Demographic problems global problems environmental problems. Global demographic problem
The impact of society on the environment is directly proportional to the size of humanity, its standard of living, and is weakened with an increase in the level of environmental awareness of the population. All three factors are equivalent. Discussions about how many people can or cannot survive on Earth are meaningless if we do not take into account the lifestyle and level of human consciousness. Population problems are studied by demography - the science of the patterns of population reproduction in the socio-historical conditionality of this process. Demography is a science of population that studies population changes, fertility and mortality, migration, age and sex structure, national composition, geographic distribution and their dependence on historical, socio-economic and other factors.
When considering the natural scientific aspects of the population problem, it is especially important to imagine the breadth of demographic problems. Demography deals with the study of the peculiarities of the interaction of biological and social in the reproduction of the population, the cultural and ethical determination of demographic processes, the dependence of demographic characteristics on the level economic development. A special place is occupied by identifying the impact on demographic processes health development, urbanization and migration.
The indicated general biological patterns can be applied when considering the history of mankind only for the period up to the 19th century. From ancient historical eras until the beginning of the last century, the world population fluctuated around several hundred million people, slowly increasing and then declining. By the beginning of the Neolithic (New Stone Age), the world's population reached 10 million people, by the end of the Neolithic (3,000 BC) - 50 million, and by the beginning of our era - 230 million people. In 1600, there were about 480 million in the world, of which 96 million were in Europe, i.e. 1/5 of the total population of the Earth. In the middle of the 19th century. - 1 billion, in 1930 - 3 billion people.
Today there are about 7 billion people living on the globe, and by 2060 there will be 10 billion people. Such population growth will naturally lead to an even greater impact of humanity on the environment and, apparently, will further exacerbate the problems that exist today. However, according to the resource model of the world system, the Earth's population should not exceed 7-7.5 billion people.
The demographic explosion was caused by a decrease in the mortality rate of children who had not reached puberty. This was a consequence of the development of the effectiveness of prevention and treatment measures after the discovery of the microbiological nature of infectious diseases. What matters is whether a person died before having children (reproductive death) or after (post-reproductive death). Post-reproductive mortality cannot be a factor limiting population growth, although, of course, it has social and economic consequences. Likewise, accidents and natural disasters, contrary to what is sometimes suggested, do not control population numbers. These factors do not have a direct impact on overreproductive mortality and, despite the socio-economic significance of the losses associated with them, have a relatively weak effect on the growth of the population as a whole. For example, in the USA, annual losses from car accidents (approximately 50 thousand) are reimbursed within 10 days. Even wars since World War II do not affect population numbers for long. Approximately 45 thousand Americans died in the Vietnam War. Natural increase The population in the USA - 150 thousand people per month - compensates for these losses in three weeks, if you count only men. Even the regular death of 3 million people in the world per year from hunger and malnutrition is insignificant from a demographic point of view when compared with global population growth of approximately 90 million people during this period.
Around 1930, 100 years after reaching the billion level, the population exceeded 2 billion, 30 years later (1960) reached 3 billion and just 15 years later (1975) - 4 billion, then another 12 years ago (1987), the Earth's population exceeded 5 billion, and this growth continues, amounting to approximately 90 million - births minus deaths - people per year.
A peculiarity of posing environmental and demographic problems in modern science is its awareness in terms of uniqueness and individuality, the irreproducibility of both national, historical cultures, and the biosphere, and many resources. Even in the past there was no such global awareness, although the account of losses was opened much earlier. Some ecosystems have disappeared forever, and future generations will not see many of the earth's landscapes and landscapes. There is a catastrophic narrowing of diversity, a colossal standardization of production as a moment of man’s indirect relationship with the environment, and mass culture is flourishing, in which man is lost. In a society where the individual’s right to individuality has not been recognized, one can hardly count on a broad movement for the preservation of a unique image of nature. In general, uniqueness as a problem is realized only in the face of death. And the severity of the demographic and environmental problem forces us to take a fresh look at the “nature-society” relationship.
The problem of urbanization
One of the most pressing problems of our time is the process of urbanization. There are quite good reasons for this.
Urbanization (from Latin urbanus - urban) is a historical process of increasing the role of cities in the development of society, which covers changes in the distribution of productive forces, and above all in the settlement of the population, its demographic and socio-professional structure, lifestyle and culture.
Cities existed in ancient times: Thebes, on the territory of modern Egypt, was the largest city in the world back in 1300 BC. e., Babylon - in 200 BC. e.; Rome - in 100 BC e. However, the process of urbanization as a planetary phenomenon dates back twenty centuries: it became a product of industrialization and capitalism. Back in 1800, only about 3% of the world's population lived in cities, while today it is about half.
The main thing is that urbanization creates a complex knot of contradictions, the totality of which serves as a compelling argument for considering it from the perspective of global studies. We can distinguish economic, environmental, social and territorial aspects (the latter is highlighted rather arbitrarily, since it combines all the previous ones).
