Global Risks Part 2

As with the previous blog, we will now explore further into the risks around the world. Both general and specifics, and then we could link them together and see how they connect.

1. Fragile Societies Under Pressure
 Question: How has income inequality widened the gap since last year?

“Among the members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the average income of the richest 10% has now grown to about nine times that of the poorest 10%. In other countries, the ratio is even higher: for example, more than 25 times in Mexico.”

“The People’s Republic of China has seen its Gini Index rise from about 30 in the 1980s to over 50 in 2010. While extreme poverty (less than $1.25 per day) was reduced from afflicting over 50% of the world’s population in 1990 to 22% in 2010, the same reduction did not take place in those earning under $3 per day.”

2. Growing Worries about Conflict

Question: How has globalization leading to a more self-interested foreign policies?

“Disillusion about globalization is leading to more self-interested foreign policies in combination with a rise in national sentiment fuelled in part by the social pressures described above. Growing nationalism is evident around the world: in Russia, as seen in the Crimea crisis; in India, with the rising popularity of nationalist politicians; and in Europe, with the rise of far-right, nationalistic and Eurosceptic parties in a number of countries.”

“Growth and employment creation are currently expected to remain below pre-crisis levels in both emerging markets and advanced economies, suggesting that the drivers of nationalism will remain strong, and raising the possibility of more frequent and impactful conflicts among states.”

3. Economic Risks: Out of the spotlight

Question: What are some economic risks rising in 2015?

“The global unemployment rate is expected to remain at current levels until 2018, reflecting a growing problem of structural unemployment in advanced economies.”

“The risks of a failure of a major financial mechanism or institution and fiscal crises are perceived as equally impactful and likely as in last year’s report, yet other risks, such as water crises, interstate conflict and the failure of climate-change adaptation, have taken center stage.”

4. Environment: High concern, Little progress

Question: Have we done anything much to help with the current major issues in our environment?

”Both water crises and failure of climate-change adaptation are also perceived as more likely and impactful than average. Global water requirements are projected to be pushed beyond sustainable water supplies by 40% by 2030.”

“The International Energy Agency further projects water consumption to meet the needs of energy generation and production to increase by 85% by 2035.”

5. Technology: Back to the Future

Question: Is cyber security a major issue that we have to be concerned about?

“Security risks are also intensified. There are more devices to secure against hackers, and bigger downsides from failure: hacking the location data on a car is merely an invasion of privacy, whereas hacking the control system of a car would be a threat to life.”

“This reflects both the growing sophistication of cyberattacks and the rise of hyperconnectivity, with a growing number of physical objects connected to the Internet and more and more sensitive personal data – including about health and finances – being stored by companies in the cloud. In the United States alone, cybercrime already costs an estimated $100 billion each year.”

6. Preparedness at Regional Level is Different

Question: What are the weaknesses in the development of developing countries?

“High structural unemployment or underemployment is seen as the risk for which Europe is least prepared, followed by large-scale involuntary migration and profound social instability.”

“East Asia and the Pacific is perceived as least prepared for interstate conflict and failure of urban planning. It is also the only region that reported being least prepared for man-made environmental catastrophes following the 2011 Fukushima incidence.”

Global Risks Report

Each year, we are reported about the problems that are currently risks. The Global Risks Report have shown various aspects of risks and the likelihood as well as severity of the threats. Let us discover and analyze these risks through the following infographics.

In this infographic, we have societal risks. To start off, we can clearly see that the risk have risen since 2014, most of them are very significant. The main reason for these changes are climate change. For example, water crisis has been happening in California for 4 years straight now. They are running of water, and the amount of water left can only sustain the state for a short period of time.

The next one is Geopolitical Risks. Similar to societal risks, there is a significant rise in the problems represented here. Major events that have happened are conflict between Russia and Europe over Ukraine. The Ukrainian civil war. The expansion of ISIS and its influences around the world, gaining recognition of a major terrorist group that threatens the safety of many people.

