Topic 14. Global problems of the modern world 1. The reverse side of progress2. Depletion of earth's resources3. environmental pollution4. Growth of radiation hazard5. Population increase6. Ways out of

2. Philosophical anthropology and global problems

At the present stage of the development of civilization, questions have arisen as acute as never before, without the solution of which the further progressive movement of mankind along the path of economic progress is impossible. Despite the fact that it is only a part of universal human activity, from its development in the XXI century. the problems of security and peace, the natural environment and, as well as moral, religious and philosophical values ​​\u200b\u200bare more dependent.

The significance of global problems especially increased in the second half of the 20th century. It is they who significantly affect the structure of the national and. Historically, the world economy as a whole has developed by the beginning of the twentieth century. as a result of the involvement in world economic relations of most of the countries of the world. By this time it was finished territorial division of the world, the world economy has formed two poles. At one pole were industrialized countries, and on the other - their colonies - agricultural raw material appendages. The latter were drawn into long before the establishment of national markets there. The involvement of these countries in world economic relations actually took place not in connection with the needs of their own development, but was a product of the expansion of industrialized countries. The world economy formed in this way, even after the former colonies gained independence, for many years preserved the relationship between the center and the periphery. This is where the current global problems and contradictions originate.

As a rule, huge material and financial resources are required to solve global problems. The main criteria for classifying a particular problem as a global one is considered to be its scale and the need for joint efforts to eliminate it.

Global problems- discrepancies between the most significant planetary needs and the possibility of their satisfaction by the joint efforts of mankind in a certain period of time.

Examples of global problems of the world

Global problems of mankind - these are problems that affect the vital interests of the entire population of the planet and require the joint efforts of all states of the world to solve them.

In modern conditions, global problems include:

Other global problems are also emerging.

Classification of global problems

Exceptional difficulties and high costs for solving global problems require their reasonable classification.

According to their origin, nature and ways of solving global problems, according to the classification adopted by international organizations, they are divided into three groups. first group constitute problems determined by the main socio-economic and political tasks of mankind. These include the preservation of peace, the cessation of the arms race and disarmament, the non-militarization of outer space, the creation of favorable conditions for world social progress, and overcoming the developmental lag in countries with low per capita incomes.

Second group covers a complex of problems revealed in the triad "man - society - technology". These problems should take into account the effectiveness of the use of scientific and technical progress in the interests of harmonious social development and the elimination of the negative impact of technology on humans, population growth, the establishment of human rights in the state, its release from the excessively increased control of state institutions, especially over personal freedom as an essential component of human rights.

Third group represented by problems associated with socio-economic processes and the environment, i.e., the problems of relations along the line of society - nature. This includes solving the raw material, energy and food problems, overcoming the environmental crisis, covering more and more new areas and capable of destroying human life.

The end of the XX and the beginning of the XXI centuries. led to the development of a number of local, specific issues of development of countries and regions into the category of global ones. However, it should be recognized that internationalization played a decisive role in this process.

The number of global problems is growing, in some publications of recent years more than twenty problems of our time are named, but most authors identify four main global problems: environmental, peacekeeping and disarmament, demographic, fuel and raw materials.

The scale, place and role of individual global problems are changing. The environmental problem has now come to the fore, although until recently the struggle for the preservation of peace and disarmament had taken its place. Changes are also taking place within global problems: some of their components lose their former significance and new ones appear. Thus, in the problem of the struggle for peace and disarmament, the main emphasis began to be placed on the reduction of means of mass destruction, the non-proliferation of mass weapons, the development and implementation of measures for the conversion of military production; in the fuel and raw materials problem, a real possibility of the exhaustibility of a number of non-renewable natural resources has appeared, and in the demographic problem, new tasks have arisen associated with a significant expansion of international migration of the population, labor resources, etc.

It's obvious that global problems are closely interconnected. For example, the severity of the food problem is exacerbated by the outpacing growth of population compared to the growth of agricultural production in many developing countries. To solve the food problem, it is necessary to use the resource potential of industrialized countries or international organizations that develop and implement special assistance programs. Consideration of the impact of global problems on the formation of the world economy requires their detailed analysis and assessment from the standpoint of both individual countries and the world community as a whole. Features of the world development of the second half
20th century consist in the fact that it has become a constant factor influencing all spheres of economic activity. Economic activity has spread to such territories and areas that were previously not accessible to man (the World Ocean, the polar zones, outer space, etc.).