Modern urbanization accompanied by deterioration of the urban environment, especially in developing countries. In them, it became a threat to the health of the population and became an obstacle to overcoming economic backwardness. Cities in developing countries are witnessing the interweaving of a series of crises that are having a detrimental impact on all aspects of their lives. These crises include the ongoing one in developing countries population explosion, hunger and malnutrition of a large part of their population, causing deterioration in the quality human potential. The state of the environment is especially unfavorable in cities in the largest centers with a population of over 250 thousand inhabitants. It is these cities that are growing especially quickly, increasing their population by about 10% per year. There is a devastating disruption of the ecological balance in the largest and largest centers of all regions and third world countries.
The relationship between urbanization and the state of the natural environment is determined by a number of factors in a complex system socio-economic development and interaction between society and nature. Understanding the general and specific features of the state of the natural environment in cities in developing countries is important for developing a long-term strategy for international cooperation in the field of global population and environmental problems. Large and major centers have become the focus of most of humanity's global problems. They have the most widespread impact on the state of the environment over vast areas.
Among the factors determining the state and quality of the natural environment in cities of developing countries, the most important are:
- · disorderly and uncontrolled urbanization in conditions of economic underdevelopment;
- · urban explosion, expressed primarily in the rapid growth rates of the largest and largest centers;
- · lack of necessary financial and technical means;
- · insufficient level of general education of the bulk of the population;
- · lack of development of urban development policy;
- · limited environmental legislation.
Circumstances such as the chaotic nature of urban development, the enormous overcrowding of the population in both central and peripheral parts of cities, the limitations of comprehensive urban planning and legislative regulation(which is typical for most developing countries). There are very frequent cases of close proximity to built-up and densely populated residential areas and industrial enterprises with outdated technology and without treatment facilities. This further degrades the environment in cities. The state of the natural environment in cities in developing countries poses a challenge to their sustainable development.
The spatial aspect of urbanization is connected with all the previous ones. The “spreading” of agglomerations means the spread of the urban way of life over ever larger territories, and this, in turn, leads to worsening environmental problems, growing traffic flows (“agglomeration and encirclement”), and pushing agricultural and reactionary zones to the far periphery.
Introduction
IN modern world there are a huge number of problems, such as overcoming the backwardness of developing countries, preventing nuclear war, eliminating dangerous diseases, food and energy problems, environmental pollution and a number of other problems, but, in my opinion. A special place among them occupies demographic problem. It determines the development of almost all global problems of humanity.
Due to the avalanche-like growth of the population on the planet, humanity is facing more and more new problems. The earth is several billion years old. If this period of time is compressed to one day. It turns out that humanity exists for no more than a second. However, according to UN estimates, by 2015 there will be about 8 billion people living on the planet. They will all need water, food, air, energy and a place in the sun. But the planet can no longer provide this to every person.
To provide people with everything they need, plants and factories are built, minerals are mined, and forests are cut down. This causes enormous damage to nature, and it is difficult or impossible for humans to correct their mistakes. This could lead to a global environmental disaster. For example, over the past 50 years, more than half of the rain forests on Earth have been destroyed. As a result, hundreds of species of animals and plants disappeared forever. Every second, an area of rain forest the size of a football field is cut down for pastures and arable land, for timber, for oil and ore extraction. And rain forests are called “the lungs of the planet.”
According to scientists, humanity is currently living at the expense of future generations, who are destined for much worse living conditions, which will inevitably affect their health and social well-being. To avoid this, people need to learn to exist only on the “interest” from the fixed capital - nature, without spending the capital itself.
Since the twentieth century, this capital has been wasted at a steadily increasing rate, and by now the nature of the Earth has changed so much that global environmental problems have been discussed at the international level for several decades. In the ecosystem being used, even the latest technologies for rational environmental management do not allow preserving biodiversity. For this purpose, specially protected natural areas(SPNA), in which economic activity completely prohibited or limited. The area of protected areas in Russia is 20 or more times smaller than in developed countries. And in order to preserve the flora and fauna of our country in its current state, it is necessary to increase the territory occupied by protected areas at least 10-15 times.
Global environmental problems and ways to solve them
The initial reasons that appeared at the end of the 20th century. global environmental problems were a population explosion and a simultaneous scientific and technological revolution.
At the same time, the scientific and technological revolution gave humanity the possession of atomic energy, which, in addition to the good, led to radioactive contamination of vast territories. High-speed jet aviation has emerged, destroying the ozone layer of the atmosphere. The number of cars polluting the atmosphere of cities with exhaust gases has increased tenfold. In agriculture, in addition to fertilizers, various poisons began to be widely used - pesticides, the wash-off of which polluted the surface layer of water of the entire World Ocean.