In this last infographic, we can see the positivity of environmental risks. We can see that most of the problems have the decreasing trend in severity, but the likelihood of them happening is still high. With the changes that we have made in terms of helping and preserving the environment, we have decreased the impact of it tremendously.

Everything correlates with each other. For example, the changes in the environment due to pollution have created the terrible 4-year drought in California (which is still going right now.) Conflicts happen because societal risks, where we do not come to a consensus. Right now, we have so many problems in our hands. The risks are increasing mostly. What can we do to decrease them and once again bring our world into a more peaceful time?

I think that societal and environment risks should be concerned and fixed first. Societal risks could bring war which only makes things worse. Environmental will impact heavily on the world, not just an area. Resolving them would decrease many, many problems.

Pollution

After the Industrial Revolution in England, a watershed point in human history, a new era have opened up where technology assists human in various things. Factories and industries grew from the sheer ground that was once green and full of life. Cars run on roads that have been cut through various platforms of nature. We now live in an era where pollution is everywhere. Water, land, air, we all see it.

The basic definition of pollution is the contamination of the natural environment that cause severe changes. It could be done with chemicals, gases, and other various form of toxic that would bring harm towards nature. There are 3 kinds of pollution: Water, air, and land pollution. Water pollution is when the water is contaminated. Well known contaminants would be sewage, trash, chemicals, oil.

Air pollution is most famous with pictures of factories emitting columns after columns of gases into the air. There are also the exhaust of vehicles, burning fuels, and methane from cows. Air pollution contributes to the Green House effect and global warming. Climate is changing all over the world. Evidently, in Vietnam around this time (end of May,) there should be rain, but instead it is excruciatingly hot and humid.

Finally, it is land pollution. Land pollution can be as small as littering to as big as trash lands. We use many materials that cannot be recycled, and the idea of recycling things we use has only came to be a big thing the past decades. We did not understand that our resources would run out, and also we are polluting the environment that we live in. Would you want your house to be on a pile of trash? 

To save the world, we must act now. Here are methods that we could use. Use materials that could be recycled. Do not waste resources since everything is limited. Strict laws against factories that pollute the environment. Strict control of processing waste and gases. Reduce the amount of energy that you use (turn off lights, ACs, TVs, etc when you don't use). There are various methods, but are we all motivated enough to act accordingly to save the world? Only time will tell.

Motivation

We do the things that we do because we are motivated. Motivation is the sole thing that drives us to our goals. Motivation is the result of process, internal or external, of an individual that give rises to arousement, creating persistent and enthusiasm to pursue a certain goal. When we feel motivated, we created an unsatisfied need which imbalance the equilibrium. We desire to reach our goal to regain the equilibrium by the satisfaction that we would achieve.

Why are we motivated? There are many different factors to our motivation. It could be that we are interested in something. It could be that we set a goal and we want to achieve it. It could be a dream that we aspire. It could might as well be something that imbalance the equilibrium (dissatisfaction), and we aim to get rid of it. If we never had motivation in our lives, we would be listless corpses just working and working without a certain goal. When one is motivated, we would be more enthusiastic, have higher energy, more efficiency, high performance, and we are easily to adapt and change based on the situation. In the first semester, we studied about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Our needs motivate us to achieve them, to satisfy the mind and body. We are motivated to reach each level and then move on to the next one. We are humans, and our ancestors were motivated to survive in an environment where we have to do various things to survive and produce offsprings. Producing fertile offsprings is the sole purpose of a species. Without it, extinction will come and wipe out that species. The traits of surviving and achieving certain things to reduce and eliminate discomfort, dissatisfaction are embedded in our genes. They are innate, and we are motivated by them to survive. It is the same thing with fear. We fear because we are motivated to survive. We go on alert and try to avoid or fight the danger in order to survive. We are MOTIVATED to do so.

