Curiosity is the driver of many discoveries and changes for the better. Curiosity also pays little in the marketplace of ideas; but, when carefully honed into plans, it can enlighten those with open-minds, enrich others, and even help save us from ourselves, or from the misdeeds of others. The more foreboding the obstacles to be overcome, the more many of us are motivated to find answers before we alert others to them, especially when it takes large numbers of us working together to solve the underlying issues.

Here is my short list of issues to be solved. The list portends disastrous results if we fail to educate ourselves about each of them, before taking action to solve them. Procrastination is not an option.

I do not profess expertise with nuclear weapons, their locations, nor any of the numerous treaties surrounding their use. But it is easy to understand what the world would look like should we be forced into a nuclear war. Also, climate change is not my area of expertise. Still, we are children following the era of the Renaissance, or the Period of Enlightenment. It is the period in which humanity was relatively free from from ideologues and narrow-minded theologians, and manical dictators. I do profess some expertise in economics, expecially about the subject of inequality.

I have spent most of my adult life cultivating Critical Thinking skills as they relate to both the physical and the social sciences. And I know how to do research in many subject areas from these two groups. I like to think of myself as the poor man’s “walking around” version of the Socratic Method, able to put together disparate facts, data, and tenable conclusions in trying to make sense out of a variety of problems. I also write essays, and I often boast that my writing skills helped me to acquire three academic degrees, and win a dozen or so certificates in weapons and weapons control systems. I don’t care much about honors and recognition, although others have heaped a few of them on me.

With that said, here is my list of issues that are crying out for solutions.

1. Nuclear Annihilation. Many national and international news sources are carrying reports that Vladimir Putin is threatening the West in general, and the US in partiular, about his readiness to use nuclear weapons on NATO and the US if we do not stop helping Ukraine in its defense against Russia's invasion. Apparently, he either does not understand that the use of nuclear weaons in an all-out war will result in a nearly simultaneous bombardment of Russia. Heretofore, this dilemma had been referred to as MAD (mutually-assured-destruction). Not only would it result in the most inhumane bombardment known to humanity, the long-term radioactive and climate effects would last for 100 or more years. There would be no victor, and not many survivors. A worst-case scenario would almost certainly leave all major targets, and perhaps all major Russian cities in complere ruination. There is nothing to be gained by threats. Doing so is like holding a loaded gun to your own head.  

But Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump make strange bedfellows (to borrow a term). They seem to be romancing each other. And that could spell double trouble for the likelihood of a nuclear war, beyond the MAD outcome. Humanity’s survival could hang in the balance. That possibility is now setting off alarms around the world. We cannot ignore them.

Donald Trump is a thief who stole our nuclear secrets. Why would he do such a thing? The number one answer is that he wanted to sell them to Putin. Why else? I cannot think of another reason at all. If you can, please let me know. Putin is said to be worth $200 billion in US dollars. I believe he would be willing to pay $50 billion to Trump for fax copies of his stolen bounty of nuclear secrets. He may already have done so. How to use a fax machine could be a difficult assignment for him, but he could manage with help from one or more of his acolytes.

What is the probability that Putin (or any other leader with nukes) will start a nuclear war? Probability analysts say that it rises exponentially beyond 9 nations with nuclear weapons. There are now 15 nations with them. According to yesterday’s news, Putin and his staff are preparing caves in the Siberian mountains as you read these words. The caves and supplies are for his top brass, not for his people.

If you believe the probability of a nuclear war with Russia is not a big deal, Socrates would call you foolish. So would I. Remember: Socrates drank the hemlock rather than leave Athens following his conviction of trumped up charges by his fellow Grecians. He had only the voice of reason on his side, no army. But there are other issues that are hanging over our heads like the Sword of Damocles.

2. Inequality. I have written about this issue for more than 25 years. My projections have shown that in the US the ultra-wealthy (the “haves”) recently had $135 trillion of wealth, while the bottom 50 percent (the “have-nots), hold only about $1 trllion. That gap was projected to expand by 35 times to $4.7 quadrillion, doubling in value every 10 years. The latest numbers show it is now doubling every 7 years, mainly due to the excessive tax cuts given to the ultra-wealthy by Donald Trump during his presidency. Yesterday Trump announced that he will seek to eliminate the income tax altogether while imposing a tariff of 20 percent on all US imports. It will take an increase of 135 percent to achieve that goal that would fall heaviest on the poor and the middle class. Such a disparity would almost certainly result in the death of democracy in the US, to be replace by a plutocracy, or a wealth-based autocracy. Tariffs around the world would also rise by at least as much, all to the celebration of every dictator on Earth.

3. Climate Change. Thousands of scientists around the world are in agreement that the Earth is heating up, and that it is underway as you read these words. A Google Search will provide you with more citations than you may want to read. The oceans are rising, shore lines are shrinking, while rivers and lakes are drying up. Remember the Paris Accords just a few years ago? Donald Trump pulled us out of the talks. Fortunately, Joe Biden put the US back in the mix of the 100 or more countries who are willing to spend and give to slow down this problem.

I am going to end this essay here, knowing that the typical reader does not like being told again and again that we all in this thing called life together, and that we owe it to each other to heed the words of thousands of scientists. Enlightenment, not words, is the key to change. Ignorance is the enemy.

The major obstacles, morever, are basically a few dictators who do not care one whit about the lives of billions of residents on planet Earth. They are busy looking out for themselves. They curry favors from the very wealthy, promising them more and more wealth in exchange for more and more control over land, and armies, and bombs, and terror to keep the rest of us as their huddled masses—useful as obiedient slaves, yearning to be free, but better off dead than alive. In contrast, they are ordained to be the ruling class—until they are not. That is all reinforced by large-scale propaganda efforts replete with lies, lies, and more lies. We need a few charismatic leaders. I am too old and too tired.  As usual, this burden falls on the young and the strong.  

What are you willing to fight for? Our founders pledged each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in their fight against loyalty to the British throne. It worked well for both sides. The Brits are now our best friends.