All this has led to many major environmental problems. Global environmental problems are an objective result of the interaction of our civilization and the environment in the era industrial development. The beginning of this era is considered to be 1860; around this time, as a result of the rapid development of Euro-American capitalism, the then industry reached a new level. Global environmental problems are divided into several groups that are closely related to each other:
· demographic problem ( Negative consequences population growth in the 20th century);
· energy problem (energy shortage gives rise to the search for new sources and pollution associated with their production and use);
· food problem (the need to achieve a full level of nutrition for every person raises questions in the field Agriculture and use of fertilizers);
· problem of conservation natural resources(raw materials and mineral resources have been depleted since the Bronze Age, the preservation of the gene pool of humanity and biodiversity is important, fresh water and atmospheric oxygen are limited);
· the problem of protecting the environment and people from the effects of harmful substances (sad facts of mass stranding of whales on the coast, mercury, oil, etc. disasters and poisonings caused by them are known).
In the last quarter of the 20th century. A sharp warming of the global climate began, which in the boreal regions is reflected in a decrease in the number of frosty winters. The average temperature of the surface air layer has increased by 0.7°C over the past 25 years. The temperature of subglacial water in the North Pole region increased by almost two degrees, as a result of which the ice began to melt from below.
Now most climatologists in the world recognize the role of the anthropogenic factor in climate warming. Over the past 10-15 years, many studies and meetings have been conducted that have shown that sea levels are indeed rising, at a rate of 0.6 mm per year, or 6 cm per century. At the same time, vertical rises and falls of coastlines reach 20 mm per year.
Currently, the main environmental problems that have arisen under the influence of anthropogenic activities are: destruction of the ozone layer, deforestation and desertification of territories, pollution of the atmosphere and hydrosphere, acid rain, and a decrease in biodiversity. In this regard, the most extensive research and in-depth analysis of changes in the field of global ecology are needed, which could help in making fundamental decisions at the highest level in order to reduce damage to natural conditions and ensure a favorable living environment.
Ecological problems are currently of paramount importance for humanity. Human activity in the development of nature has been irreversibly destructive in the last century. These activities lead to a continuous increase in carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, which can cause global climate change as a result of the "greenhouse effect". The growth of material production entails such irreversible processes, such as pollution of the seas and oceans, the atmosphere, depletion of the planet’s ozone layer, disappearance of forests, desertification of the Earth (40% of its land), reduction of fresh water reserves, soil erosion, etc.
The artificial environment created by man is gradually and relentlessly advancing on the natural environment, threatening to swallow it completely in the near future. We must not forget that man is one of the biological species and, as a biological species, he can only exist in certain conditions favorable to his life (which he actively destroys).
Economic progress has been and is being achieved at the expense of environmental regression. The main reason for the contradiction between economics and ecology is a person’s attitude towards a consumer attitude towards nature. An environmental catastrophe can be prevented only through society's awareness of its responsibility for the state of its environment and the development of clear legal norms that limit the anthropogenic impact on nature, mandatory for all countries.
War and Peace. Since the middle of the 20th century, problems of war and peace have ceased to be local in nature. The question is fundamental: “To be or not to be for humanity in general.” This is due to the emergence and spread, first of all, of nuclear weapons, which are capable of destroying all life on Earth. The number of nuclear warheads is currently three thousand times more powerful than the number of explosives used in World War II (3.6 tons for every inhabitant of the Earth). The use of nuclear weapons can lead not only and not simply to the destruction of part of the population. There are other consequences:
1) creating an effect "nuclear winter" - the explosion of “only” one percent of the nuclear charges accumulated on the planet will lead to the destruction of all living things, because clouds of ash from fires and fire storms (explosions) will make the planet’s atmosphere almost impenetrable to sunlight, a sharp cooling will occur (by 50-60 degrees) and all living things will die;
2) the appearance of an electromagnetic pulse that affects power plants and disables devices;
3) radioactive contamination of the area for many hundreds and thousands of years (even if someone remains, the question arises: how to live?).
The threat of global nuclear war comes primarily from US militaristic circles. It is the military-industrial complex that determines the policy of the ruling elite in this country, which gives preference to international relations power solutions. The situation in the world is becoming increasingly explosive after the collapse of the USSR and the transition from a bipolar world to a unipolar one, when one country (the USA) takes on the role of the world gendarme and tries to impose its understanding of the world order and its values on other countries (as in the situation with Iraq).
A serious problem fraught with the outbreak of a third world war is regional conflicts and crises that give rise to civil wars, global terrorism, national and religious extremism on a global scale. Many modern political scientists and sociologists, primarily S. Huntington, name the following as the causes of these conflicts:
1) the struggle of the “poor South” with the “rich North”;
2) the clash of civilizations with their different religious foundations (Christianity and Islam).
Effective resolution of problems on a national, regional and planetary scale is possible in a non-violent way, based on dialogue and mutual understanding. The path to peace on Earth is complete and general disarmament. Otherwise, tension and war will escalate.
