issue56 【米国有米－第5次作业】

joochangUID: 2265219

TOPIC: ISSUE56 - "Governments should focus more on solving the immediate problems of today rather than trying to solve the anticipated problems of the future."
WORDS: 473           DATE: 2006-12-14

The speaker asserts that governments should focus more on solving the immediate problems of today rather trying to solve the anticipated problems of the future. I agree insofar the governments should pay great attention to the immediate problems of today. However, the assertion is indefensible. In my view, both immediate problems and anticipated problems are crucial to the development of the society, and an all-sided consideration should be taken.

First of all, the statement that the governments should focus on the immediate problems is quite compelling. That’s because the immediate problems may undermine the stability of a society and possibly impede the long-term development of we human beings. To illustrate this clearly, here is an example that is very persuasive. The problem of crime, an extremely vicious action exists in modern society, must be contained in no time. Without doing this, it may greatly harm the rights of citizens and therefore impair the authority of governments. Finally, the taxpayers lose heart to their governments. It's a vicious circle. Accordingly, the governments should focus on urgent immediate problems.

Nevertheless, I disapprove the statement because it seems to recommend that the anticipated problems are insignificant comparing to the immediate problems. The anticipated problems also play an important role in deciding a society and even human being's destiny. Consider energy sources, it is entirely possible that petroleum can be used up in several decades. Thus, we must try our best to find or invent some sorts of replaceable energy sources. Can you imagine millions of irremovable cars obstruct the roads? Can you imagine all over the world are stranded in dark? Can you imagine not enough food stuff can be produced because of no power? Therefore, it is every government's responsibility to emphasize the anticipated problems of the future.

Furthermore, it is wise and justifiable to take both the immediate problems and anticipated problems into account. Although these two kinds of problems may clash with each other, the government should make decisions according to essentiality of the problems. Consider the global environmental problem, for instance. One of the main reasons lead to the global environmental problem is the exhaust gas produced by industry. For the long-term consideration, the heavily polluted factories should be shut down, however, it is not enough without taking into account the local economic condition. If setting up the heavily polluted factories is the only way to survive the local, the authorities should consider not only pollution problem but also the rate of employment.

In sum, I concede that the immediate problems take an irreplaceable role in governments' decision. However, the speaker understates the importance of the anticipated problems of the future.  In my view, the long-term development of a society call for a balance in which there are both focusing on the immediate problems of today and the anticipated problems of the future.

[ 本帖最后由 joochang 于 2006-12-15 21:15 编辑 ]