education is simply not possible.
 
Stupidity

That's probably the biggest problem. There is nothing in the world that cannot be accomplished by eliminating human stupidity.
 
Except it isn't possible to get water/food to the people who need it in areas that are wracking by instability, war, and tyranny. Governments take the resources, and distribute them amongst themselves. In effect, such donations are to the despots, soldiers, rebels and those who have kept food/water from the populace in the first place.

But the reason corrupt governments even worry about stealing water/food is because it's in such short supply. In this country, it doesn't even cross our minds that the government would steal our drinking water, because water is so abundant it's virtually free, so there wouldn't be any need to steal it.

Just like with democracy, I think the causal link between water and stability is far stronger in the opposite direction. Lack of clean water is frequently a CAUSE of conflict, whereas conflict itself is rarely the primary cause of lack of clean water (although it can certainly exacerbate the problem). IMO, providing people with clean water is the most important because it addresses the root cause of many of the other things: For example, 50% of the global disease burden is caused by lack of clean water; poverty and lack of education are often caused by people having to spend the majority of their day gathering water from miles away; conflicts are often fueled by water shortages (e.g. Israel/Palestine, Sudan/Chad, Somalia, Pakistan), etc.
 
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