Database of Problems With Society (210 Entries)

Problems with society are issues, shortcomings and risks of a society that impact people. This includes problems with government and the political, social, cultural and technological realities of a society.

All (212)

Government (32)

Poltical (22)

Economic (35)

Social (38)

Education (20)

Cultural (9)

Media (21)

Technological (15)

Environmental (16)

Global (12)

AI in warfare	Access to healthcare
Addiction	Aging infrastructure
Algorithmic bias	Algorithmic discrimination
Authoritarianism	Bank failures
Bankruptcies	Biodiversity loss
Bullying	Censorship
Child poverty	Civil unrest
Climate change	Concentration of media ownership
Conflict of interest	Consumerization of culture
Corporate accountability	Corporate influence
Corporate lobbying against environmental regulations	Corporate tax loopholes
Corporate welfare	Corruption
Cost of education	Cost of healthcare
Cost of living	Cultural erosion
Cultural instability & rapid cultural change	Culture wars
Currency instability	Cybersecurity incidents
Debt defaults	Decline in journalistic integrity
Decline of democratic norms	Decline of local journalism
Decline of objectivity	Decline of reading habits
Declining birth rates	Declining trust in government
Declining trust in media institutions	Declining voter turnout
Deflation	Deforestation
Dehumanization through automation	Demographic decline
Depressions	Digital distraction
Digital divide	Digital footprints
Diminishing job quality related to technology	Disability rights
Discrimination	Dumbing down of education
Echo chambers	Economic instability
Economic stagnation	Education access
Electoral fraud	Energy consumption of data centers
Environmental negligence	Ethical lapses
Excessive bureaucracy	Excessive consumer debt
Excessive government spending	Excessive medical debt
Excessive regulation	Excessive screen time
Excessive student loan debt	Exploitation of freelancers
Exploitation of migrant labor	Exploiting tragedy for views
Failure to regulate markets	Failure to regulate monopolies
Financial crises	Food deserts
Generational divide	Gentrification
Gerrymandering of electoral districts	Global poverty
Globalization driven job losses	Government oppression
Government surveillance	Grade inflation
Gun violence	Hate crimes
Healthcare access	High dropout rates
High interest lending	High rates of incarceration
High stakes testing	Homelessness
Housing shortages	Human rights violations
Hunger and malnutrition	Inadequate oversight
Industry collapse	Ineffective bureaucracy
Infectious diseases	Inflation
Influence of lobbyists	Influencer culture
Lack of accountability	Lack of civic engagement
Lack of economic opportunity	Lack of hands-on learning
Lack of media accountability	Lack of political will to solve large problems
Lack of transparency	Large budget deficits
Legal injustice	Loss of languages
Loss of privacy	Loss of traditions
Low political participation	Low reuse and recycling rates
Low wages	Mass surveillance
Media addiction	Media bias
Media monopolies	Mental health issues
Minority rights	Misinformation
Monopolies	National debt issues
News deserts	Obesity
Obstacles to homeownership	Online bullying
Outdated curriculum	Over-policing
Overemphasis on college degrees	Overemphasis on technology in education
Overfishing	Overreliance on social media for information
People becoming subservient to AI or algorithms	Plastic pollution
Police brutality	Police militarization
Policy inconsistency	Political apathy
Political dynasties	Political gridlock
Political instability	Political nepotism
Political polarization	Political repression
Pollution	Poor corporate governance
Poor disaster preparedness	Poverty
Public health problems	Public sector mismanagement
Quality of education	Racial profiling
Racism	Recessions
Refugee crises	Regressive taxation
Religious intolerance	Right to know about toxins in products and environments
School overcrowding	School safety
School shootings	Sensationalism
Sexism	Slow transition to clean energy
Small business failures	Social instability
Social isolation and loneliness	Stagflation
Tax avoidance by wealthy	Tax burden
Teacher burnout	Teacher shortages
Technology addiction	Technology driven job displacement
Technology driven social isolation	Terrorism & extremism
The cult of celebrity	The decline of the middle class
The power of big tech	The proliferation of paywalls
Toxic chemicals	Trade conflicts
Trade inequities	Transportation system failures
Under-policing	Underemployment
Underfunding of public schools	Undermining rights & freedoms
Undue influence of special interest groups	Unemployment
Unethical use of AI	Unfair laws
Unpreparedness for workforce	Unqualified political appointments
Unrepresentative government	Unstable political systems
Unsustainable tourism	Violence
Voter disenfranchisement	Voter suppression
War & conflict	Weak environmental policies
Weak rule of law	Women's rights
Workplace conflict	Xenophobia
Youth incarceration rates	Youth unemployment

Modern Problems

People commonly feel that modern society has more problems than societies of the past. This is often accompanied with the feeling that society is in decline or that it is generally doomed to collapse.

This may or may not be true but it is important to note that people have always felt this way, particularly in environments of rapid social, cultural and technological change as we are currently facing.

For example, in the early 1960s, young people commonly felt that the future was going to be bleak due to overpopulation and the threat of nuclear war.

It is now 60 years since this time and we have somehow managed, so far, to avoid nuclear war. While the population of the world has certainly increased, it is now clear that most nations are experiencing rapidly declining birth rates such that world population is likely to plateau and then go into decline. For example, the United Nations forecasts that population will peak at 10.3 billion inhabitants in the mid 2080s (French Institute for Demographic Studies, 2024).

This is more than 27% higher than now but is perhaps manageable. For example, if all the land on the planet had the population density of Japan the global population would be about 51.6 billion people. Here it should be noted that Japan is a very mountainous country with a remarkable 73% of land that is mountainous, forested or otherwise undeveloped (Statista, 2024).

The point here is that problems can be solved. It is often noted that risks increase as our complexity increases as a society whereby new technologies represent mounting threats to our future.

It can also be said that our ability to handle problems increases over time. We have solved problems within years or decades that persisted for hundreds or thousands of years. For example, the eradication of smallpox in 1979 or the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928 that revolutionized medicine.

It is hard to believe that a species with these types of capabilities is going to let civilization go into complete decline without eventually solving the problems facing humanity.

Modern society is millions of individuals trying to cooperate and get along in the context of incredible rates of technological, social and cultural change. It's definitely going to be bumpy.

However, the problems of society can be solved. We are highly capable modern humans with unbelievably powerful tools and access to ever increasing knowledge. Despite the long and daunting list above, there is no reason to feel overwhelmed.

It is good to be concerned about problems to the extent that it drives you to do something positive to address them. However, concern for the greater problems of society needn't derail your life in any way.

If you feel this way, go back and look at old interviews about how people felt about the future in the 1960s, 1940s or 1910s. Society has always had massive problems and people have always felt concerned. The other constant of history, is that things have always improved -- not in a straight line but eventually.

Next read: Social Issues

Database of Problems With Society (210 Entries)

Modern Problems

Social Issues

Prejudice

Discrimination

Social Injustice

Injustice

Social Issues United States

World Problems

Marginalized Groups

Social Topics

Social Issues List

Government Issues

Issues

Urban Issues

Society

Benefits Of Society

Why Contribute To Society

Why Freedom Is Important

What is Freedom

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