MOREHEAD STATE UNIVERSITY

What I Want the World to Be Like

IET 600 – Impact of Technology on Society

Travis Fisher

12/15/2012

The 21st century will be an era of rapid change in the people lives their lives. Technology is a crutch in our society that we can no longer live without and it is growing at an exponential rate. It is both the tool and the problem. As societies advance and become more developed they also inherit more advanced and developed problems to face. The following article will discuss some of the problems that the world will face in the 21st century and offer some possible solutions to those problems.

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Change begins with an idea that spawns from creativity and imagination which are all

fine-tuned with knowledge, given to us through education. In this ever evolving and ever

expanding, globalizing new world in which we live in, the future is approaching us faster than

ever before. Technology has a tight grip on the way people live their lives, and as rapidly as it is

advancing so is our everyday way of life. Things like computers, internet, automobiles,

biotechnologies, nuclear power, cell phones, prosthetic limbs, genetic engineering, and artificial

intelligence are all examples of things that will increasingly play more of a role within our

society. Meanwhile threats such as terrorism, poverty, global warming, depleting fossil fuel

reserves, underdeveloped alternative energy sources, and poor education are all impending

challenges to be addressed in the years to come.

First and foremost, a government’s primary goal should be to secure the God-given

rights and freedoms of its people. Each of us has a natural right to defend his person, his liberty,

and his property. These are the three basic requirements of life, and the preservation of any

one of them is completely dependent upon the preservation of the other two. For what are our

faculties but the extension of our individuality? And what is property but and extension of our

faculties? (The Proper Role of Government, 2012).

The world is springing head-first into the 21st century, allowing us little time to prepare.

Technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate and with it brings new forms of weaponry.

Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) terrorism is often reported as terrorism

using mass destruction weapons or WMD terrorism. Violence is escalating in the world, with a

shift from classical means (silent weapons, incendiaries, fire-arms, explosives) to actual

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inclusion of toxic and biological agents into the arsenals of terrorists. Increasing brutality of

contemporary terrorism under its proceeding internationalization in globalized environment

allows the anticipation of further development of terrorism from its classical forms using

incendiaries, light weapons and explosives towards its most destructive forms - to chemical,

biological, radiological and nuclear terrorism. (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, 2012)

The national security situation in the 21st century is far different from what existed

during the Cold War. Today, the U.S. faces a disturbingly diverse set of national security

challenges ranging from pirates threatening U.S. citizens and world commerce off the coast of

Somalia to transnational terrorist organizations, such as al-Qaeda, to rogue nations acquiring

nuclear capabilities, such as North Korea. Added to these threats are the military buildup in

China and continuing unrest in the Middle East. These security challenges encompass a broad

spectrum of threats, from improvised explosive devices to nuclear weapons.

This is a period of great change, fostered in part by a technological revolution evidenced

in the explosive growth of the Internet. Social media played a significant role in the rapid

evolution of the “Arab Spring,” spreading it from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya in a matter of

months. At the same time the opposition was using the Internet to rally against President

Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, al-Qaeda was using it to recruit new terrorists, train them, and

coordinate operations. Al-Qaeda’s use of the Internet has been a major factor in its ability to

persevere in spite of nearly 10 years of pursuit by the U.S. and its allies. The internet has

enabled terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, to employ sophisticated digital production and

communications technologies at minimal expense.

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In today’s vastly different situation, the U.S. needs to effectively prosecute the war

against terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan, and wherever else al-Qaeda and its associates appear.

The U.S. needs to control piracy off Somalia and dissuade and deter Iran, North Korea, and

other rogue nations from hostile action, while remaining mindful that Russia still has more than

10,000 nuclear warheads and that China is continuing its military buildup and challenging its

neighbors throughout the South China Sea.

Given the rapid pace at which threats evolve today, the U.S. needs to prepare ahead of

time and not wait for a challenge to emerge. The military needs to be adequately sized, able to

respond in a timely manner, and equipped to perform a wide range of missions (Adapting to

the Threat Dynamics of the 21st Century, 2012).

What I would like to see in the 21st century, concerning U.S. national security is a

maintained and adequately sized, trained, and equipped force that is capable of dissuading,

deterring, and—if necessary—defeating a diverse set of future adversaries.

Several alarming threats have been mentioned, but to shine some light on the darkness

I believe that we are also facing a time of unparalleled potential for harmony amongst the

people of the world. As humans we are more connected now than ever before via the internet,

social medias, and the ease of transportation and travel. Cultures are more exposed to diversity

and therefore more lenient towards outsiders. Through exposure to each other, perhaps we

will see that there is really nothing to hate.

