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24 Biggest Problems Around Us That Many Are Unaware Of But Should Know
Article created by: Monika Pašukonytė
Many problems, from small to big, personal to general, surround us every day. But because not all of them seem to impact us directly, we don’t always notice them.
However, some of those issues affect us, and especially our future, without us realizing it, and the more oblivious we are to them, the more damage they will eventually cause. When one person online asked about these ticking time bombs that far too few people are aware of, many Redditors joined in the discussion, delivering their answers. Scroll down to see what they wrote!
More info: Reddit
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#1
The erosion of education, at least in the US. Without substantial fact checking from viable sources, misinformation is spreading at an ever-increasing rate on social media. People are taking it as gospel because our education systems in the US are so focused on metrics and teaching to standardized tests. Critical thinking and problem solving is being boiled out of the curriculum. Funding is held hostage by those who test well. Tests are being created by the highest bidder. Students aren't taught to challenge their own thinking nor the works of others and are instead seeing a societial norm where anyone can spout anything and find puppets who will agree.
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#2
The collapse of the medical system and demise of proper care. It’s tipping over, and soon, it will become a situation where the rich get services and the rest don’t.
#3
Tiktok. Specifically how "influencers" are promoting mental illness like a trendy handbag. DID (Dissociative identity disorder AKA split personality) is a huge offender. People faking this ultra rare disorder for Internet clout and creating videos like "if you've done [blank] that means you have [blank].
High increases in self diagnosis and people, children, reading up about symptoms and faking it to feel special or to fit in.
#7
Aquifers are being drained at completely unsustainable levels. The ones under Kansas and Atlanta are in dire straits. Many others are being contaminated by agricultural chemicals.
It's going to be very bad by 2050. If you buy real estate, GET MINERAL AND WATER RIGHTS TO IT.
#8
The Cascadia subduction zone. Historically there been regular strong earthquakes every few hundred years. The Pacific Northwest is not built for earthquakes and even a 7 would be a disaster, nevermind an 8 or even 9. One of these could wipe out large sections of the Pacific Northwest and cause massive casualties
#11
Overfishing and bycatch have caused a huge loss of species and populations of fish. There are species that have been so over-fished that there are not enough reproducing adults left-- young fish not at reproductive age are what's being caught, and in the next few years, we will see well known fish species go extinct. Thousands of sharks are killed as bycatch daily, and larger species take so long to reproduce, they can't keep up either. Our oceans are about to look very different.
#12
I think people have an attitude of "well COVID JUST happened, so we're not due for another one of those for another century."
We've spent the last century building the perfect environment for pandemics.
#13
I'm not sure how much of a timebomb it is, but there are a lot of people expecting inheritances that will never materialize. With people living a really long time, entire middle class estates are going to be wiped out by long term care. If your parents can't afford to live in a nursing home, Medicaid will pay for it in exchange for every asset they have, leaving you with nothing. If you are young, don't count on inheriting their house because your parents will be living to 100.
#14
Many people tend to overlook or pay little attention to our biodiversity in discussions; however, one day, this neglect may come at a hefty cost.
#16
How climate change is going to impact food security in the coming years. Increased precipitation and heat are already doing a ton of damage to crops. I fully believe we'll see widespread famine within my lifetime.
#17
There will be a cut-off point where the people will not tolerate the rich anymore. There will be a revolution and the rich killed and their assets seized.
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#18
Erosion of best arable land due to overuse of fertilisers and deep ploughing. Dust bowls in China, Ukraine, and Russia. Grain prices going to rise and grain in most food supplies. Also locally, the SS Richard Montgomery. Sometime, that ship will blow and more and more people [are] in [the] danger zone. And Etna/Campi flegrei in Italy.
#19
The gulf stream (which is responsible for the relatively warm climate of Western Europe) could collapse in the next century. This would cause temperatures to drop 10-15 degrees year round, making the region's climate more similar to Canada. Anyone who's been through a Canadian winter can tell you that Europe is *not* prepared for that.
Aside from that, it would disrupt rain patterns vital to food production and cause massive flooding in the eastern United States.
#20
When all the hedge funds and whatnot who bought into real estate as an investment decide, whether by choice or legal mandate, to divest themselves from that market, there will be a real estate market glut followed almost immediately by another foreclosure crisis. We fixed nothing after 2008 and the banks went straight to work building a new economic doomsday device.
#21
Religious lunatic are getting scared. They'll either fade away relatively peacefully or they will become more violent than they already are.
#22
To give this question a very literal answer...I think everybody should be watching what's going on in Ukraine with drones and asking what we're going to be seeing on the news in the next decades.
#24
Collapsing demographics. Our economic system is built around growing populations. As demographics roll over our entire modern system of exchange comes under stress and will need serious overhauls, which will only happen AFTER the consequences are dire enough to necessitate it. Demographic collapse and deglobalization (the collapse of global trade) are going to be the root causes of a myriad of horrors yet most people will never know and will only be aware of the symptoms, not the cause. People will say inflation, shortages in food, water and other goods. Rising wars etc. But ultimately it all comes back to demographics, economics, geography and trade. Every great empire in history thought they alone were different. They never are, and either are we. We've lived through the rise and now we will witness the other side of that slope.
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