Biggest worldwide challenge for the XXIth century

[belamy]

According to you.

 

[blackbeltninja]

Replacing our dependency on oil whilst simultaneously making sure we never run out of coffee.

-d-

 

[Nonimus]

I'm with BBN on this one:

1) ensuring a steady yet capacious coffee bean supply

2) getting off our arses and sorting out global warming (and not just green-taxing everything as the British Government are so inclined to do)

 

[james1200]

oil and other energy issues.

stablizing the middle east and also explaining to arabs that america regrets the bush administration and not to kill us all with some sort of russian nuclear device (which they'll get their hands on eventually). if you must, get the middle part of the country who voted for him and not the coasts where i live.

and most importantly, will there be enough drugs and alcohol to keep me high in the manner i'm accustomed to in the 21st century?

 

[190E]

Just living long enough to survive into the next century should be the biggest concern of many nations.

 

[FlyingCheeseSteak]

To maintain individualism as society spirals down towards socialistic (more fascistic) tendencies.

Oh, and a pill that makes you lose weight FAST!

Oh, and world peace.

 

[thermodynamics]

How to sustain the same energy level that we're accustomed to, yet greatly reduce or eliminate carbon emissions and/or reliance on fossil fuels.

It's a topic near and dear to my heart as a Mechanical Engineer--hence the name 'thermodynamics'

 

[dw8038r2]

I'll agree that the #1 issue has to be environmental--that covers energy and global warming. And socially, I second JohanLarson on Islamic fundamentalism.

 

[dunno260]

Delivery of healthcare to places where healthcare is nonexistant. This could be said for a lot of other issues.

How the world responds to the amalgamation of culture. The internet has changed the world, and technologies that are offshoots of the internet are making the world a much smaller place. The effect is likely to be very profound in places like China and the Middle East, but will also have enormous effects on Europe and North America as well.

And as mentioned, global warming. Are humans creating the problem, or merely observing it (I think humans are, but thats besides the point). If we are causing it, then what do we do about it? Right now, we just don't know.

 

[belamy]

Loss of faith in democracy and science.

 

[belamy]

Re: Biggest worldwide challenge for the XXIst century

Thpelling.

Actually, loss of faith in democracy and science really are the worst problems.

When you consider that they are what support the Western world that support the life conditions of the rest of the world, you come to think that the dealing of the environmental or rising of fundamentalism will be replaced by another equally stupid form of faith, but without the rational element that at least science and even a certain idea of democracy provide.

 

[belamy]

Re: Biggest worldwide challenge for the XXIst century

(Though faith and science are not the two best words to use in the same sentence.)

Ah! So at least one person understood what the problem is about: confusion of science and faith. Living "in" democracy and "with" science in hardly a couple of centuries has not changed at all people´s tendency to give up his ability and, in our Western societies, responsibility to think on their own, and replace it for pseudo-intellectual poses and common-places like contesting the power of the governments or ranting on the rich.

 

[SpankThePony]

Establishing a fair and balanced economy where you are taxed based on your use of resources not the amount of effort you apply.

 

[doctorsun]

Definitely global warming. We can't ignore it anymore and we can't escape it. We need to do something NOW.

 

[Austin40acres]

Early on in this century (and that's important!), I would say the most significant issue we face is terrorism--of any stripe, creed, or ethnicity.

We have to figure out a way to deal with the terrorist concerns to the point where they will stop terrorizing. Terrorism takes many forms from Islamic extremists to right-wing extremists to high-school students with more weapons than sense. We have to deal with that first and foremost.

However, the most compelling challenging at the beginning of the XX century was how to become more industrialized. So, bear all of this with a grain of salt, eh?

A4A

 

[elmatador_adrian]

Islamic extremism in the form of terrorism. This is important given the secular, nonchalant attitude of the rest of the world is moving towards, segments of the Muslim population are moving the opposite direction.

 

[blackbeltninja]

I wouldn't say so much Islamic fundamentalism, but rather any fundamentalism. Moderation is the key.

I think we also need to get over our fear of science and what can be achieved with it. Making good use of stem cells and cloning technology should be as important as curing AIDS, getting into deep space and developing faster cheaper internet.

-d-

 

[blackbeltninja]

^Surely a mere 21st is even better?

-d-

 

[belamy]

^Surely a mere 21st is even better?

-d-

That´s right: my original idea was first to create a thread about what do you think was the biggest challenge of the XXth century, so I could compare the results with one about the 21st ... but at the moment of creating it I felt people might not be as interested and I changed it... or rather tried to change it .
Oh, and in case you hadn´t noticed, there was another thread about the XXth century

 

[blackbeltninja]

^Well, full marks for effort if nothing else.

Roman numerals... good times!

-d-