by Milton Johanides

Created on: July 27, 2009

The answer to the question "What is wrong with this world?" depends on what your view of the world is. Creationists will take the view that the world was made perfect in its original state and that man, in collaboration with Satan, has brought about a fall. Scientists, Big Bang theorists and evolutionists, will argue for a random vision of earthly existence which has a built in tendency for entropy, that is an inherent energy disorder in the system of nature itself. While both views agree that there is something wrong, they might disagree over the solution.

A scientific analysis of what is currently wrong with the world would include a discussion of population trends, of environmental issues as a result of high carbon emissions, terrorist and war hotspots around the world, as well as the prevalence of ever more persistent viruses such as swine flu, or gripa A as it is known in Europe. Sociologists might wish to add that growing pressures on world populations to increase work output levels to keep up with business productivities are leading to dangerously high stress levels among individuals and an addiction dependency culture. The big brother scenario painted by George Orwell in his fiction novel "1984" appears to be becoming reality as the ubiquitous nature of terrorist activity forces the surveillance measures taken by security services to become more widespread and intrusive in almost every nation of the world. There is also the feeling among many in society that the media can be manipulated by those with power as a way of pushing citizens into certain "acceptable" behavioural modes, another facet of the Orwellian nightmare. At the beginning of the 21st century democracy is still regarded as the fairest form of government, but at times the system is fickle, unpredictable and lacking strong leadership. The trend towards liberalism and deregulation at the end of the 20th century has resulted in an ego-centred strain in many social spheres with a strong tendency to fraud and corruption among those in power. There are still many examples of non-democratic government, and many examples of weak or corrupt democracies who incarcerate or terminate their opponents for no good reason, and respect for human rights via free and fair elections for all nations is still a worthy goal for the world to have. However, entrenched bigotries, power struggles and religious fundamentalism make progress difficult.

A more religious slant on events might say there is only one problem in the world, a growing apostacy, or movement away from religious morality, and that everything else is a corollary of that. Religious leaders would cite family breakdown, corrupt and vicious practices operating under the guise of social entertainment and a lack of discipline among the young leading to zero respect for authority. They would argue that even though behaviour has been liberalised in almost every sphere of activity, there are increasing constraints on individuals who wish to practice or preach their faith, and that this is a serious breach of democratic values. Christians, moreover, would say that Jesus Christ died to save mankind but that his sacrifice has been wasted on a vain and immoral world.

In short there are many things wrong with the world making it more and more difficult to argue the case for the benefit of technological progress. The promise of new technology, while making life easier in many respects, has not contributed to the general well being of the human race, the majority of whom still complain about the unfairness and injustices of life.

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