The Most Important Issues of the Modern World free essay sample

1. The most important problems of the modern (contemporary) world. The modern world, the world that we live in is exposed to many perils. Among the major problems are poverty, unemployment, wars, terrorism, racism, air pollution, climate change/global warming, and diseases. Poverty The gap between rich and poor nations is still growing. Although rich nations have provided aid and technical assistance to Third World nations, the developing nations face many obstacles in their drive to modernize. The population explosion, inflation, natural disasters, poor planning, and even government corruption have upset the development plans of many Third World nations. Some progress has been made in increasing food production. Researchers developed new high-yield crops as well as disease- and drought resistant crops. Unemployment Unemployment is caused by many factors in a modern market economy. It can be caused by rapid technological change, business cycle or recessions, seasonal factors in some industries particularly such as changes in tastes and climatic conditions which affects demand for certain products and services, individual perceptions and willingness to work and search for jobs, their values and attitudes towards some jobs and about employers, accessibility for retraining and acquisition of work skills, willingness and perception of unemployed of the benefits of training and the possibility for them to get a job after the training even though they have a chance to get a job, discrimination in the workplace based on race, colour, religion, ethnicity, age and class. We will write a custom essay sample on The Most Important Issues of the Modern World or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The United Nations says that nearly 212 million people were unemployed in 2009. That is 6. 6 per cent of the global workforce. According to a new report the situation in Europe will get worse before the trend improves. The report predicts that the number will increase during 2010 with about 3 million more people unemployed. Wars First, war is wrong for the same reasons that murder is wrong. Because war is murder. A strategy that kills ten thousand people is not somehow less wrong than killing just one person. The colossal scale does not make it noble. The idea that countries rather than people are the â€Å"agents† is also irrelevant. Someone gave the order to go over there and start shooting, and if that person caused ten thousand people to die that’s ten thousand times as criminal as someone who caused only one person to die. Second, war is the probably the worst possible solution to whatever problem you’re trying to solve For example, let’s have a glance into the causes of Iraq War which is going on, beginning from March 20, 2003. The key basis for the attack presented by the U. S. President George W. Bush and alliance supporters was the claim that â€Å"Iraq possessed and was actively developing Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) in violation of a 1991 agreement† (Iraq WMD, par. 1). Though this war was fought for the good of people, it couldn’t follow the sole mission for what it was fought. Nevertheless, like other wars, it seemed devastating to the Iraqi people and to the entire world. Till now, millions of people have died and other millions of them are injured, homeless and forced to live an insecure and miserable life. Since the beginning of war people have been arguing about its morality. Not all wars. Nazism was defeated, by a war. Our nation gained Independence with a war. Slavery and a nation kept in tact by a war. And many other examples. Some wars are questionable because of the politics involved but over all war is necessary. Terrorism Terrorism, as a method to achieve political aims has gained worldwide popularity, but its motivating forces may be different. The main aim of the activities of the terrorists is to create conditions which may necessitate a change in the political set up or create law and order problem for the Government. Disturbed conditions will check progress and people are sure to lose confidence in the people in power. Working of democracy will become difficult and the increased foreign powers may fish in the troubled waters. Now-a-days, approximately 70 percent of the worlds terrorist activities occur in Asia and insurgent outfits function across the globe from this continent. The entire focus of global terrorism has changed from Europe to South Asian Countries. This focus of terrorism had mainly shifted because of the surfacing of three Asian giants China, Japan and India as global superpowers. Terrorist outfits like Lasker-e-Tayyaba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Al Qaeda, Harkatul Jihad-al-Islami (Huji), ULFA, Naxalites (India) and many others are centered in Asian countries. And these terrorist organizations are not aiming at any military power, but they are attacking innocent civilians. Racism Racism is a problem because it causes discrimination against people for reasons that have nothing to do with their abilities or loyalties. This means that the ability of some people to contribute their best to society are lost, and because of the resentment that this irrational discrimination produces, there is more unrest and less stability than would otherwise be the case. Racism and discrimination have been used as powerful weapons encouraging fear or hatred of others in times of conflict and war, and even during economic downturns. Pollution Air pollution is one of the most pervasive environmental problems because atmospheric currents can carry contaminated air to every part of the globe. Most air pollution comes from motor vehicle emissions and from power plants that burn coal and oil to produce energy for industrial and consumer use. Carbon dioxide and other harmful gases released into the air from these sources adversely affect weather patterns and the health of people, animals, and plants. Industrialized nations produce most of the world’s air pollution. For example, although the United States is home to just 5 per cent of the world’s population, the country generates 22 per cent of human-made carbon dioxide emissions and 19 per cent of all greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. These emissions harm the environment by causing acid rain and global warming, and by depleting the protective ozone layer that surrounds the Earth. Global Warming Global warming is another negative by-product of air pollution, and although there is debate about the sources of the problem, most scientists agree that the Earth is heating up. One of the principal causes is thought to be high atmospheric concentrations of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. These and related substances are called greenhouse gases because they trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere instead of letting it radiate into space, thereby raising air temperature. Smog and Motor Vehicles Finally, urban air pollution, usually in the form of smog generated by industry and motor vehicles, remains a serious health hazard for more than one billion people around the world. During the 1980s, European countries cut sulphur dioxide emissions by 27 per cent, and the volume of most pollutants dropped in the United States. Even so, cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Mexico City, and Beijing record unhealthy levels of air pollution on one day out of every three. Disease Infectious diseases are on the rise and now kill 17 million people a year, particularly young people in the developing world. Rising levels of drug resistance are making them more difficult to treat. The concern over new viruses, started with HIV causing AIDS, has been reinforced as other emergent viral diseases have been reported, including Ebola, Hantavirus and Rift Valley Fever.