Demographic problem. The demographic factor (fertility, mortality, population density and migration) exerts significant pressure on the socio-natural environment on a global scale. The rate of population growth increases with the development of civilization: if before the 19th century it took 1000 years for the population to double, after 1850 - 80 years, currently the population doubles every 50 years. The earth is capable of feeding 60 billion people; this “critical” threshold will be reached by 2150-2200. Already, 2.5 billion of the planet's 6.5 billion population are starving. Demographic processes, starting from the 60s of the XX century, are largely determined by two opposing trends:
1) "demographic explosion" - sharp population growth in the countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America: in China the population will increase from - 1 billion to 250 million by 2040 - by 300 million more, India - from 1 billion to 1 billion. 600 million - by 2050, Pakistan from 147 million to 375 million. - by 2050, Vietnam - from 78 to 130 million people - by 2040, etc. ;
2) "zero growth" population in Western European countries. The first trend leads to a sharp aggravation of socio-economic problems in developing countries, primarily lack of work, hunger, illiteracy and unemployment for tens of millions of people. The second trend leads to a sharp aging of the population in developed countries and a reduction in population overall. According to Western political scientists, the population in developed countries (the rich North) in 100 years will be only 10% of the total population of the planet. Which could lead to a military confrontation between the small rich North and the overpopulated poor South and the beginning of the third world war. They are trying to solve the demographic problem in developing countries by implementing public policy control (reduction) of the birth rate; in developed countries, on the contrary, encouragement of the birth rate. However, the results in this direction are disappointing.
Key words and concepts: global problems of humanity, demography, ecology, nuclear winter, population explosion, Club of Rome.
FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION GOU VPO ALL-RUSSIAN CORRESPONDENCE FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC INSTITUTE
TEST
in "Philosophy"
Topic No. 4: “Environmental and demographic problems and ways to solve them”
performed by: Gorlatykh D.Yu.
Faculty: finance and credit
Specialty: Bachelor - Economics
teacher: Boyko V.N.
Kursk - 2012
Introduction
.Global environmental problems and ways to solve them
.Population and its role in the development of society
.Main environmental and demographic problems modern Russia and ways to solve them
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
In the modern world, there are a huge number of problems, such as overcoming the backwardness of developing countries, preventing nuclear war, eliminating dangerous diseases, food and energy problems, environmental pollution and a number of other problems, but, in my opinion. A special place among them is occupied by the demographic problem. It determines the development of almost all global problems of humanity.
Due to the avalanche-like growth of the population on the planet, humanity is facing more and more new problems. The earth is several billion years old. If this period of time is compressed to one day. It turns out that humanity exists for no more than a second. However, according to UN estimates, by 2015 there will be about 8 billion people living on the planet. They will all need water, food, air, energy and a place in the sun. But the planet can no longer provide this to every person.
To provide people with everything they need, plants and factories are built, minerals are mined, and forests are cut down. This causes enormous damage to nature, and it is difficult or impossible for humans to correct their mistakes. This could lead to a global environmental disaster. For example, over the past 50 years, more than half of the rain forests on Earth have been destroyed. As a result, hundreds of species of animals and plants disappeared forever. Every second, an area of rain forest the size of a football field is cut down for pastures and arable land, for timber, for oil and ore extraction. And rain forests are called “the lungs of the planet.”
According to scientists, humanity is currently living at the expense of future generations, who are destined for much worse living conditions, which will inevitably affect their health and social well-being. To avoid this, people need to learn to exist only on the “interest” from the fixed capital - nature, without spending the capital itself.
Since the twentieth century, this capital has been wasted at a steadily increasing rate, and by now the nature of the Earth has changed so much that global environmental problems have been discussed at the international level for several decades. In the ecosystem being used, even the latest technologies for rational environmental management do not allow preserving biodiversity. For this purpose, specially protected natural areas (SPNA) are needed, in which economic activity is completely prohibited or limited. The area of protected areas in Russia is 20 or more times smaller than in developed countries. And in order to preserve the flora and fauna of our country in its current state, it is necessary to increase the territory occupied by protected areas at least 10-15 times.
1. Global environmental problems and ways to solve them
The initial reasons that appeared at the end of the 20th century. global environmental problems were a population explosion and a simultaneous scientific and technological revolution.
At the same time, the scientific and technological revolution gave humanity the possession of atomic energy, which, in addition to the good, led to radioactive contamination of vast territories. High-speed jet aviation has emerged, destroying the ozone layer of the atmosphere. The number of cars polluting the atmosphere of cities with exhaust gases has increased tenfold. In agriculture, in addition to fertilizers, various poisons began to be widely used - pesticides, the wash-off of which polluted the surface layer of water of the entire World Ocean.
