What's the biggest problem facing the country/world?

[Phoenix84]

Sometimes I think one of the big differences between conservatives and liberals is simply the importance they place on particular "issues." 

For example, some people think the shape of the economy is the biggest concern our leaders should be focused on, others think that it's the plight of poor people, while others might think it's the national debt.  Some people might have a heart for animals and think that animal abuse is the greatest problem facing the world, and a few might even think it's violent video games, or bad public schools.

So the questions I pose to you is as follows:

1. What are the biggest problem(s) facing the country right now?

2. What are the biggest problem(s) facing the world right now?

3. What causes/issues really speak to you?

Is it abortion, ACA, crime?  This board wants to hear from you.

[milee]

1.  Debt and overall social policy.  (Balance.)

2.  How to manage growth and feed people without creating permanent environmental damage.

3.  ACA, environmental damage.

[The Captain]

Well, you asked.

I think the biggest problem is we have  is a society where, for various reasons, a significant % do not acheive their full potential.

This applies to both the US as well as the rest of the world.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

1. Liberals

2. Liberals

3. Anything that isn't supported by liberals.

Wait, wrong board.

1. I think our bipartisan politices are a huge problem, nobody wants to play nice in the sandbox with "them" and people continue to insist on voting along party lines no matter how big an ass hat their party representative may be which fuels the fire.   No issue can be resolve if you're reprensatitive is going to automatically vote the opposite no matter what.

2. Not sure I gotta think about it more

3. Environmental safety/conservation, women's rights, gay marriage, science/research funding and education, vaccinations, FDA/USDA regulations

[giramomma]

I think our biggest problem in the US is that we can't compromise to solve problems.

No one is interested in meeting in the middle anymore. People dig in their heels with their stance, and that's that.

The issue of childhood poverty and how to effectively educate poor kids really speaks to me. I don't know what the solution is. I can tell you that what has been tried in our district isn't working. I also don't think pointing fingers at the home life and making the home life responsible for the solution isn't the answer, either. One of the low income kids I work with has a mom that's trying to start her practice as a financial person. She has passed a few tests she needs and is well educated. She doesn't present herself like a low income person in the way she acts, speaks, or dresses. Yet her daughter will present herself like she's from the ghetto, in the way she talks, acts, and thinks.

I've worked with kids who knew there COULD be a way out of the poverty (in terms of being groomed to go to a top research institution on a full ride scholarship) if they would just do what I would consider minimal work (ie, don't get suspended from school) but choose the harder road, anyway. Why?

There's always the portion of society that can't be helped. Is it really only 10-20% of our society? Maybe is it more, and we just won't acknowledge it?

I do think about these issues a lot. We didn't send our kids to a public school with an 80% poverty rate. I do question that choice, sometimes. I work with kids that live in poverty-some likely didn't eat 3 times a day...If I could ever afford to go back to school, I would try to study these issues for my PhD...

[sesfw]

Not following the Ten Commandments. 

I know of people that 'spit' on the whole idea but my question to them is ........ which one do you disagree with.

The world countries have tons of laws to enforce these commands.

Treat others as you wish to be treated.  Help each other through this life.  Physically, mentally, emotionally.

We have teachers to educate those who want to learn.  Medical people to help us get/stay well.  Religious leaders to help our spiritual well-being.  Philosophers to help us wrestle with mind-boggling thoughts.  Etc.

This is a tough question and my brain can't do any more than these thoughts for now.

[busymom]

The biggest problems continue due to the inability of both sides to compromise.  Rather than doing what's best for our country, it seems both sides dig in their heels, which is a recipe for disaster!  I can't understand why being stubborn is seen as a sign of strength, & compromise means you're "weak".


The biggest problems we seem to have as a nation right now are 1. the national debt   2. unemployment  3.  health care  (and not necessarily in that order)


The biggest global problem is the attitude that, if you're not just like me, you may not have the right to even exist. 


