Here is a rough and ready guide of world problems based on current information as of July 2008:
High profits and the desire to control large numbers of people (eg. nations) through the money earned appears to be the dominant theme in creating all world problems.
We know money in itself is not enough to create world problems. Rather it is the desire by some people to create as much of it as possible by any means which is of greater concern. Later, interfering in people's affairs becomes the norm because there is the opportunity to use money to wield power in a way that may not be moral, just so long as it can maintain the system and can make people rich.
So how do people acquire high profits? Firstly you need to sell lots of products and/or services to as many people as you can. It means large manufacturing plants have to be built, which requires considerable energy to operate.
Encouraging consumers to populate to help purchase more products and services raises another issue — the size of the human population.
For example, a reasonably large number of people with little or no incomes and no desire to purchase luxuries can be sustainably supported by the environment (ie. resources) depending on the level of recycling taking place and whether people focus on what they need to survive and possibly a few wants based on renewable materials. But if a few people decide to earn considerably more money and acquire more resources from the environment to create the profits, then potentially fewer people can be sustainably maintained in a given areas containing those resources. Generally the more profits, the less people can be supported.
Unless there is proper recycling taking place to ensure zero waste and one hundred per cent regeneration of the resources, fewer and fewer people can be supported over time.
Hence we know profit can affect the environment through land clearing to make way for new developments and agriculture; mining to extract the minerals; utilising the trees as a building material and a fuel source; and animals may be used in trade either as food, medicinal purposes or as pets for those who can afford it.
But the consequences of profit to the environment is now becoming evident through global warming. Without enough healthy trees and the animals to recycle plant materials to help keep the soils nutrient-rich and moist for supporting the trees, the door of opportunity to store the emerging carbon dioxide back into the ground and in the plants gets increasingly closed year-after-year until it is too late.
Higher profits from building bigger manufacturing plants needs more energy. Where the reliance is on non-renewable energy sources such as oil, more of it will be acquired from the environment. This increases the risk of further damage to the environment (oil spills, climate change etc). And if the energy is supplied from a central point such as a company, the company itself will have to expand considerably at higher costs to handle the demand for energy from a growing population.
This in turn means people must pay more for energy to pay for the expanding infrastructure.
Extra energy is also needed to run some products produced by those making a profit. Why? Because in order to sell the products, they must have extra features to help create a unique selling point and entice consumers to buy the products.
The price at which these products are sold also affects human population. While some people may benefit from these changes (eg. the rich and those that can afford the price being asked), not everyone benefits from it (ie. human poverty, refugees, aged persons living on limited government pensions etc). In poorer countries, people who struggle to survive need to find ways to make things more affordable. These things are usually food and other basic necessities. To achieve this, people often produce a larger family so that additional family members can each contribute in their own tiny way to the acquisition of more of the basic necessities based on each person's level of education and skills. This results in higher than expected population levels in third-world countries.
When the prices are high and people making a profit use any means to produce a sellable product without thinking about the consequences, other social problems develop. For example, health of a population may be affected where businesses sell unhealthy foods containing preservatives, fats, sugar and excessive carbohydrates. And the higher prices often means people must work longer and harder to afford it, reducing the time available to exercise, eat healthy and relax.
This in turn creates a burden to governments through the public health system. The health problems magnifies considerably when the population gets older.
Governments will try to encourage people to join private health funds as this reduces the cost for a free public health care system for the masses. Yet the fundamental issue of why people are unhealthy is not dealt with by private health insurers other than setting higher premiums for people having known health problems. The insurers are only there to help move the problem away from governments which in turn forces people to pay more for the privilege. But as the health problem worsens, it costs more money the insurers. So in the spirit of businesses making a profit, people must pay more. Ultimately the costs of private health insurance must go up, which in turn requires people to work longer and harder.
Again the higher costs must feed back on society through a higher population for low income families as people rely on building a bigger family to help increase the chances of getting support. Higher population again puts pressure back on the energy sector, other businesses selling products and/or services, and the health system etc thereby affecting more of the environment. But the one thing that doesn't seem to change are the ones making the profit. Unless consumers dictate the products and services and how they should be produced and how much, people making the profits will continue with what's comfortable and is low cost for them to produce (but sold at the highest price possible through any clever marketing technique).
The key to helping everyone, including those on low incomes, reach a level where they can show their full potential to society, reduce their burden on the system, and make the system more balanced is through education. But too much education can be detrimental to the rich and those maintaining the system. So guess what? There is a cost to be educated. Knowledge is power, which in the right hands can bring great benefit to everyone. But it can also potentially affect those making a profit (eg. break the current economic system supporting the rich).
For example, if people knew through education of the knowledge in electromagnetism that radiation can be recycled using the Abraham-Lorentz formula and the unified field concept of a gravitational field in the light to help bend the light at a critical energy density, a new technology would emerge. It would be a technology designed to transport people and other materials cheaply and quickly.
It is a technology known to the US military since the late 1940s. If people knew about this technology, it would break the biggest secret of the US military concerning UFOs forever. And that would affect people in powerful places and those making a profit, especially in certain environmentally-unfriendly businesses.
This is why the US "R-ring" government is so keen to explore more oil fields and so maintain the current system. Any transformation to the electromagnetic society as will eventually be needed where electricity forms the basis for all energy and any attempt to generate this electricity from renewable sources could soon spark interest by individuals to study electromagnetism more closely. The risk: the biggest secret in electromagnetism and UFOs will be exposed. What would this mean for the future of the US military and people making profits in less than moral or environmentally-friendly ways? It would mean that when the technology is made available to everyone in every country in the world, it would dramatically increase the insecurity of rich and powerful people in every nation because anyone can use the technology to bypass a country's military defence systems.
The choice is therefore either keep the technology hidden by keeping the world in turmoil through interference in certain world events and nations and so keep people preoccupied with either their own survival or some other issue; or rich and powerful people have to learn to control their greed, implement more recycling measures in their businesses, better protect the environment, and give everyone what they need to survive and be happy without interfering in the affairs of other nations.
To "R-wing" people (the ones needing to maintain the current system, whether or not they are aware of the big secret), education must be restricted to what is needed to perform existing jobs in the economy. While this already has a cost, it would cost far more and take a lot more time to learn higher education from a university to realise other advanced and hidden ideas. In fact, you will not find advanced electromagnetic courses in universities other than the basic concepts taught in, say, second or third year physics. The rest is focussing on particle physics, nuclear energy and other quantum knowledge. The Abraham-Lorentz formula is a truly advanced and hidden idea never explained in standard university physics textbooks except for the most advanced textbooks if people have the time to study it.
And given the cost of living today by businesses extracting resources from the environment and selling products and services at high prices, it is easier for the average person on the street to simply learn the skills to do an existing job and hope the job will last long enough until retirement (which is unlikely in today's changing economy). People just want an easy and comfortable life. Basically to be happy. Being happy can mean many things. It could include having a family, a house, socialising, and saving enough superannuation etc. Certainly they do not need to "rock the boat" so to speak when choosing these options.
This brings us to what is likely to be the root cause of world problems. Yes, high profits is way up there on the ladder of causing so many world problems. But there is something overriding this.
There is a hidden agenda in the US military to maintain the current system at all costs because of a big secret.
It is time we all become aware of it. Because the effect we are having on the environment and socially by sticking to what the US military wants within the current economy is reaching critical levels and humans do not have much time to solve world problems.
