ThoughtPOLL: What is the greatest threat humanity faces?

[Labors of Hercules]

"A Pew Research Center poll, taken in 46 countries and the Palestinian territories, found that people in countries as diverse as Canada, Peru, Ukraine, China and India identified environmental degradation as the greatest world danger, outranking concerns about nuclear weapons, ethnic hatred and AIDS."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/environment/2007-06-27-climate-poll_N.htm?csp=1

"Pollution and other environmental problems increasingly are seen as the leading threat the world faces, according to a massive survey of global public opinion released Wednesday. The United States is given much of the blame for those problems and the responsibility to respond to them..."

Getting a little more specific: WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST URGENT THREAT HUMANS ARE FACING NOW AND OVER THE NEXT TEN YEARS? (POLL)

3 additional questions:

What global position of leadership should be at the forefront of dealing with global crisis?

What one thing (or person) is the greatest obstacle to our success in dealing with this threat?

What one person is (or would be) the most effective leader in dealing with this threat?

[ananda]

1. Well..

I chose one, but I think that global warming and the environment
is all one issue.

[Labors of Hercules]

5. I thought environment in general would overwhelm the field,

so wanted to ask which is the more incidious problem, pollution or development?

[Jackpine Radical]

2. I hate polls like this because they distort reality.

All of these things are so interconnected that it's not possible to single out a particular thing. Overdevelopment can't be separated from pollution or from overpopulation or from corporate greed. Etc. To pick one choice is meaningless.

[Labors of Hercules]

7. You're absolutely right.

If you answer the poll and don't explain your answer, then it is meaningless. So, in short, instead of complaining about the poll, why don't you talk about the issue it raises?

[Jackpine Radical]

19. The question begs a book-length response to just scratch the surface.

Lots of people have already written that book, and done a far better job of it than I would. The issues here are complex. To even ask this question of a general readership is to ask to be buried under a flood of ill-informed and half-knowledgable opinion. Would you set out to select the design for a fuel cell by putting a poll on a forum?

Anyway, back to your main point. By saying all the issues are intimately interconnected, I was indeed discussing and defending my response choice, which is an implied one that you neglected to offer: "All of the above, and much more besides."

[Labors of Hercules]

32. So the subject is too big, and this is the wrong place for it?

Are we too stupid to engage in such a discussion here? It is a fundamental discussion that needs to happen constantly and as openly as possible, even if it does only scratch the surface or demonstrate how ignorant we are. Why are you so deadset on squashing it?

[independentpiney]

10. I chose exponential population growth

but i think you're 100% correct, they're all interconnected.

[The2ndWheel]

11. Agreed

It's all the same problem. Our solution to one of the problems causes the next problem, which in response to the previous problem we create the next problem, which is what we tried to do with the first problem but ended up making the 3rd problem worse, so then we try something else and find a problem we had no idea existed, we try and fix that, and we end up making the 2nd and 4th problems worse, and then a 14th problems comes out of nowhere to make the 7th problem that we weren't even working on worse, and we fix the 1st problem by making the 9th problem worse, and then the 1st problem comes back at us again, and so we try and take the 2nd problem out of the picture, but only create the same problem only bigger, and after that it gets confusing.

[Labors of Hercules]

16. An excellent argument for mass suicide...

:rofl:

[Jackpine Radical]

20. ...which is in turn maybe an argument in favor of continuing the war,

considering the suicide rate among returning vets.

[tridim]

3. Unchecked and unregulated population growth..

Just like cancer.

The Earth can't sustain the human species at our current population levels, let alone exponential growth.

[UnyieldingHierophant]

4. Where's asteroid impact?

:yoiks:

[Labors of Hercules]

13. Humans cause asteroid impacts?

:wow:

[UnyieldingHierophant]

18. Where does it say it has to be human made?

[Labors of Hercules]

33. It doesn't.

But I didn't include options that are not directly impacted by humans.

[UnyieldingHierophant]

35. OK, thanks...thought I missed it

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. Mindsets

The mindset that it is "them vs us" that there always has to be a winner, that there is not enough for all so grab as much as you can, that there are groups "superior" to other groups.

[MedleyMisty]

15. I'd say that's definitely part of it too

Maybe this is just a lie I tell myself to get through the day, but I like to think of current events as the last stand of the old ways and if we can just make it through this somehow, we'll be rid of that stuff. At least to the point where people like that won't ever be in power again.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

17. This is what mystics say is happening

as we change our way of viewing the world, this is the last gasp of the old ways.

