64 Examples of Enduring Issues

John Spacey, October 08, 2022

Enduring issues are problems that persist over time. These are often intractable problems that are difficult to solve in the real world due to a lack of agreement or commitment. It is also common for solutions to problems to create unintended consequences and secondary risks such that solving the problem can be extremely complex. The following are illustrative examples of an enduring issue.

Access to Education	Access to Housing / Living Conditions
Addiction	Animal Rights
Children's Rights	Class Politics
Consumer Protection	Corporate Accountability
Corporate Influence	Corruption
Cost of Living / Fair Wages	Crime
Cronyism	Culture Change
Deforestation	Desertification
Disasters / Disaster Preparedness	Discrimination
Economic Bads (i.e. negative impact of the production of economic goods)	Economic Participation / Opportunity
Economic Problems (e.g. recessions)	Environmental Damage
Environmental Justice	Expansionism / Imperialism
Extinction of Species	Freedom of Assembly & Association
Freedom of Movement	Freedom of Speech
Globalization of Culture	Globalization of Trade
Government Transparency	Homelessness
Human Rights	Indigenous Rights
Injustice	Intolerance
Loss of Habitat	Majority Rule vs Minority Rights
Persecution for Beliefs	Pollution
Poverty	Preservation of Heritage / Tradition / Culture
Prisoners' Rights	Privacy Rights
Public Safety & Security	Racism
Refugees	Regressive Taxation / Tax Burden / Tax Avoidance
Resource Depletion	Revolutions
Safe Food and Water	Sexism
Social Change	Social Stability
Technological Change	Technology Risks
Terrorism	Totalitarianism
Traditional Culture vs Modernization	Violence
War of Ideas (i.e. Ideological Conflict)	Wars
Working Conditions	Workplace Safety

The list above is non-exhaustive.

Some enduring issues are difficult to solve because they constantly evolve such as conflict or instability caused by technological, social, economic and cultural change.

Overview: Enduring Issues
Type	Global Issues
Definition	Social or environmental issues that persist over time.
Related Concepts	Global Issues » Unintended Consequences » Secondary Risks »