You are not the only one living in this universe. You are not the only one living in Solar system. You are not the only one living in the Earth. You are not the only one living in your country.
Human population is increasing every day, every hour, every minute, every second. We are getting more crowed overtime. Eventually, the increase of population is no more beneficial, instead, becomes a problem called OVERPOPULATION.
Many articles have been published and discussed. These are 3 articles that basically have the same idea:
http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-overpopulation.php
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alon-tal/overpopulation-is-still-t_b_3990646.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-of-overpopulation.html
In short, there are 2 causes for overpopulation: Advance in technology and Lack in family planing. Advance in technology, such as medical facilities, decreases death rate, keeping people live longer and healthier. Lack in family planing means that parents have children in a "spontaneous" way, without any plan, rapidly increasing birth rate. These 2 factors together increase the total population.
Effects of overpopulation are obvious: depletion of natural resources, pollution to environment, massive unemployment, etc.
Some solutions are improvement in (sex) education, family planning, tax, etc.
Those ideas are obvious, and people talk about them over and over, right? What truly makes me think, however, is the idea presented in this article:
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2006/09/overpopulation.php
This article really brings out a completely new and interesting about overpopulation. The author states that advance in technology and wealth will actually reduce birth rate. For example, in Japan, the population growth rate is negative. They have machines that can replace workers; therefore, they do not need to have more children since they have enough wealth, and also giving birth is the most difficult task (you know what I mean). The second point the author makes is that the Earth is capable to support ten billion people. That argument, to me, is quite weak: just because the Earth is capable, we do not have to push to the limit. The third point is that natural resource depletion is a result of corruption, ignorance, and greed. This is true to some degree. What bother me is that to fight against corruption, ignorance, and greed (which are human natures), we need better education, which cannot be provided efficiently with a large number of people. Overpopulation, therefore, has a indirect relationship with the depletion of natural sources.
Above are both sides of a coin named overpopulation. It's up to you to decide your belief. It is fine if you see overpopulation is not a serious issue. However, if you are worried about overpopulation, which I personally predict will get more serious if nothing is done, I gave you the solutions. Be smart...
We are humans. Humans, like other living things, have certain needs and interests. "What do humans need?" the question has been asked for a long time. There is no absolutely correct answer, for humans are different. However, some general ideas about human needs were introduced.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs:
Physical Needs—air, food, water, sleep
Safety Needs—security of others and environment
Belonging Needs—connection with others
Esteem Needs—achievement, competence, self-esteem
Self-Actualization Needs—realization of one’s potential comfortable acceptance of oneself and the world
Rosenberg's Hierarchy of Human Needs:
Physical Nurturing- air, food, water, sleep
Interdependence- trust and dependence
Love Integrity- honesty and loyalty
Autonomy- independence
Play- Entertainment
Celebration and Mourning- emotional support
Spiritual Communication- faith, religion, mental elements
These two hierarchy above are the ones I like the most. Having some similar ideas, they include basic physical needs. Some ideas are the same but stated in different words. For example, Maslow's "Safety Needs" is Rosenberg's "Interdependence" and "Love integrity".
Some differences between those two, in my opinion, are that Rosenberg sees emotional and spiritual sides with more concern. He cares so much that he separates them into different categories. On the other side, Maslow tries to keep his hierarchy as simple as he can. Although I prefer Rosenberg's, they are both correct.
Knowing these hierarchies, you can understand the causes of many world issues. Have you ever wondered why Africa has the highest death rate (for example, Botswana's death rate is 33.6 per 1000)? Food and Water. Many Africans are not even provided enough fundamental physical needs. Food not provided, many Africans died when they were children.
Another example of lacking basic needs are bullying. According to "No Bullying", one of the main causes of bullying is dysfunctional family. Kids who live without love tend to express more violence. They tries to get the attention from others, which they don't have from their families. As a result, bullies mess around and cause lots of problems related to security.
Based on two examples above, we can see that the hierarchies of human needs are pretty correct. I, however, think this is a better one:
World Issues? "World Issues" sound big, important, and scary, right? When people discuss about issues, they usually think about huge and fancy problems, such as wars.
Since the day humans first existed, there have been countless conflicts. The first war recorded was in 2300 BC, in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). Beginning with 2300 BC War, we had the most destructive war ever - World War II. And the tension, as you see on the news, is not over. In fact, it will never end. The question is WHY?
Every single big issue, in my biased and limited view, starts as a small action. All the conflicts start with a human nature: self-interest. It's our nature to looking forward to our own good. It's our default thinking that "It's all about me." People start wars for territory, resources, money, and dominance - which can all be classified as self-interest. The World War I, for example, was a result of a race for both military and political power.Honestly, I, as a human, also have self-interest. I (how embarrassing) used to fight with my sister for a pie.
People start to fight for their interest when they were kids.
Since self-interest is our nature, it stay deep inside our hearts,and therefore is not easily removed. There are countless solutions introduced: "put yourself into others' positions", "take criticism", etc. However, those are cliche, and everyone knows those. I am not writing this post to tell you what to do, for you've already know what you are "supposed" to do. I am writing this post to remind that you can choose what to do. Or to THINK. The moment you make a choice is not only the moment you define YOURSELF, but also the moment you define THE WORLD...