The accelerated development of productive forces, the planned nature and global scale of technical progress, if not supported by a perfect management mechanism, can lead to irreversible negative consequences. In particular, the unevenness in economic development between countries will increase even more, the gap between the levels of material and spiritual culture of mankind will increase, there will be an imbalance in the biosphere, environmental degradation can lead to the impossibility of life on Earth.

This food crisis requires the development of a joint international strategy for the production, redistribution and consumption of food. Even with the current methods of tillage, according to the calculations of British experts, it is possible to provide food for more than 10 billion people. All this indicates an extremely unproductive use of cultivated land.

Solving the problem of developing countries requires overcoming their economic and scientific and technological backwardness, and this is associated with the evolution of the economic space, which will lead to radical socio-economic transformations, the elimination of backward forms of land use and the rise of agriculture based on the introduction of scientific methods of its management.

In this situation, Russia and the countries should pay attention first of all to preserving and increasing the potential of fertile agricultural lands, increasing the productivity of agricultural production, as well as systems for storing and distributing products.

The problem of military spending

After graduation World War II gigantic efforts are being made by the world community to preserve peace and disarmament. However, humanity still spends huge amounts of money on weapons. Military spending hinders economic and technological development, increases and promotes inflation, distracts people and from solving pressing social problems, increases external debt, and has a negative impact on international relations and their stability.

The negative impact of military spending on the economic development of the country can be long-term. Excessive military spending of the past years is a heavy burden on countries with a low level of development of the economic space, which at the present stage of the world economy include many developing countries.

At the same time, zones of regional and local conflicts have arisen and are expanding, provoking external intervention, increasingly with the use of military force. Participants in such confrontations already possess or in the near future may become possessors of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. This forces many countries to maintain a high level of military spending in their budgets.

At the same time, the reduction of military potential, especially in the largest states, such as Russia, faces many complex issues, because the military-industrial complex represents thousands of enterprises and millions of people employed in them. In addition, the world arms trade is still one of the most profitable types of business, which annually brings our country an income of 3-4 billion dollars.

Under the conditions of economic instability, limitations and lack of the necessary funds, the reduction of the armed forces and disarmament in Russia gives rise to additional economic and social problems. Disarmament and reduction of military production in a number of cases does not lead to the release of funds, but requires significant material and financial resources.

Thus, ensuring security and maintaining peace on the planet is possible with close cooperation between countries, reasonable use of available resources aimed at eliminating the general military threat and nuclear war.

The development of the productive forces of the world economy requires not only a constant influx of material and fuel and energy resources, but also the use of significant monetary and financial resources.

The transformation of the world economy into a single market for goods, services, labor, capital and knowledge leads to a higher stage of internationalization (globalization). The single world market creates a volume of economic space and plays an extremely important role in servicing the restructuring of national economies. At the same time, it can contribute to the deepening of disproportions in the world economy.

Global goals of humanity

The priority global goals of humanity are as follows:

• in the political sphere - reducing the likelihood and in the long term the complete elimination of military conflicts, preventing violence in international relations;
• in the economic and environmental spheres - the development and implementation of resource and energy saving technologies, the transition to non-traditional energy sources, the development and widespread use of environmental technologies;
• in the social sphere - raising the standard of living, global efforts to preserve people's health, the creation of a world food supply system;
• in the cultural and spiritual sphere - the restructuring of the mass moral consciousness in accordance with today's realities.

Taking steps towards the realization of these goals constitutes a strategy for the survival of mankind.

Emerging Global Issues

As the world economy develops, new global problems arise and will continue to arise.

