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Problems Facingthe World Today

Today, the world is facing numerous challenges that are social,economic, political, and environmental in nature. Most of thesechallenges are as a result of the human greed. The rapidly increasingpopulation and the advancement in technology have seen the number ofindustries grow exponentially. Every country is seeking to expand herfinancial muscle by increasing her exports. Consequently, in everypart of the world, numerous industries have been set up to processraw materials into finished products. The environment has experiencedthe blunt side of the expansion in the number of industries in termsof air, water, and soil pollution. Additionally, while someindividuals who own the means of production get richer, a largeproportion of the world’s population live in abject poverty. Two ofthe world’s most serious problems are: environmental pollution andincome inequality. This paper will explore the smog problem facingBeijing in China as a result of the widespread air population and thepoverty experienced in public schools in the United States as aresult of the wide gap between the rich and the poor in the country.China and the United States represent the East and the West parts ofthe world, respectively.

The first major challenge facing the world is environmentalpollution. Beijing is one of the most rapidly developing cities inthe world hosting hundreds of industries. While the industries inBeijing together with others spread across the country havecatapulted China to the global economic powerhouse it is today thecity is ridden with much smog affecting every realm of the dwellers’life. In an article written by Edward Wong titled, Beijing Issues RedAlert Over Air Pollution for the First Time, “the temporaryrestrictions placed by the Beijing’s authorities affected over 20million city dwellers.” According to Wong, the restrictions placedfollowing the smog affected the education, transportation andentertainment sector. Wong says that, currently, scientists areexpecting an increase in ailments related to environmentalpopulation, such as lung diseases not only in China, but across theworld.

The second major problem facing the world is income inequality. WhileBeijing is a true depiction of the environmental pollution, theUnited States’ education sector is ridden with widespreadinequality. Lyndsey Layton in the article, Majority of U.S. PublicSchool Students are in Poverty, says that a large proportion ofpublic schools in the country are for low-income individuals. Lyndseyreports that 50% and 70% of the students in Illinois and Mississippi,respectively, come from low-income families. This shows that the poorare getting poorer. According to Michael Radel a member of theCampaign for Educational Equity interviewed by Layton, while they hadanticipated the trend where the majority of the students come frompoor backgrounds, they had not thought it would be this sooner.

The world is grappling with two major problems: income inequality andenvironmental pollution. The United States public schools are a cleardemonstration of the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Onthe other hand, Beijing as the world’s rising industrial hub hasseen the devastating effects of the environmental pollution. The highlevel of smog is affecting life in the city as cars are barred fromdriving during certain days while individuals are banned from takingpart in some leisure activities such as indoor barbecue and theburning of fireworks. The society needs to reconsider its prioritiesor else there will be nothing left for the future generations.

Work Cited

Layton, Lyndsey. Majority of U.S. Public Schools Students are inPoverty. January 1, 2015, The Washington Post. Web. Accessed on May13, 2016.

Wong, Edward. Beijing Issues Red Alert Over Air Pollution for theFirst Time.” December 7, 2015, The New York Times. Web, Accessed onMay 13, 2016.