issue56 [dancing in the dark] by lisa

lisa0702UID: 2646704

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: 571
TIME: 00:43:58
DATE: 2009/7/23 20:47:40

Should governments focus more on solving immediate problems or more on future problems? Admittedly, it is human nature that motivates us assign priority on solving present problems because of they are related to our basic needs, as the speaker claims, yet future problems are also of significance value, thus the government should strike a balance between addressing the two parts, and make the best use of the limited resources to benefit the society.

History informs us that, without proper handling of present problems, which are closely connected to human's basic needs and necessities, society will face the danger of instability or other unpredictable consequences, such as revolt, chaos, panic, crime, etc. Without a stable social environment, no other areas, no matter arts, education, or economic, can develop and evolve rapidly and effectively. Take the Great Depression as an example. It is undoubtedly that the first and foremost issue for the government to focus on is to solve the immediate problems at present, and nearly all future problems---cultivate astronauts to explore the space---seem to be of less significance at that specific period of time. Therefore, the immediate problems concerned with the majority's basic needs should be placed sufficient emphasis on and be solved at the first place.

However, if the government only focuses on solving present problems while overlooks the merits of solving anticipated problems, it is highly likely that the society will face greater threaten in the future and the interests of the next generation will be violated as a result of their ancestor's mistakes. The reason is quite simple, some of the future problems are irreversible, and once they are not properly handled currently, the mistake is beyond remedy. The extinction of some valuable species is one of the examples. Further, some of the immediate problems are even the results of the improper handling of previous problems, like the massive flooding China suffered in 1998 summer cause by soil erosion and random deforestation. If our ancestors have properly coped with the environmental problem, which is not their immediate problems, but anticipated problems, we would not suffer the environmental disasters nowadays. Thus, the anticipated problems of the future should also be placed sufficient emphasis on in terms of our future generation.

Actually, the future problems and today's problems are not mutually exclusive, in order words, when the government is dealing with the anticipated problems, it will serve to solve some of the present problems at the same time. The search for new energy source can illustrate the point clearly. By investing in the lunar program, the society can get access to the plenty of helium-3 resources on the moon, which is regarded as the perfect fuel source. If such source can be used to our daily lives, not only will our future problems concerning the exhaust of energies be solved, but our present needs for keeping up with high energy demands also get satisfied. Accordingly, some of the future investments can also serve to better the present condition and solve the nowadays problems.

To sum up, without addressing immediate problems of today, the society would suffer instability or other unpredictable consequences. Without addressing anticipated problems, some problems will emerge out in the near future and puzzle our next generation. Thus, what the government is supposed to do is achieve a balance between addressing today's problems and future's problems and make the best use of resources to thrive our society.