[IDemo]

8. Other: Peak Oil

[Lorien]

40. Don't worry. Climate change will do away with most of us before we run out

of fossil fuels. Life will get much more expensive before then, of course.Between peak oil, natural disasters, and unending wars over dwindling resources of every kind, what do we expect?

Fossil fuel use is what got us into this mess, and yet they are still selling Hummers and McMansions, and funneling hundreds of billions into wars instead of developing a national rail system and alternative fuels. Sadly, we're a species that is just too stupid to survive.

[IDemo]

43. At the rate things are declining in the oilfield, PO will push climate change to the back burner

It's not the 'running out of oil' that's the concern, but the flow-rate, and the figures from Saudi Aramco(Ghawar oil field) Pemex(Cantarell) all seem to be indicating the peak may actually have already occurred. Brazil's recent brazillion barrel find is estimated to have a whopping six months of reserves at current global usage.

Ethanol and windmills are not going to make the transportation fuel crisis of the coming decades go away, at least not in time to stave off disastrous consequences for the economy and food security.

[MedleyMisty]

9. Population growth really combines all the others

Or at least makes them a lot worse than they would be otherwise.

[Jackpine Radical]

21. Sure, but some populations suck up a lot fewer resources per capita than others.

For every American you eliminate, you would make space for maybe 30 Africans. (I made up the numbers, but you get the point.)

[The Stranger]

28. That argument never was any good, and now is rendered worthless by China, India, and Third World

industrialization.

[Jackpine Radical]

36. True. Also, I don't want to adopt a sub-Saharan lifestyle.

Negative pop growth leveling out to ZPG (with a very different pattern of resource use) would be my choice, but then I'm a country boy and like lots of space around me, especially undeveloped woodland. People keep telling me I'm greedy, though.

[Echo In Light]

12. Ignorance: the continuation of The Few to effectively brainwash The Many

Never underestimate the power of denial.

[Jackpine Radical]

22. ...Remember, Egypt was created by denial.

[harun]

14. I don't think any of them come close to disease. With modern air

travel and the number of people on Earth, it is only a matter of time.


What global position of leadership should be at the forefront of dealing with global crisis?

Countries should work together through the U.N.


What one thing (or person) is the greatest obstacle to our success in dealing with this threat?

Republicans in the United States of America.


What one person is (or would be) the most effective leader in dealing with this threat?

Dennis Kucinich.

[Breeze54]

23. Poverty and the need for global education of the masses

"What one thing (or person) is the greatest obstacle to our success in dealing with this threat?"

Education

"What one person is (or would be) the most effective leader in dealing with this threat?"

A liberal, Democratic American president

"What global position of leadership should be at the forefront of dealing with global crisis?"

http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=3328&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">UNESCO -

the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded on 16 November 1945.
For this specialized United Nations agency, it is not enough to build classrooms in devastated countries
or to publish scientific breakthroughs. Education, Social and Natural Science, Culture and Communication
are the means to a far more ambitious goal : to build peace in the minds of men.

'The Right to Education is a fundamental human right. It occupies a central place in Human Rights and is essential and indispensable for the exercise of all other human rights and for development. "As an empowerment right, education is the primary vehicle by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty, and obtain the means to participate fully in their communities." None of the civil, political, economic and social rights can be exercised by individuals unless they have received a certain minimum education.'

--------------------

'THREE CUPS OF TEA'

http://www.threecupsoftea.com/

One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace...One School At A Time

THREE CUPS OF TEA is at once an unforgettable adventure and the inspiring true story
of how one man really is changing the world—one school at a time.

[flashl]

24. Other: Populace ignorance of its self-interest. n/t

global position of leadership: People power
greatest obstacle to our success: disinformation
the most effective leader: you and me

[tom_paine]

25. You forgot to mention the worldwide advance of the New Totalitarianism

and the apparent retreat of democracy in America and the World.

Even given that, though, I still would put population above all of them, for population explosion is the root cause of so many of our other problems.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. It's refreshig to see overpopulation even mentioned. As a species, we are eating our host.

Nature has a sometimes unpleasant way of evening things out.

As to your 3 questions:

What global position of leadership should be at the forefront of dealing with global crisis?
The people

What one thing (or person) is the greatest obstacle to our success in dealing with this threat?
We are.

What one person is (or would be) the most effective leader in dealing with this threat?
We as individuals.

