World's Biggest Problem

1.  Homelessness is ridiculously prevalent, with statistics of up to 2.3 million people experience being homeless. Most of these individuals are retired veterans, 40%, which makes it even more sad. Honestly, the solution is within the individuals themselves. For some reason, if we were to give the homeless jobs, they might not guarantee us good work ethic. Maybe because they feel intimidated by the working class around them, maybe they are lazy, who knows?

Solution: By creating a community of small homes, such as the one pictured below, a community of recent homeless individuals can work together in a community without the fear of being alone or judged. By ensuring a stress free, nonjudgmental work environment in a like-minded community, the possibilities are endless. 

2.  Global warming is beginning to become more and more evident within our lives. Even with this year’s Christmas, we had a record high temperature of a consistent 70 degrees, with maybe 2 days of truly cold weather.

Solution: Global warming, many scientists agree, is the result of human expansion of the “greenhouse effect.” This warming results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space, and this is dangerous because certain gases in the atmosphere block heat from escaping. By stopping deforestation and burning fossil fuels, humans are able to lessen the repercussions of this effect. 

3. In this day and age, people are always defending their right to free speech, but there comes a time (or a funeral) where it opens people’s eyes to the varying opinions and perspectives on when freedom of speech is appropriate. For instance, with the Snyder vs. Phelps case, the case of whether or not the freedom of speech clause in the First Amendment was demonstrated properly. Phelps and his followers at the Westboro Baptist Church believed that God punished the United States for its tolerance of homosexuality, specifically in the military; to demonstrate such beliefs, Phelps and his followers (which were basically his extended family members) often picketed at military funerals.  Snyder was attending his own son’s funeral, Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder who was killed in the line of duty in Iraq in 2006. Snyder sued Phelps for emotional distress that was caused because of their picketing during his son’s funeral, his last day to really say goodbye to his son. Even though Snyder's complaint lost, the case opens up the question of: When is free speech appropriate?

Solution: Sometimes when it comes to laws, there is not really a clear black and white situation. Sometimes, it is difficult, and I believe that there should be extensions of the law with exceptions, such as “do not picket at a funeral and disrupt the family mourning for their lost loved ones.” 

4. Some 795 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life.

Solution: Even though it is hard and there are some law issues with giving food to individuals, I think that it would be awesome if all restaurant establishments give their leftover food from the day to starving individuals. 

5. There are a lot of uneducated individuals that live in this world.

Solution: By providing free informational workshops that introduce these illiterate individuals to knowledge, we can provide them a gateway into expanding their minds and their worlds. 

6.  Within this day and age, beauty is consistently seen as the gateway to happiness, as seen in how much presence plastic surgery has in this world.  There have been over 100,000 number of nose jobs performed within the last year alone and 4,000+ surgeries performed on patients 18 and younger.

Solution: Apart from creating self -beauty workshops that focus on each individual’s inner and intellectual beauty, there should be a mirror invention that allows individuals to see themselves normally but also view encouraging messages on the side of the mirror, such as “You look beautiful today,” “approximately this percentage of people have freckles,” “beauty marks are seen as exquisite in these countries, etc.” 

7.  Sometimes at parties, people feel very disconnected from the group, which resorts to individuals often participating in “social activities,” so they would not feel out of place, such as hookah or beer pong, even if they do not smoke or drink regularly.

Solution: There should be a new activity created at parties where people can initiate fun and social activities that do not create distress to your physical body. 

8.  Skin cancer is the most common of all cancers. About 3.5 million cases of basal and squamous cell skin cancer are diagnosed in this country each year. Melanoma, a more dangerous type, accounts for more than 73,000 cases of skin cancer in 2015.

Solution: There should be blocked off beaches that are incubated in a sealed space, away from the sun, so that beachgoers can enjoy the beach, without the harmful rays. 

9. Obesity is a prevalent issue in this world. It is often linked to poor diets due to low socioeconomic environments that offer cheap and unhealthy food options.

Solution: There should be a reward program that utilizes a point based system to help individuals in these environments to pick healthier options in their restaurant of choice, and in return, these individuals might get a check for money to be used in whatever necessities their life might need.

10.  In this society, many of the Millennials that post on social media often post self absorbed things.

Solution: In order to progress society, there should be an app that allows its members to post enlightening pictures of their kind actions and allows for the sharing of positive energy throughout the community. 

Sites used:

http://www.oprah.com/style/Plastic-Surgery-Statistics-Body-Image-Facts

http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats                          

http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/facts-and-case-summary-snyder-v-phelps

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-causes/

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/sunanduvexposure/skin-cancer-facts