Top 5 World Problems

"It's about time to help others..." by Leticia Bertin
https://flic.kr/p/99QbRd

Last week, I compiled a list of what are, in my mind, the 10 biggest problems our world faces.  This week, I will be shortening that into 2 separate lists.  First, I will be ranking my top 5 problems off that list in order of my serious to least serious.  Granted, the "least serious" one on the list is still a huge problem.  These are also only my opinions about the severity of them.  Next, I will be ranking 5 of my solutions in order of most possible to implement to lease possible.

5 Biggest problems:

1.  Unclean water.  This is such a massive problem in so many parts of the world.  It affects quality of life, life span, and just about every aspect of the lives of the people who have this issue.

2.  Hunger.  This is similar to the unclean water problem in a lot of ways.  It really impacts everyone that it touches, from the young to the old.  Both of these problems are something that most people reading this won't be able to truly understand unless they are able to see it first hand.

3.  Disease.  I am lumping AIDS and disease into one category here.  This comes in right behind the first two, and the areas of the world stricken by one of these afflictions, often have one or both of the others as well.

4.  Slavery.  No one should ever be subjected to any style of life that even remotely resembles this.  It is absolutely atrocious how someone could inflict this on another human.  That kind of cruelty is something I don't think I'll ever be able to comprehend.  However, it is a huge problem, and it continues to grow.

5.  Nuclear proliferation.  This is something that could instantly jump to number one on the list in the event of a nuclear war.  Right now, it is a developing issue, but it could quickly escalate into a cause of millions of people losing their lives.

5 Solutions:

1.  Hunger.  The most easily "fixable" of these issues to me is hunger.  With the link I provided, anyone can give money to feed a child completely.  This is something that we could fix simply by cutting our own wasteful spending and putting that money to better use.

2.  Unclean water.  This issue is just about tied for first with hunger as far as its "fixibility" is concerned.  Personal donations go directly into building wells and purifying unclean local water.  And again, we are just oblivious to the problem or how easy the solution could be.

3.  Slavery.  This issue should really be in the spotlight a whole lot more than it is.  Raising awareness is an effective way of helping.  But there are also tangible ways to help also.  You can find alternative products that are verified to be made without slave labor.

4.  Human rights.  In the age of social media and instant news, we can make human rights violations go global almost instantly.  Twitter has raised awareness and support for revolutions and bringing down corrupt government officials multiple times.  Unfortunately, we often have our heads in the sand when it comes to global issues.  For some reason, we seem to care about things that don't have "immediate implications" to our daily lives.  We can all raise awareness for these issues and the people affected by them.

5.  Disease.  Some of this we can't stop.  However, I mentioned earlier that disease is closely linked to unclean water and lack of food.  By helping those, the disease problem would also be helped.  In addition, there are ways of combating specific diseases.  The first example that comes to mind is malaria.  We can spread awareness about the mosquitoes that carry the disease, and provide locals with ways to combat it, like mosquito nets.

I hope that after reading this you feel more informed about the issues going on daily around us.  I have provided you with information on some ways to help.  If you feel led to, I hope you take the opportunity to make a difference in whatever way you can.  If that is donating money, great!  If that is simply spreading awareness through social media or word of mouth, fantastic!  The important thing is that we all do our best to make a change.