In modern conditions, a new, already formed global problem is space exploration. Man's spacewalk was an important impetus for the development of both fundamental science and applied research. Modern communication systems, forecasting of many natural disasters, remote exploration of minerals - this is only a small part of what has become a reality thanks to space flights. At the same time, the scale of financial expenditures necessary for the further exploration of outer space today already exceeds the capabilities of not only individual states, but also groups of countries. Exceptionally expensive components of research are the creation and launch of spacecraft, the maintenance of space stations. Thus, the cost of manufacturing and launching the Progress cargo spacecraft is $22 million, the Soyuz manned spacecraft is $26 million, the Proton spacecraft is $80 million, and the Shuttle space shuttle is $500 million. The annual operation of the International Space Station (ISS) costs about $6 billion.

Enormous capital investments are required for the implementation of projects related to the exploration and prospective development of other planets of the solar system. As a result, the interests of space exploration objectively imply broad interstate cooperation in this area, the development of large-scale international cooperation in the preparation and conduct of space research.

Emerging global problems currently include study of the structure of the Earth and control of weather and climate. Like space exploration, the solution of these two problems is possible only on the basis of broad international cooperation. Moreover, the management of weather and climate requires, among other things, the global harmonization of the behavioral norms of economic entities in order to minimize the harmful impact of economic activity on the environment everywhere.

Humanity has come a long way from savage ignorance to the historic landing on the moon, the conquest of the Red Planet. Surprisingly, with the growth of scientific thought, technology has not benefited ordinary citizens of our planet. On the contrary, they entail a decrease in jobs, crisis and military phenomena. Consider global problems of our time and ways to solve them.

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Fundamental concepts

Global problems of our time (GP) are critical phenomena affecting interests of every person, society and world states generally.

The term became popular in the 60s. XX century. To prevent negative consequences, a joint action plan of all countries is needed.

The classification of modern GPs is a system that takes into account the origin, level of danger, and the possible consequences of each danger. Structuring makes it easier to focus on solving urgent problems.

Like any phenomenon, ours has a number of properties that form the concept:

1. Independence of time - risk groups affect the planet in a destructive way, but their speed is significantly different. For example, the demographic crisis of mankind develops longer than natural disasters that occur overnight.
2. They concern each state - the integration of world powers has led to mutual responsibility between them. However, it is important to draw the attention of the entire world community to a constructive dialogue.
3. Threat to humanity - all kinds of global problems of our time call into question the integrity and life of world society, planets.

Attention! Until the middle of the 20th century, scientists did not think about the brevity of the global issues of mankind. The relationship between human society and nature was raised only at a philosophical level. In 1944 V.I. Vernadsky introduced the concept of the noosphere (the area of ​​activity of the mind), arguing this with the scale of the creations of mankind.

The emergence of global issues

The causes of the global problems of mankind do not appear from scratch. We bring to your attention a list of factors that form the actual problems of our time:

1. Globalization of the world - the economy and relations between states have reached a new level. Now each participant in the world arena is responsible for the well-being of their neighbors (and not only).
2. The widest field of activity is the “conquerors of the world”, this is how modern society feels. Today there are no areas where the human foot has not set foot.
3. Irrational consumption of resources - the planet's margin of safety is not unlimited. Studies of the earth's crust indicate that the energy sector (gas, oil and coal) will collapse in 170 years. I hope you understand what this threatens.
4. Environmental destruction - this includes the rapid development of technology. After all, multimillion-dollar projects require tons of minerals. Hence the deforestation, unsystematic extermination of the gifts of the World, pollution of the atmosphere and outer space.
5. Morality and society - the common man is not interested in the actual problems of our time. But carelessness at the "lower" level is fraught with relaxation of the ruling circles, the scientific elite.
6. The uneven socio-economic development - the "young" states are significantly inferior to the powerful of this world, which allows them to manipulate the weaker ones. This situation is fraught with an increase in world tension.
7. Weapons of Mass Destruction - nuclear warheads threaten the very existence of mankind. However, it is also a reliable (so far) deterrent.

The global issues of our time facing humanity testify to the incompetence of world leaders of states, an aggressive policy towards nature.

Important! Scientists have long identified the causes of the difficulties of our time, but their solution has not yet brought visible results. It will take tens, hundreds of years to restore the lost heritage of mankind.

Classification

The best minds of our time are working on structuring global dangers for humanity.

Some order them according to their origin, others - according to their destructive impact, and others - according to their importance for world civilization. We invite you to review each option.