All this has led to many major environmental problems. Global environmental problems are an objective result of the interaction between our civilization and the environment in the era of industrial development. The beginning of this era is considered to be 1860; around this time, as a result of the rapid development of Euro-American capitalism, the then industry reached a new level. Global environmental problems are divided into several groups that are closely related to each other:
· demographic problem (negative consequences of population growth in the 20th century);
· energy problem (energy shortage gives rise to the search for new sources and pollution associated with their production and use);
· food problem (the need to achieve a complete level of nutrition for every person raises questions in the field of agriculture and the use of fertilizers);
· the problem of preserving natural resources (raw materials and mineral resources have been depleted since the Bronze Age, it is important to preserve the gene pool of humanity and biodiversity, fresh water and atmospheric oxygen are limited);
· the problem of protecting the environment and people from the effects of harmful substances (sad facts of mass stranding of whales on the coast, mercury, oil, etc. disasters and poisonings caused by them are known).
In the last quarter of the 20th century. A sharp warming of the global climate began, which in the boreal regions is reflected in a decrease in the number of frosty winters. The average temperature of the surface air layer has increased by 0.7°C over the past 25 years. The temperature of subglacial water in the North Pole region increased by almost two degrees, as a result of which the ice began to melt from below.
Now most climatologists in the world recognize the role of the anthropogenic factor in climate warming. Over the past 10-15 years, many studies and meetings have been conducted that have shown that sea levels are indeed rising, at a rate of 0.6 mm per year, or 6 cm per century. At the same time, vertical rises and falls of coastlines reach 20 mm per year.
Currently, the main environmental problems that have arisen under the influence of anthropogenic activities are: destruction of the ozone layer, deforestation and desertification of territories, pollution of the atmosphere and hydrosphere, acid rain, and a decrease in biodiversity. In this regard, the most extensive research and in-depth analysis of changes in the field of global ecology are needed, which could help in making fundamental decisions at the highest level in order to reduce damage to natural conditions and ensure a favorable living environment.
2. Population and its role in the development of society
Population is the totality of people living on Earth (humanity) or within a specific territory, continent, country, region, city. In contrast to the universal term “population,” the term “Population” is used mostly to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the population. N. is studied by a special science - Demography<#"justify">Pre-Marxist sociologists and economists paid much attention to the issue of the role of population in the development of society. During the period of the emergence and development of capitalism, English economists and sociologists tried to find the main reason in population growth social development. They argued that population growth and population density are the root cause, the decisive condition for the development of society: the faster the population grows, the faster society itself develops. These views at that time played a progressive role; they were used by the bourgeoisie in its struggle against the nobility, against the “unproductive classes.” These anti-scientific and reactionary views were especially persistently preached by the English economist T. Malthus (1766-1834). At the end of the 18th century, he put forward a theory according to which the world's population is growing very quickly - according to the laws of geometric progression, while the production of food and other necessary material goods is developing more slowly - according to the laws of arithmetic progression.
Malthus's supporters - the Malthusians - believed that wars, mass epidemics and other disasters leading to population reduction are necessary means regulation of population growth. This discrepancy between population growth and the amount of means of subsistence, which is supposedly the cause of poverty, hunger, unemployment and other misfortunes of the working people under capitalism, should, according to Malthus, be regulated through wars, epidemics, marriage restrictions and other means of population reduction.
According to Malthus, “the rich are unable to supply the poor with work and food, so the poor, by the very nature of things, have no right to demand work and food from them.” A person born into a poor family, according to Malthus, is an extra person. “There is no place for him at the great banquet of life. Nature commands him to leave and will not hesitate to carry out her sentence herself.”
After the Second World War, due to accelerated population growth, especially in developing countries, an intensification of Malthusianism has been observed. The main idea of most works devoted to the problem of population is the assertion that the modern era is an era of “demographic explosion” and that humanity is now threatened not only by thermonuclear war, but also by overpopulation. Views of this kind, which consider demographic phenomena regardless of the social and class structure of society, serve the interests of the monopoly bourgeoisie. By focusing on demographic issues, they divert the attention of the masses, the progressive forces of society from current problems modernity - from the fight against imperialism and neocolonialism, for the prevention of thermonuclear war.
In an effort to prove that the decisive factor in social development is biological and not social laws, bourgeois scientists, as a rule, refer to the special role played by population growth. The state of society depends on population growth, they argue, and this growth, in turn, is determined by the biological laws of reproduction. Thus, the life activity and development of society are subject to biological laws. Is this true? This question requires a specific historical analysis.
Slow population growth and labor shortages may also have a negative impact on the development of productive forces. Therefore in modern conditions There is an objective need for scientific management of this process. Until now, population growth has occurred unconsciously. Although ultimately it was not subject to biological laws, but to the laws of social production and social development as a whole, these laws themselves made their way spontaneously. Now conditions and an objective need are emerging for conscious regulation of population growth. Wherein we're talking about not about forced Malthusian birth control, but about a whole series of well-thought-out measures, thanks to which population growth should accelerate in some regions and countries, and slow down somewhat in others. Such regulation must be based primarily on the high level of culture and consciousness of the vast majority of humanity. And this is only possible under socialism, if there is a systematic use of all labor resources in the interests of the whole society.