Issues that speak to me:  women's issues, people with disabilities, children's issues, and issues the elderly deal with.

[Angel!]

1. People not being able to see others as just like themselves.  This leads to bipartisan politics, hating the poor, hating the rich, etc.  I find it so sad that so many people would assume that someone who disagrees with them on an issue is either stupid or actively trying to ruin the country.  We are all just people and it is ok to have different points of view.  But, this leads to hating the opposing side and being unable to compromise in any fashion.  We have a ton of other problems, but until we solve this, we really can't solve anything else.

2. Poverty/education/religious intolerance - There are so many that I can't name just one.  But, I think it comes down to inequality between nations, with some suffering so much due to lack of education and resources.

3. Education and helping the poor.  I view most of our problems in terms of welfare & poverty as due to lack of education as one of the root causes.  I want to help the poor now, but we need to focus on changes the educational system in this country so that there won't be as many needing help in the future.

[kittensaver]

Biggest problem? Our tax dollars being diverted to unfunded not-wars in the Middle East, and to propping up (economically) world regimes we claim to philosophically oppose (China anyone?).

ETA: at least for me, it is unconscionable the amount of money we throw at the industrial-military complex in this country, and then belly-ache about providing basic services (healthcare) to our citizens. Our priorities are SERIOUSLY screwed up. JMHO YMMV

[sheilaincali]

I agree with the others.

1.  I think most of the US' problems come down to our complete inability to get anything done in government.  They spend so much time arguing for the sake of arguing that they never accomplish anything.  They create this almost false divide- rich vs. poor, conservatives vs. liberals.  When it comes down to it people have more in common than they care to admit.  They are just so busying labeling themselves and others and spewing the party line that they separate themselves from people. 
We have some major problems-  Debt/Economy, Wars we shouldn't have gotten involved with in the first place, Health Care, Elder Care (SS, Medicare, etc).

2.  I agree with Angel on this- Poverty/Education/Religious Intolerance.  So many global issues tend to boil down to one of those three things.

3.  Causes that interest me- I am concerned about the Environment, the number of children living in poverty and securing equality for all.  (I'm a crazy liberal so yes- this includes Legalizing same sex marriage for everyone- it's a civil rights issue in my book). 

[resolution]

1. I think that both major parties have been bought out by corporate interests, so that neither of them is representing the interests of the common people that elected them. This is contributing to the tremendous wealth transfer that has taken place over the last 20 years from the middle class to the rich. If the trend continues, we are facing a much smaller middle class, slightly larger upper class, and huge lower class.

2. One of the major world problems is all the factions that are at war with one another. So many populations are destabilized and turned into refugees, which contributes even more to poverty.

3. Right now I am very interested in the ACA, especially after seeing a close friend wiped out financially from a long hospital stay.

3. I am also very interested in some of the efforts to restrict voting, such as cutting back early voting hours and ID requirements. I am also extremely concerned in the gerrymandering that has been going on for voting districts. I was involved in an effort to help people get ID and am familiar with some of the problems for the elderly that didn't have birth certificates when they were born.

[Deleted]

Burger King created something called satisfries.

[cronewitch]

1. Drug and alcohol abuse.

It causes people to not strive for a better life even if they don't do anything really bad. Some are no better off at 40 than at 20 and worse off at 60 because they wanted to live drugged.

2. Having babies that aren't loved is also really bad.

Unloved babies grow into criminals or high school drop outs often and end up on alcohol and drugs. Every baby deserves to be loved from before conception by parents who are willing to do things to give the baby the best chance of a good healthy life. Women should be taking prenatal vitamins and both parents clean and sober before they try to conceive then after conception the mother not drink, smoke or do other things that are bad for fetuses. If they want to adopt it out later fine but take care of the fetus and make sure someone loves the child even if you don't.

