The 15 Global Challenges from t he Millennium Project, a global participatory think tank. 1. How can sustainable development be achieved for all while addressing global climate change? 2. How can everyone have sufficient clean water without conflict? 3. How can population growth and resources be brought into balance? 4. How can genuine democracy emerge from authoritarian regimes? 5. How can decisionmaking be enhanced by integrating improved global foresight during unprecedented accelerating change? 6. How can the global convergence of information and communications technologies work for everyone? 7. How can ethical market economies be encouraged to help reduce the gap between rich and poor? 8. How can the threat of new and reemerging diseases and immune micro-organisms be reduced? 9. How can education make humanity more intelligent, knowledgeable, and wise enough to address its global challenges? 10. How can shared values and new security strategies reduce ethnic conflicts,...
I recently watched a TED talk about how we look at charities and other organisations which try to help people or causes they believe in. It was a real eye opening moment for me. I was always suspicious of large charities and their high “overheads” which I read as the organizers taking home a nice pay packet. I would also wonder why so many charities spend so much on advertising and not actually on the cause itself. Well I can explain why this is not the best way to analyse a charity in a few examples. Firstly it is acceptable for a very successful professional to go to work make money for his or her organization and be sufficiently compensated for this at the end of the month. Now, if we were to have a professional who was making a charity a lot of money and took home a good competitive salary we may deem them to be a parasite. This attitude is not useful, it makes many people have to choose between a life where they can achieve financial success or one where they can help people...