The first group includes factors related to the foreign policy of states, their contradictions and mutual claims. To resolve global problems, it is necessary to provide political prerequisites.

The second group is the globalization of the relationship between man and society, the state. This includes ethnic, religious, terrorist confrontations.

The third group is the link between world civilization and the nature of the planet. The solution of these problems should have a scientific and political character.

Let's analyze GP classification, based on the direction of impact:

1. The threat to the world - the development of modern technologies requires a resource base, the formation of which pollutes the environment. Most modern industry throws decay products into. The protection of the environment includes not only the reduction of emissions of harmful substances, but also the development of new, “clean” technologies. Similar projects are already being created in economically developed countries, but transnational companies are hindering their implementation (fabulous income from gas and oil).
2. Overpopulation – scientists predict that a population of 12 billion people will lead to to the destruction of the planet's ecosystem. In short, we will have to "get rid" of more than 5 billion in order to restore the natural balance. A cruel way to reduce - the Third World War, more humane - birth control, fantastic - colonization.
3. Lack of energy resources - without minerals (gas, oil, coal), human civilization will collapse. The loss of electricity will lead to a halt in production, degradation of communication systems, and limitation of the information space. Alternative energy sources will help humanity to be saved, but the powers that be are not interested in this.

Social aspect

The development of modern society has led to a sharp decline in the values ​​of mankind, which were formed over hundreds of years.

The desire to provide for loved ones has grown into greed and uncompromisingness, and developed countries live off the main "raw material base" - less developed neighbors.

Let's voice obvious problems modernity in the social sector:

• the degradation of public morality - the legalization of drugs and prostitution contributes to the rooting of new values. Selling one's own body and smoking drugs is the norm of modern life;
• crime - with a decrease in the level of spirituality in society increased crime and corruption society. The formation of the moral foundations of mankind has always been assigned to the family, the church, the educational system;
• prostitution and drug addiction - the spread of psychotropic substances can be attributed to the global problems of our time in society. They not only enslave the will of a person, but also reduce his social activity - they make him an easy target for manipulation and propaganda.

Remaining types of global problems modernity are listed below:

1. Disarmament - the main item of expenditure of most states is the defense industry. Money could improve the world's ecology, reduce illiteracy, stop hunger.
2. Using the World Ocean - in addition to catching a huge amount of fish and other seafood, many nuclear tests are carried out in the open sea. We can't talk about the harm to the environment.
3. Global problems of our time are manifested in human space exploration. The government of each country is trying to conquer or take a dominant position in the yet unexplored expanses.
4. Overcoming backwardness - infringement of the rights of citizens of developing countries has reached the limit. Strong neighbors interfere in every possible way in the domestic and foreign policy of "partners". This heats up the situation on the world stage.
5. Infection control - the social and humanitarian aspects of global problems may disappear after several waves of infectious diseases. Therefore, it is important to respond to the emergence of new strains, viruses.

Crisis exit strategy

The global problems of our time and ways to solve them are a priority task for the world community.

The tasks of solving these problems can be very diverse and related to different spheres of society.

They require not only huge financial injections, but also great efforts, both mental and physical.

Let us briefly list such tasks.

All of the above dangers require prompt resolution:

• increasing the productivity of the agricultural sector, new arable land;
• reducing the consumption of electricity, resources in general. Industry optimization reduce fuel consumption, material costs. Reducing harmful emissions is a priority;
• gratuitous assistance to developing countries, humanitarian missions to combat poverty and hunger;
• peaceful disarmament - renunciation of chemical and nuclear weapons. Limited use of "peaceful atom", development of alternative energy sources;
• the global problem of mankind is the fall of the moral and ethical principles of society. Painstaking work is ahead to introduce new values, cultivate good habits, and improve the educational system;
• outer space needs to be rid of debris, neutrality can be called a feature.

Attention! The financial market is not a modern source of global danger, the impact of money on the environment or the educational system is insignificant.

Global problems of the world and ways to solve them

World environmental problems

Conclusion

The main features of the global problems of mankind include the scale, the relationship of components, destructive consequences. The complexity of solving such problems lies not so much in money, but in the unwillingness of a number of countries to change the established picture of modernity.