[Gardening Grandma]

I think the biggest problem is with the extremists (religious and political).  Their idea of compromise is for the other side to give them everything they want.  They want the laws to reflect their religious/moral views and want everyone else to abide by them even if they don't have the same religious/moral view (particularly in personal private issues like contraception, abortion, marriafe).

The right wing Christians are just as bad as the extremist Muslims.

[Otto the Orange]

Archie's sense of humor

and also the fact that Geraldo posted a shirt-less selfie

[Otto the Orange]

Sept 30, 2013 14:39:55 GMT -5 alwaysbeoptimizing said:

Entitlement

Lack of person accountability (needs to be tempered with wise mercy)

Vision and inspiration so people can work towards something larger than themselves.

I donated some of my old glasses at lens crafters, so that should help improve vision.....

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I also think too few people understand how our government actually works and we have three branches.  I've yelled at a lot of campagin ads with various one-liners in them because they can't realistically deliver that promise there are two other branches of our government that need to be in agreement.

If people got that I think we'd be in less of a mess because we'd be better informed voters and vote for people who will actually keep our government functioning rather than whoever gives the niftiest empty promise campagin speech that happens to tell them exactly what they want to hear.

I think you'd see a lot less pettiness if elected officals knew we see right thru them and they wouldn't be able to win anymore votes with a catchy slogan.

.

[Deleted]

Good question!

www.marketwatch.com/story/america-becomes-giant-version-of-biggest-loser-2013-09-28/print?guid=B7764E1E-2795-11E3-B0CE-00212803FAD6

America becomes giant version of ‘Biggest Loser’
Weight-loss competitions make reality more like reality TV

Of course, the biggest reason for the competitive dieting boom may be the dramatic rise in obesity rates, especially in America. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that more than one-third of the U.S. population — 35.7% — is now obese. (By contrast, in the early 1960s, that figure was 13%.) And it didn’t take long for popular culture in general — and reality television in particular — to pick up on the problem and turn it into entertainment. NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” premiered in 2004 and has pulled in viewership of 7 million to 10 million in each of its seasons.

[tskeeter]

Sept 30, 2013 13:35:15 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Biggest problem? Our tax dollars being diverted to unfunded not-wars in the Middle East, and to propping up (economically) world regimes we claim to philosophically oppose (China anyone?).

ETA: at least for me, it is unconscionable the amount of money we throw at the industrial-military complex in this country, and then belly-ache about providing basic services (healthcare) to our citizens. Our priorities are SERIOUSLY screwed up. JMHO YMMV

Just a few thoughts on the money we throw at the military-industrial complex.

Quite a lot of the technology that makes our lives better was initially developed by the military-industrial complex for military applications.  One of the earliest that I can think of was food preservation by canning.  This, not only allows food to be accumulated during the growing season and stored for consumption during times of the year when food supplies were historically in short supply, but it also allows food to be transported long distances from where it is produced to localtions where food may be in short supply.  And reducing the spoilage losses during storage increased the total food supply.  You can thank Napolean and his armies for the development of canning technology.  Both the airline industry and the US trucking industry owe much of their growth to the availability of surplus equipment and the related manufacturing capability that was developed during WWII.  And that interstate highway that you probably drive on to get to and from work and around town each day.  Eisenhower's vision was to build a vast network of military highways that could provide an alternative to railroads for transporting troops and equipment if the US should ever come under attack by a foreign military.  And don't forget that the military-industrial complex played a key role in the development of the system we use to deliver medical care.  Ambulance services first appeared during the Civil War, on the battle field.  And many of our current techniques for providing emergency and trauma care are direct transplants from military applications.  Did you know that the military-industrial complex played a key role in the development of the computer technology that we now take for granted?  One of the first applications of early computers was to calculate ballistics tables for cannons and other large guns used by the military.  For more recent examples, look at your cell phone (which started as the Motorola Handie Talkie during WWII) and at, if you are a bit of a Luddite, your GPS system (if you're not a Luddite, use the GPS in your cell phone).  The GPS capability in your cell phone, that allows you to keep track of your kids and find the nearest Starbucks or gas station, was developed as a tool to improve the targeting of military weapons.  I'm sure that someone really familiar with military history could expand this list by pages and pages. 

