1. Poverty
2. Pollution
3. Water
4. Food
5. Disease
I believe poverty is the biggest issue on this list because if nobody was living in poverty, I think everybody would be living much healthier lives which would prevent a lot of the other problems that I currently have listed. Pollution comes in as the second biggest issue because pollution causes some of the other problems I have listed. Pollution can contaminate food and water that would otherwise be great. With a lack of pollution, it would be easier to help those in need. I have water listed above food primarily because you can live longer without food. If people don't have water to drink, it provides a serious threat to day-to-day life. Food is almost as important as water but I don't see it being above water. Disease is the last issue I have listed because if we can somehow solve the first four issues, I think we would see a huge decrease in disease around the world.
Top 5 Best Solutions:
1. Pollution(tax breaks)
2. Water(wells)
3. Food(aid/less wasteful)
4. Disease(funding)
5. Poverty(government budgets)
I think tax breaks would be something really easy to implement and it would really motivate polluting companies to become more green so that they can save more money. It's a win-win solution for everybody. Wells for water would be the next best solution because it's a gift that keeps on giving. They would help thousands of people and it wouldn't be ridiculously expensive. Humanitarian aid for food is listed below water because I imagine it would be more expensive than making wells. If you took a city in a third-world country, someone would have to build a well once and that would be it. However, we would have to continue donating food when it runs out making it harder to do. I have funding for disease as fourth mainly because nobody in the government seems to have much of an interest in providing funding. They're busy getting money for their own interests and not making a real difference. This is also the reason I have balancing government budgets for poverty as the least possible solution. Countries, particularly the US, are so divided today and can never agree on anything so I would find it hard to believe if two sides came together to come up with a comprehensive plan to stop poverty.
Hi Matthew, I can definitely agree with the five world problems you discussed! Pollution is certainly an issue that I think about regularly. So many terrible things are released into our air and water on a regularly basis. I do believe this is an issue that is affecting the health and well being of numerous individuals over time. You can check out my 5 if you're interested! http://rebeccamarrauf.blogspot.com/2016/01/top-5-world-problems-health-issues.html?m=1
ReplyDeleteHey, Matthew!
ReplyDeleteWe definitely have similar top fives. Check mine out here: http://adventuresinent.blogspot.com/2016/01/ten-of-worlds-biggest-problems-reboot.html
I think it's a great idea to address the cause of most of these problems, poverty, as your number one, and I also have to agree that tackling your top four consequently impacts your number five, disease.
I may have to disagree on tax breaks being an easy solution to implement. Because of government process, it would probably take some time and cajoling to get environmental tax breaks back in place (many have recently expired or are about to). I'm also not sure wells are easy to implement. Wells could only be drilled in areas where there is underground water (i.e. an aquifer), and if a community puts too much demand on their groundwater supply, there are consequences, like sinkholes. In many areas it makes more sense to take an existing surface water resource then filter that water as needed. That's not to say wells haven't had a positive impact on areas they've been drilled in. Wells make it possible to have a local water source, eliminate long, hard walks.
Very interesting post!