Maslow's first level is physiological needs, which is obvious because nothing could survive without the fundamental basics that would ensure the survival and development of a species. Humans need shelter, food, water, etc. Once this level is satisfied, we can move on to the next. The same apply for the upcoming ones. Safety needs is the next level. One wouldn't survive for long if there isn't a "safe house" for you to stay in. Our ancestors used caves. Now we use houses, buildings, apartments, etc. Also, there is economic security. This is something new that has just developed along with mankind. One couldn't survive without income/wealth. The system that we use is a "trading" system where we "trade" currencies to obtain various goods. Unless you can get food and water by harvesting, you are obliged to obtain wealth and use it. The third level is social need. The need for love, connection, relationship. If one was to live alone in this world, one would go insane in a few days. We are interconnected. We need to have other people in our lives to survive. It affects mostly our psychological well being. Warmth, love, happiness, etc. all comes from relationships and connections. The fourth level is self-esteem. Our ego, self-esteem determine the "value" of who we are. It is our confidence and recognition. If one lost ego, one would feel worthless in life. The last level is self-actualization. This level is where we begin to explore the world around us. Playing sports, drawing, literature, math, etc. We gain satisfaction through the actions that we do and the subjects that we delve in. Maslow's theory is that all humans go through these levels. If the lower level one (i.e safety needs) isn't accomplished, the next one wouldn't open up. 

McClelland's theory about motivation is that there are 3 different types of motivation, and people behave differently based on what they desire. The 3 types are: Need for Power, need for Achievement, and need for Affiliation. People that desire Power wants to control other people around them, to influence them. They prefer work that involves controlling other people, has an impact on events and people, and brings public attention and recognition. The next one is need for Achievement. The people in this group wants to achieve something that is challenging but not impossible. The last one is need for Affiliation. It is the desire to main a warm and friendly relationship with other people. The people in this group seek work that has interpersonal relationships, provides companionship, and brings social approval.

If we think about motivation and the problems that our world faces at the moment, we could virtually fix all of them. Aren't we motivated to do things to get rid of our discomfort? To get rid of the potential danger that we face? So why haven't we truly achieved any thing that is ground breaking, game changing? Because our motivation isn't enough to do so. For pollution, if the government were motivated enough, there would be a significant decrease in pollution of any kind. Factories wouldn't be able to freely empty sewages into rivers or produce an abundant of virulent gases into the air. We can enforce the law more strictly to bring down those who oppose, and we could eliminate the global threats that pollution could bring. Another example would be inequality in distribution of wealth. Are we motivated to see a society where everyone is equal or close to equal in all ways? The determine factor is wealth. The gap between the rich and the poor has been so wide that it would take an average workers thousands of years to obtain the amount of money a Hollywood celebrity or professional athlete make in a year. The average worker maybe motivated to work harder to earn money, but it is never enough. The government has to step in and regulate the money flow, balancing things out. A prosperous economy is where everyone has the power to purchase essential goods. Last but not least, biodiversity, the various species that live on planet Earth. Biodiversity is in danger. Many species have gone extincted. Some of them are because of natural causes, but others are because of human impact. If we are motivated to save the animals around us, we must act as if they are apart of us. We humans sometimes do not understand the crucial role that other organisms play in the chain of life. Without them, we wouldn't be able to survive. Motivation will give us the desire to save these organisms and maintain there habitat.

Motivation is so important that we are always motivated, but we don't actually realize it sometimes. Driving us forward, that is motivation. Desires and needs are always there. It is a part of human life. It is similar to greed, where there is no end to it.

Challenges in the 21st Century

It all seems like we now live in a century where most of our inconveniences have been eliminated. Turn back 100 years, the thought of an induction phone was still a fantasy, existing only in movies. Now, our technology have advanced to the point that many diseases can be prevented. Laptop, phones, technology, everything has now been very well developed. We human are sucked into this vortex of rapid development. We have seemed to forgotten the fundamental basics of human connection. Everything seems virtual now, that we forget the physical presence of others.