The main environmental and demographic problems of modern Russia and ways to solve them
The demographic problem is a global problem of humanity associated with the continuing significant increase in the Earth's population, outpacing the growth of economic well-being, as a result of which food and other problems are worsening, life threatening population in these countries.
The demographic problem can be understood as both population decline and overpopulation.
In the first case, this is the situation that develops in a country or region when the birth rate<#"justify">Overcoming the demographic catastrophe and ensuring Russia's demographic security is impossible without a correct definition of the demographic problem, that is, the real causes of excess mortality and ultra-low birth rates and the basis for the country's demographic prospects.
Currently in Russia there are two “parties” that are in opposition to each other on the demographic issue. Unfortunately, none of them is capable of solving the demographic problem.
Some see the reasons for the demographic catastrophe in the fact that the government deliberately corrupts the population and directly contributes to excess mortality and family breakdown through its socio-economic policies. Hence, they accuse the authorities of ethnocide. And there is a deep meaning in such a position. This “party” is right that the inaction of the authorities, who are unable to at least declare overcoming the demographic catastrophe as their priority, is criminal and directly leads to the extinction of the population of our country. However, this “party” loses sight of the fundamental fact that the beginning of the demographic catastrophe lies in 1964, when the main indicators of the quality of the population began to deteriorate and that even with the most benevolent and caring government towards the population, stopping the demographic catastrophe without adopting paradoxical non-standard and fundamentally new solutions will not succeed.
The opposite “party,” on the contrary, does not see a catastrophe even in the monstrously high excess mortality rate and generally considers the country’s depopulation processes to be normal, i.e. corresponding to the trends of “developed” countries (or countries of the “North”). The truth of such a position is that fundamental changes in the field of demography in our country largely reflect the global civilizational crisis of the basic structures and foundations of life, models of life arrangement. But at the same time, this “party” does not take into account the key circumstance that the global demographic processes themselves are not and cannot be absolute.
Moreover, many philosophers, sociologists, and politicians view these processes with great justification as unnatural, abnormal and destructive for humanity, or, at least, not obvious in their consequences. At the same time, it is argued that the normalization of the organization of life in Russia by faceless global processes is destructive for Russian thousand-year history and, ultimately, leads the country to extinction and death.
The real problem lies between these two extremist positions and lies in the fact that the depopulation of our country reflects the ideological and civilizational “default” of the usual or spontaneously emerging models of organizing the life of the population both in Russia and in those regions of the world where demographic crisis or its individual elements.
Another important aspect of assessment demographic situation- This is an influx of population from outside, migration. An increase in this flow can lead to the fact that even population growth is visually possible. But there is no longer any need to talk about preserving the national composition of such a population.
Not long ago, D. Medvedev and the head of the Ministry of Health and Social Development T. Golikova made statements from which it followed that the country had reached the birth rate level of the Soviet period. Why 1991 was taken as a criterion is not entirely clear, because the decline in the birth rate began several years earlier. Nobody, of course, claims that the problem has been solved and we can safely move on to other matters, no. The dream of a demographer will always be a family with three children, in which there is normal reproduction of the population. At the moment, we have an average of about 1.3 children in our country. Of course, it will never be possible to ensure that every family has three children or more, some more, some less. The average figure required for population reproduction can be considered 2.2 children per woman.
Now the state reserve can be recognized as the generation of citizens born in 85-89 of the last century, when the USSR reached 2.4-2.5 children per woman. All the numerous programs are being created and funds are allocated for this generation. It cannot be said that young people aged 20-23 are now very eager to start a family and children.
Most of them now have clear goals imposed by a pro-Western model of behavior, the basis of which is obtaining a decent education and promising work. The younger generation is ready to work at full capacity, to provide for themselves, but it is quite difficult for them to reach the psychological level of the desire to create a family and children due to the problems mentioned above. But, one way or another, the entry of this generation into the “demographic race” is inevitable due to its numbers. But then it will be the turn of the generation of 93-95, when the birth rate was extremely low.
In 2010-2015, the country faces not only a possible demographic failure, which can still be avoided, but also the problem of the number of citizens of working age, which can no longer be avoided due to past mistakes.
The extinction of a country has an unconditional spiritual and semantic nature. This means that behind the demographic problem in Russia there is a civilizational crisis and we must begin to solve the problem from there.
The demographic catastrophe is not fatal. It is based on the breakdown of population identification Russian Federation and their loss of the original optimistic worldview on which basic values are built. These destructions are of a historical nature and can only be overcome through the creation of a new worldview, based on thousand-year-old traditions - a neotraditional worldview.
The new worldview, on the one hand, cannot be built on consumerism. In a society where the main value is consumption, there is no need for children and the very value of a family and several children, since children reduce consumption and act as a counter-value.
This worldview expresses Russian traditionalism, the basis of Russian culture and history, which are associated with the cultivation of the universal universal scale of human dignity in the form of such recognized and multinational phenomena as Russian literature, Russian poetry, Russian song, Russian music, Russian pedagogy, Russian architecture and Russian military leadership art.