Whatever our feelings are about the military and military spending, I think it is appropriate to bear in mind that a lot of technology developed by and for the military transitions to the civilian world and improves that quality of our lives.  

[Deleted]

Extremism ( Stealing from GG)

The over proliferation of 'information' without the corresponding ability to analyze/ assess that information for value, bias, fallacy...


The lack of credible journalism which eschews entertainment and doesn't define 'fair and balanced' as giving every wing nut equal time to make up whatever shit they want.

[Peace Of Mind]

Since everybody already mentioned what I would have said I'll just add:  Having cash bars at weddings. 

[kittensaver]

Sept 30, 2013 17:18:31 GMT -5 Peace Of Mind said:

Since everybody already mentioned what I would have said I'll just add:  Having cash bars at weddings. 

And having "event" bridal and baby showers where the guests are expected to pay for their participation

[Miss Tequila]

Sept 30, 2013 14:34:53 GMT -5 Gardening Grandma said:

I think the biggest problem is with the extremists (religious and political).  Their idea of compromise is for the other side to give them everything they want.  They want the laws to reflect their religious/moral views and want everyone else to abide by them even if they don't have the same religious/moral view (particularly in personal private issues like contraception, abortion, marriafe).

The right wing Christians are just as bad as the extremist Muslims.

Following that train of thought....those whi push their moral beliefs that it is everyone's job to take care of those who choose not to take care of themselves. That's is just as much a moral belief as my opposition to killing babies ;-)

[Deleted]

But you can starve them, right...

[Deleted]

 The biggest problem... has to be ignorance.
 People who are oblivious cannot make informed decisions.

[Deleted]

Sept 30, 2013 17:09:19 GMT -5 oped said:

Extremism ( Stealing from GG)

The over proliferation of 'information' without the corresponding ability to analyze/ assess that information for value, bias, fallacy...


The lack of credible journalism which eschews entertainment and doesn't define 'fair and balanced' as giving every wing nut equal time to make up whatever shit they want.

 Advertising and "infotainment" drown out the real information... because most people would rather be amused than be informed.
 Marvel Comics will always have more readers than the Congressional Record.

[Tennesseer]

Sept 30, 2013 17:18:31 GMT -5 Peace Of Mind said:

Since everybody already mentioned what I would have said I'll just add:  Having cash bars at weddings. 

Why ìt's positively ghastly, ìsn't ìt.

[spartan7886]

Sept 30, 2013 13:03:42 GMT -5 sesfw said:

Not following the Ten Commandments. 

I know of people that 'spit' on the whole idea but my question to them is ........ which one do you disagree with.

The first four, really.

Onto Phoenix's questions:

1. Extremism
2. Extremism
3. I guess the environment more than anything else... which is mildly amusing, given that I work for Big Oil.

[mmhmm]

1 & 2.  Greed and practiced ignorance.
3.  The welfare of those who cannot defend themselves.

[Sum Dum Gai]

The biggest problem facing the country right now is fear. We've spent the last five years hearing about how the sky is falling due to one thing or another. Yet here we all are in basically the same place now that we were then. The infotainment networks realized that fear sells even better than sex and violence so we've been getting a steady supply of it 24/7 for almost half a decade. It's strangling an economy that should be recovered already.

Whatever Washington does or doesn't do over the next few years won't amount to a fart in the wind a couple decades from now. Anyone who says different is selling something or brainwashed by those who are. Turn off the cable "news" advertising stations, block all the feeds from the chicken littles on your FB page, tell anyone who brings up politics or the economy in person to stuff it, and live your life. It will have no impact on what Washington does anyway, but it will hopefully remove some of the pointless fear that's being systematically and purposefully introduced to motivate you to buy shit you don't need and donate money to fear mongers.