[The Stranger]

27. SUPPORT ZERO POPULATION GROWTH.

There are too many people on the planet -- and it is getting much, much worse.

[ThomWV]

30. Overall world population is predicted to decline

Just thought you should know and once you do know you should start to consider the implications of that.

[The Stranger]

34. Have a link to support your hypothesis?

[Lorien]

38. Er, no. Everything I've read expects it to double by 2020. n/t

[Tesha]

29. The rise of global stupidity?

(I actually picked "Exponential population growth", but
I'm not sure stupidity isn't a root cause of that, too.)

Tesha

[msongs]

31. you forgot to mention religion.... nt

[Labors of Hercules]

37. Interesting...

You consider religion to be the greatest threat?

[harun]

42. or "The Wrath of God" (n/t)

[Solon]

39. Other: Themselves. n/t

[LWolf]

41. Population Growth.

1. I don't believe there is currently a global position of leadership to cover this crisis.

2. There are many obstacles; not just one.

3. No one "leader" can be most effective; it will take MANY leaders collaborating.

[The2ndWheel]

44. In addition to my silly answer(although come on, accurate)

"What global position of leadership should be at the forefront of dealing with global crisis?"

The problem is that in every crisis we've looked for "global" leadership. At every turn we look for bigger ways to solve the problems that bigger solutions to the previous big problems caused. Every time we seem to think it'll work.

"What one thing (or person) is the greatest obstacle to our success in dealing with this threat?"

No person is, that's for sure, not even Bush. We're only human beings. It's our organizations, which require growth, that are the problem.

"What one person is (or would be) the most effective leader in dealing with this threat?"

No person is or would be, that's for sure, not even Gore. We're only human beings. Our organizations can't be effective leaders, because they acquire power through growth. There won't be A leader. Everyone is going to have to stop voluntarily. Good luck.

As to the poll questions...

Security will only end up in a surveillance state where centralized authority must know everything. It can't ever work completely, so the quest for perfection will never stop. It will end up as a giant waste of time.

Environmental degradation from pollution is obvious. However, that's the price we pay for "development". The Earth didn't evolve for one species to harness all of the energy, or all of the space, or all of anything. This is the reason every empire rises and falls. That's why empires require expansion.

Poverty. Well, unless we have a global system that can make things fair for 6.5 billion+ people(and such a system would require a lot more energy), we're going to have poverty. Physical reality gets in the way again, and to solve poverty, you would have to harness more energy for our species, and only our species, and then the environmental degradation kicks in.

Weapons proliferation. If humans can make it, we will. If we can use it, we will. It again comes back to energy. If we can harness more of it, we'll make more weapons. It's really just an extention of using a stick as a weapon. Instead of a branch, its atoms.

Environmental degradation from development. See pollution and poverty.

Exponential population growth. Yeah, that'll be a tough one. The developed world has lower birth rates, but we consume everything. The developing world requires more consumption and degradation of the environment in order to raise their level of prosperity to lower birth rates. We'll still end up with more people consuming more. Then there is the question of what we do with an aging population. The opens up a whole set of new problems that we will have to deal with, and have no prior example to go by.

Unregulated production and corporate growth. If we don't regulate, we inefficiently consume resources. If we do regulate, we efficiently sustain the unsustainable, which might be worse than not regulating production. To me, the question you should be asking is about production period. For example; Should we continue the concept of mass production? What are the consequences of mass production?

Disease. Well, every time we cure something, something bigger comes along. Why? The planet didn't evolve for one species to harness all of the energy. The more we attempt to do so, the bigger and more complex the problems will be. We're constantly on the edge of those problems. Because we've harnessed more energy(or in the case of oil, had it harnessed for us) for ourselves, we're able to keep them away. However, if we don't continue to degrade the environment, both with pollution and development, and don't secure ourselves from what we fear most(existence, and all that it includes), then we won't be able to push those problems off into the future. We'll have to deal with them. Since we're completely out of whack, in terms of ecological balance, it won't be easy.

[Labors of Hercules]

47. Wow... I'm dizzy.

So many circular answers I think I'm gonna need to sit down. :crazy:

[leftofthedial]

45. illegal imigrants, American coed murderesses in Italy,

missing blondes, traffic accidents anywhere on the east coast and american idol alumni dissing the show


don't you watch the "news"?

[Labors of Hercules]

48. You forgot Britney's singing career.

:rofl:

[baldguy]

46. Corporate fascism