The implementation of the principle of personality is possible through the creation of a special kind of civilization - a civilization of personality, where all material and social conditions lives will be oriented towards increasing and protecting the dignity of the individual.
In the civilization of personality, the life of each person as a bearer of personality becomes a universal and absolute value. The same applies to the life of every Russian people.
Personality civilization has everything the necessary conditions in order to act as the basis for demographic development and even a demographic “explosion” in Russia. This is due to a change in the mass perception of childhood and attitudes towards people.
Children are needed in a country that has a clear vision of the future and a promising place for every person in that future. Hence, the main tool for solving the demographic problem is the organization of decisive ultra-long-term development of the country. From this point of view, the leadership of the Russian Federation has only two possible scenarios of action.
The first scenario is to secure Russia’s continued position as a raw material appendage to economically more developed countries. According to this scenario, the demographic catastrophe does not consist in the extinction of the Russian population, but in the fact that it is happening slowly, at a low pace. In Russia, which is oriented towards the export of raw materials, even today's shrinking population is surplus and, in accordance with the requirements of a raw materials economy, must be reduced by at least another 2 times.
The second scenario is to restore the country as a world power that is capable of being a leader in solving a number of generally significant global problems. According to the second scenario, it is necessary to super-intensively create a new national industrial system, which should provide the Russian population with a world-class quality of life.
To implement the second scenario in the Russian Federation, positive demographic growth is required in the form of a significant increase in the population - by at least 8-10 percent every decade - and an increase in the quality of the Russian population, i.e. general level of universal abilities, readiness to master the most modern knowledge in the full required volume, world-class qualifications in key professional fields (engineering, pedagogy, medicine, military affairs, urban planning, regional development, science, management, etc.).
Ultimately, the country’s development is based on the integration of science, education and industry (the development triad) in several key areas of development that require priority investments from the state and the creation of conditions for private investment. Decisive development requires the organization of strategic planning, which will be based on demographic calculations - above all, on the use of approximately 70 million qualified and healthy people in Russia in the coming years - and the implementation of appropriate budget policy.
Decisive development can be carried out primarily by its own population, and not by the newly arrived population. The subject of development is always the people.
The future of Russia must be built by the entire population and through the inclusion of the entire population, including the future, in development, since development is a long-term process that requires planning for at least one or two decades.
Conclusion
It is estimated that with the current state of agricultural technology and agronomic science, enough food can be produced from existing farmland to feed 10 billion people. If we take into account that the world's population is 2 times less than this figure and that hundreds of millions of people in various, and especially developing, countries are starving or living on the verge of starvation, then this is the result of the fact that in a capitalist society highly developed productive forces are not used to their fullest. measure. And the reason is the dominance of private property and the corresponding social system. Moreover, the so-called surplus population is not the result of too rapid population growth, but a consequence of a certain form of social organization. It is known, for example, that in the leading capitalist countries - the USA, Germany, England, Japan, France, etc. - there is always a huge army of unemployed. The classics of Marxism-Leninism showed that unemployment is determined not by the biological laws of human reproduction, but by the peculiarities of the capitalist economic system.
In the conditions of developing socialism, issues related to population growth must be resolved on a scientific basis, taking into account, first of all, the objective needs of society. Improving the technological base of production, introducing new high-tech technologies and the resulting change in social structure bring to the fore a number of new problems. These primarily include providing labor force to rapidly developing and sparsely populated areas of the country, creating a system of professional retraining of personnel released during the radical economic reform, creation of an employment system for the working population, etc. Stimulating population growth, as well as its regulation, in the conditions of our society should be carried out on the basis of the highest democratic principles of social justice and humanism.
Consequently, the answer to the question of how the modern population explosion affects the relationship between nature and society and how its dangerous consequences can be avoided should be sought not in the laws of biology, but in the objective laws of the development and functioning of society.
global environmental demographic
Bibliography
1.Ivin A.A. Fundamentals of social philosophy. - M., 2006.
2.Society and natural environment / Rep. Ed. V.P. Gavrilov. - M.: Nauka, 2006.
.Pekhov A.P. Biology with basics of ecology. - M.: Nauka, 2006.
.Philosophy: textbook for universities / ed. Prof. V.N. Lavrinenko, prof. V.P. Ratnikova. - 3-4 ed., revised. And additional - M., 2004, 2008.
.http://diamat.narod.ru/content.html
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Global problems of modern society
Global problems (from the French “global” - universal) arose in the second half of the 20th century. Historically, they were preceded by local (local) and regional problems. The term “global problems” itself appeared in the scientific literature in the late 60s of the 20th century. Global problems have three characteristics:
1. they cover all countries;
2. them solution perhaps through the efforts of all mankind, if several countries or even one large country evade their decision, then humanity will be in serious danger;
3. failure to solve any of the global problems will mean either a deep catastrophe for humanity, or even its death. Thus, global problems are problems of life and death for humanity. Never before has humanity been as powerful technically and scientifically as it is now, but never before has it stood on the brink of a general catastrophe.