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Security of the people is probably the most important role the government plays but I

believe that in the 21st century the government should seek even more to secure and cure

those who suffer from the poverty epidemic. To most of us hunger is something that happens

when there is a sudden craving or when the thought occurs that it has been a few hours since

our last meal and it is time to refuel. For a significant margin of people in the world stricken by

poverty, hunger takes on an entirely different definition. For them hunger would be defined as

an uneasy or painful sensation caused by want of food; craving appetite and also the exhausted

condition caused by want of food.

There are approximately 7 billion people in the world. Thus, with an estimated 925 million

hungry people in the world as seen in Figure: 1 below, 13.1 percent, or almost 1 in 7 people are

hungry.

Figure: 1 (2012 World Hunger and Poverty Facts Statistics, 2012)

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Hunger can be caused by poverty, harmful economic systems, and conflicts such as war,

climate change, and natural disasters.

These harmful economic systems influence on the development of poor nations in a

profound way. For many governments, the government/people in the government are not

principally engaged in helping the people of the country, but rather in helping themselves. This

has and continues to have a disastrous effect on development and the incomes of poor people

(2012 World Hunger and Poverty Facts Statistics, 2012).

The most obvious way armed conflict affects hunger is through the deliberate use of

hunger as a weapon. Food shortages and famine deaths occur where adversaries starve

opponents into submission. Acts of siege warfare include seizing or destroying food stocks,

livestock, and other assets in food-producing regions; cutting off marketed supplies of food in

these and other regions; and diverting food relief from intended beneficiaries to the military

and their supporters (2012 World Hunger and Poverty Facts Statistics, 2012).

Climate change is increasingly viewed as a current and future cause of hunger and

poverty. Increasing drought, flooding, and changing climatic patterns requiring a shift in crops

and farming practices that may not be easily accomplished are three key issues (2012 World

Hunger and Poverty Facts Statistics, 2012).

Natural disasters such as floods, tropical storms and long periods of drought are on the

increase with calamitous consequences for food security in poor, developing countries. (World

Food Programme, 2012)

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As mentioned before, we are in an era of unparalleled connectedness to one another.

Social medias like Facebook, twitter, MySpace, instagram, and the power of the internet are all

accessible day and night through our iPods, tablets, and smart phones. The point of the matter

is that poverty and hunger is a real epidemic that is weakening societies all around the world.

Regardless of our response to this knowledge, we definitely cannot blame our inaction naively

on our unknowing, there are far too many information alley ways for that to ever be possible

again.

How amazing would it be to live in world where almost a billion people were not

homeless or hungry? Poor nutrition plays a role in at least five million child deaths each year.

Wouldn’t it be beautiful to bring that number to zero? The world produces enough food to feed

everyone. World agriculture produces 17 percent more calories per person today than it did 30

years ago, despite a 70 percent population increase. This is enough to provide everyone in the

world with at least 2,720 kilocalories (kcal) per person per day according to the most recent

estimate. Also after giving to these unfortunate people, we could start them in such as “Out of

Poverty” that will educate people to find and keep good jobs, assuming that is possible (Out of

Poverty, 2012). The principal problem is that many people in the world do not have sufficient

land to grow, or income to purchase, enough food (2012 World Hunger and Poverty Facts

Statistics, 2012).

There are too many tools accessible for us not to fix this problem. What I would like to

see in the near future is a dramatic drop in the 925 million people suffering from hunger. Not in

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the next 100 years, or even 50, but in the next 20 years I believe it should be a global goal to

see that number cut in half.

Another developing problem is the world energy crisis. An energy crisis is any great

bottleneck (or price rise) in the supply of energy resources to an economy. There has been an

enormous increase in the global demand for energy in recent years as a result of industrial

development and population growth. Supply of energy is, therefore, far less than the actual

demand. Why should this be of any concern? Well the answer is simple, the use and cost of

energy affects each of us every day of our lives. Many issues arise from the use of energy:

greenhouse gas emissions, acid rain, climate change, and dependency on depleting supplies of

fossil fuels— especially from politically unstable regions of the world. All of these issues and

many more, are having negative effects on the world we harbor. With the ever rising

population and urge to live more lavishly, humans must implement new and more efficient

ways of energy development and usage.

The emissions from the burning of fossil and nuclear fuels create atmospheric, water,

and land pollution and toxic waste. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change (IPCC) says this combustion is causing a discernible change of the global weather and

climate patterns that will affect all humanity in decades to come. Meanwhile, The World Energy

Council projects primary energy demand will triple by 2050, as population grows to 8-9 billion

and developing nations elevate living standards. (Global Energy Network Institute, 2012)

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Figure: 2 (PetroStrategies,Inc., 2012)

Coal, oil and natural gas are the three kinds of fossil fuels that we have mostly depended

on for our energy needs, from home heating and electricity to fuel for our automobiles and

mass transportation. Oil, coal and natural gas supply nearly 88 percent of the world’s energy

needs. Of this amount, oil is providing about 41 percent of the world’s total energy supplies,

coal provides 24 percent, and natural gas provides the remaining 22 percent (Ecology Global

Network, 2012).

