Ask HN: What are the biggest problems facing humanity?

Original OP. I'm a US citizen that lived 5 years in the South Pacific. I actually think you both have a point!

I watched how the rural area we worked in was dramatically transformed by simple cell phones. Things like pregnant women previously had to make a 40 hour walk to town and now could call for emergencies.

But technology did not fix many problems. I did see 30 person extended families dependent on one person earning money. Access to the internet introduced new problems, like pornography, which made the locals have a major increase in STD's.

Information is tricky.

with respect to climate change, global warming is a threat to our entire ecosystem. In the coming decades, governments around the globe will face unprecedented national security threats mounted by flooding, extreme weather storms, scarcity of fresh drinking water, and shrinking food supplies. Countries that lack the resources or political will to act now may be visited by great tragedies. Natural catastrophes and famines driven by climate change may cause future wars and revolutions.

With respect to Fascism, the countries we used to refer to as "The Free World" have become Orwellian police states. This is much more than a privacy issue or a national security issue. We are headed towards a world where dissent is no longer possible. As governments continue to spy on literally all of their citizens, the types of non-violent protests and civil disobedience which helped bring about the end of the Vietnam war and racial segregation in the US will be proactively contained. Potential protesters will be identified, harassed, and intimidated long before the target dates of their planned protests. Heavily armed and violent paramilitary groups will occupy potential arenas of demonstration in the run up to events such as political and economic conventions. Meanwhile, the media will whip the public into a paranoid frenzy over "terrorists planning to attack" these events.

With respect to religion, the Middle East will continue to fight wars driven by religious fanaticism. I refer not just to radical Islamists, but to Christian fundamentalists and Zionists (both Christian and Jewish). In the Catholic spheres of influence, overpopulation and AIDS will continue to be a problem because use of condoms is discouraged. In the US, major policies which affect the environment and the fate of other nations will continue to be driven by morons who believe that the Earth is 10,000 years old and that the rapture is coming.