In general, global problems are a complex system that includes three basic groups of interrelated problems. The first group is intersocial problems that express contradictions between countries and groups of countries. The first of the intersocial problems and the most important of all global problems at this stage is the problem of preserving peace between leading powers and preventing thermonuclear war. No matter how serious the dangers for humanity are that accompany all other global problems (environmental, demographic, raw materials, etc.), even in the aggregate they are not comparable with the disastrous consequences world thermonuclear war. It could lead not only to the direct death of many hundreds of millions of people, but also to an irreversible environmental disaster. According to experts, even 5% of currently available nuclear weapons (if used) will be enough to cause irreversible environmental consequences: rising soot from incinerated cities and forests will create a screen impenetrable to sunlight and lead to a drop in average temperature by tens of degrees , so even in the tropical zone there will be a long polar night. As a result, not only all of humanity will die from such a “nuclear winter”, but also, apparently, all biological kinds except for the simplest ones.
After the collapse of the USSR, the confrontation between the West and the USSR disappeared. The former republics of the USSR have returned to the usual capitalist path development and the international climate seemed to warm. But the Western countries maintained the bloc. NATO, the need for which disappeared after the dissolution of the Warsaw bloc, began to use it to dictate its will to the rest of the world. By carrying out aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999, bombing cities in Central Europe for the first time since World War II, NATO once again showed how fragile peace on Earth is. Therefore, preventing world war remains the first global problem.
The second of the intersocial problems is bridging the gap in the level of economic and cultural development between the developed countries of the West and the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, eliminating hunger, poverty and illiteracy of millions of people in the latter. More than 75% of the world's population lives in underdeveloped countries, and this huge region serves as a constant source of social explosions, environmental disasters and epidemics. The particular danger posed by these countries is terrorism and the possibility of their use of nuclear weapons.
The second group of global problems are problems in the “person-society” system. These include health and demographic problems. Despite the overall improvement in living conditions and development Medicine on the planet is increasing the number of diseases such as alcoholism, drug addiction, malignant tumors, hypertension, AIDS, which threateningly undermine the ability to work of society. In developing countries, millions of people lack medical care, epidemics often occur. Due to the spread of chemical and radioactive mutagens in the environment, the genetic burden of the human population is increasing.
A serious problem on the planet is the “population explosion”. At the beginning of our era, the human population was about 200 million people, in 1850 - 1 billion, in 1930 - 2 billion, in 1960 - 3 billion, in 1987 - 5 billion, in 1999 - 6 billion people. With modern technologies and agricultural technology, the Earth will allow us to support about 6 billion people at average American food consumption standards. But population growth continues. The severity of the situation is that over 80% of population growth falls on developing countries, as a result of which their share in the world population is steadily growing due to the widening gap in developing countries in population growth and growth in the production of material goods, aggravated by instability in the global economy and politics. In these countries, over 90% of the world's population is hungry, illiterate, and underemployed.
Developed countries are not demographically prosperous either. Here there is a decrease in the birth rate, an aging population, an increase in the proportion of pensioners in the total population and, accordingly, an increase in the cost of their maintenance. Therefore, demographic policy in developing countries is aimed at reducing the birth rate, and in developed countries - at increasing it. In our country, against the backdrop of the ongoing cataclysms, the mortality rate exceeds the birth rate, and the population of Russia is decreasing.
The third group of global problems are problems in the “society - nature” system. These include environmental, raw materials, energy and food problems. About the first of them, which, apparently, in its severity after the military problem, ranks second among all global problems. Here we note that in the foreseeable future, humanity will exhaust traditional raw materials and energy sources (coal, oil, gas, uranium, etc.). Intensive technologies deplete soil fertility. Due to population growth, the average area under cereal crops per person has decreased by one third over the past 30 years. Since 1984, global grain production (which is used not only for human food, but also as feed for beef and dairy cattle) has increased by only 1% annually—half the rate of population growth. Therefore, the number of hungry people on the planet is not decreasing, but increasing.
The list of global problems is not limited to those listed above. Many scientists also include problems of international terrorism, education, preservation of spiritual culture, etc. Why did global problems arise? The prerequisites for their occurrence include the enormous scope of human economic activity and the colossal increase in its impact on nature. Humanity has become a geological factor that has a negative effect on the biosphere. Another prerequisite is the increasing process of internationalization of all social activities. If it had not been there, the problems would have remained local. Another prerequisite is the exploitation of developing countries by developed countries and the exacerbation of uneven socio-economic and scientific and technological development of different regions of the planet. The immediate cause of global problems was the spontaneity of social development and the anarchy of production on a planetary scale, the pursuit of transnational corporations for maximum profits to the detriment of the long-term fundamental interests of society as a whole.
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