The problem is that fossil fuels are non-renewable. They are limited in supply and will

one day be depleted. Unfortunately, our current dependency on these fuels will not yet allow

us to stop using them all together. So for the time being we must begin improving the current

ways we use these fuels. Wasted energy contributes to global warming and higher energy costs.

We need to squeeze the most out of these energy resources while we have them and plan

accordingly for when we will run out of them. Promoting the use of low energy light bulbs and

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setting tougher standards for cars, factories, power plants and building heating systems are just

some of the ways energy efficiency can be improved.

The idea behind improving our current methods of burning fuel is solely to buy us time

by dragging out their rate of depletion. That does not mean that we just ride out our remaining

fossil fuels with no regards of the future. We need to be concurrently enhancing our current

primary methods of fuel usage while also developing and improving on future energy sources.

Some estimates say our fossil fuel reserves will be depleted within 50 years, while

others say it will be 100-120 years. (Ecology Global Network, 2012) The fact is that neither one

of these projections is very appealing for a global community that is so heavily dependent on

fossil fuels to meet basic human needs. The bottom line: We are going to run out of fossil fuels

for energy and we have no choice but to prepare for the new age of energy production since,

most certainly, human demands for energy will not decrease. The answer is renewable energy

sources.

Renewable energy sources come in several forms including (but not limited to):

1. Nuclear Energy

2. Wind Power

3. Solar Power

4. Antimatter

5. Bacterial Energy

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Figure: 3 (Renewable Engergy Alaska Project, 2012)

Even though we are not completely ready to transcend into the renewable energy world

right now, these energy sources are gradually being implemented. The rate of integration will

pick up more rapidly as time goes on as you can see in the graph below:

Figure: 4 (Renewable Electricity Standards Toolkit, 2012)

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The world is in the middle of an energy crisis, but the major difference with the world

today and the world during the Industrial Revolution is that we are actually aware now of the

harms our energy sources can cause the planet, and of their limited supply. There are several

more clean and efficient energy alternatives. The solution to the crisis is to continuously

improve and implement inventive and innovative energy sources that are clean, safe, and

efficient.

The 21st century will throw many challenges our way. It will bring forth much change to

the world we live in now despite our eagerness to adapt. This is why education among all other

obstacles is the most important. Amidst such a paradigm shift as one we expect to see

throughout the next 50 years, education like always, will be the prominent factor in ensuring

that the society we live in is well adapted to suit the expectations of the 21st century world.

Above all things, children are our hope for a better life. They know no other way of living than

what they are taught, thus they don’t adapt to change but rather inherit the world around

them for what it is. Our hope for a better future is in the education of our children.

We have discussed the threats of conflict and terrorism, poverty and hunger, and the

world energy crisis. A lot of the problems we face will require action on all both sides of the

spectrum, government and its people, all around the world. There are many things that must be

done to prevent all of these threats from materializing their selves but I believe that the most

important precaution to take is through continuously improving our education systems in the

U.S. and globally.

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The threats we face in the not-so-distant future will dramatically alter our lives forever.

So what do we do? Well I would suggest that we alter our lives now so that the problems are

more manageable when we get to that point in time, “fail to plan and you plan to fail” so to

speak.

The thing is, the world doesn’t need someone to just recycle a few cans a week to feel

like they did their part, or donate a little pocket change to help fight world hunger. There needs

to be a uniting revolution among the people and a drastic change in the way we inhabit this

planet, and if you don’t believe me then just listen to Mother Nature herself and all of her

rapidly occurring natural disasters.

The best way to change the way people think and live is to do it at an early age, through

education. A well educated person is knowledgeable, and better yet, convicted by their

knowledge. That’s right; those who know better tend to do better. So our world in the 21st

century full of children who are thoroughly and diversely educated about the world. About its

endless array of demographics and cultures, the heart stopping hatred that lies within so many

people for no reason, and the harm that we are doing to our own planet just for the wealthy

and developed countries to indulge in leisure while the rest are left to fend for their selves. The

beauty of it all is that by educating children and by truthfully shedding light on all the darkness

in the world, we inadvertently begin to create a fresh new world of people with big ideas on

how to improve it even more; we get two birds with one stone. Granted, this is very ideal but

one cannot spend a dollar tomorrow that was not earned today. Furthermore, the sweat of a

man’s brow can move boulders, but an idea backed by vision can move mountains.

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21st-century

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renewable-energy-resources/

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math/2012/02/fossil-fuels-im-not-dead-yet/

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