Blog 1- The most important issue in World Politics to me.

As the climate rapidly deteriorates it becomes evident that the old tribal customs in the remote and rural parts of our world can no longer sustain the people who have been dependant on them for generations. This environmental shift changes the way that tribes like the African Maasai in Kenya conduct their lives. In a culture based predominantly in livestock, drought becomes an even more menacing adversary than it is to an agriculturally centered culture. In America we rely on an omnivorous food supply which is subject to large amounts of technological enhancement. In juxtaposition to this is the solitary economic structure that is present in many primitive ways of life. The cultures that utilize these methods are in no way less rich than a modernized culture, and in many cases they have a more vibrant history and tradition. However, along with this extreme sophistication in beliefs and societal structure is the unavoidable fact that these simple economies lead to the highest rates of poverty, which is the most important issue in world politics.

When an individual or family find themselves in poverty, or extreme poverty (income of less than $1USD), they immediately become a liability to the state in which they reside. They rarely have voting power and in most cases live on land that has not been allocated to them by public or private means. Therefore, at any time the government can come through their slum or shantytown and essentially evict hundreds of thousands of residents. These places are not only unstable financially, but poverty, through its desperate nature, breeds crime. Disease is also rampant in the parts of the world where poverty has taken hold, almost without exception. The bottom line is that although these impoverished people provide mostly just a hassle for their governments, it is a matter of humanitarianism to assist as many as possible in throwing off the economic chains that are strangling them.

Ironically, the principle concern of world politics doesn’t involve war or sovereignty or natural resources or any type of conflict at all. Instead it is our duty to each other as human beings to assist those less fortunate than ourselves. Bickering over oil rights and installing democracy and even nuclear threats are secondary to the concern that should be had for the millions dying because they are stuck in a washing machine of violence, hunger, and disease. Would it not make sense to put not only the billions of dollars America is privy too, but also the vast amount of resources the rest of the western world possesses towards helping our fellow man rise up out of despair and become an entity that is productive and benefits the societal fabric of our world.