So are our lives better this way? We live longer, we have more help, everything seems to more convenience. There are so many things around us that we need to worry about now. Money, bills, health care, family, etc. We are bounded by these characteristics. We worry so much that we don't have time anymore. We have "ran out" of time. We don't live as we want, but we have to "obey" and "follow" what we need to do in other to survive in our societies. What can we do to free ourselves from these boundaries? Sometimes, we just have to relax, sit back, do nothing, maybe listen to soothing music, and empty your mind. Smile more, and worry less. Our lives are full of happiness, but we seem to miss it sometimes. Stay healthy and stay happy.

Biodiversity

The definition of diversity of life is the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem. Our Earth is a biosphere, where a variety of different ecosystems. There are tropical, subterranean, arctic, etc. Let us explore the diversity and complexity of our sphere.

In Biology, there is taxonomy where animals are classified into a system. The order is: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. From the top to bottom, the classification gets more detailed and specific. For example: Squirrels have different species like the Fox Squirrel, Flying Squirrel, etc. It is the same with any other animals. On land alone, there are up to millions of species. In the marine ecosystem, we have explored only 20% of the sea, and it is up to the hundred thousands. Imagine the other 80% that we have not discovered. Our Earth has many enigmas that we have not yet to answered. The species that live in the ocean have not yet surfaced. There are so many different species on Earth, but us human are so ignorant that we think that we are the center of the universe. We create our own destruction by destroying the environment around us. We cut down trees to create profit and utility, but we destroy the habitat of other animals. 

For example the BP oil spill that wreaked havoc upon the Gulf of Mexico, killing various animals. We rely on animals and even plants to survive. There is a chain, a circle of life. We eat animals, animals eat other animals, animals eat plants, plants use materials from soil, microorganisms has its own ecosystem! We are all connected, and without one, we would break the chain and catastrophic events could happen in the world. I cannot stress how important other species are, not just humans. Protect the habitats of other species, for they will bring us boon in life, maintaining our existence. 

G7

Group of Seven (or G7) is a group of countries which are economically advanced and are considered leaders of the world. The group includes the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Italy.

The G7 was known as the G6 in the beginning, consisting of Japan, West Germany, France, Italy, UK, and the US. The group was found in the 1975, and the annual meeting is primarily to discuss the economical issues of the world. In 1998. In 1976, Canada became the 7th member. In 1998, Russia joined the group, creating the Group of Eight (G8). Until recently, Russia was kicked out of the group because of the intense political issues surrounding Ukraine. The Western countries want to punish Russia and separate it from the rest of the Western countries. The group is currently known as G7 again.

The main purpose of G7 is to maintain the world's economy and helping countries that are in debt and developing. In 1996, the G7 launched an initiative for the 42 heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC).

In 1999, the G7 decided to get more directly involved in "managing the international monetary system" through the Financial Stability Forum, formed earlier in 1999 and the G-20, established following the summit, to "promote dialogue between major industrial and emerging market countries". In 1999 the G7 announced their plan to cancel 90% of bilateral, and multilateral debt for the HIPC, totaling $100 billion. In 2005 the G7 announced, debt reductions of "up to 100%" to be negotiated on a "case by case" basis. In 2008 the G7 met twice in Washington, D.C. to discuss the global financial crisis of 2007-2010 and in February 2009 in Rome.The group of finance ministers pledged to take "all necessary steps" to stem the crisis. 

Many have raised the question whether or not China, India should be allowed to join the Group. They are rapidly growing countries with very robust economies. The G7 consists of countries with highly advanced economies, so why shouldn't China and India be allowed? Evidently, their economies have proven to be one of the best, and China and India's presences in the group would greatly augment the strength of the world economically.

Then again, should they truly be allowed in the Group? More members means more ideas, which, consequently, would lead to more debates and arguments, leading to extenuating time needed to come to a consensus.