Friday Fun – Problem Solving

Friday Fun is a group post from the writers of the NHWN blog. Each week, we’ll pose and answer a different question. We hope you’ll join in by providing your answer in the comments.

QUESTION: If you could solve one big hairy audacious problem … what would it be? And why chose this dilemma of all the problems in the world?

Susan Nye: Alzheimer’s Disease for many reasons, some selfish, some practical and some born of sadness:

Alzheimer’s Disease runs in my family, I’ve seen it in action and it scares the bejeezus out of me. Will it happen to me? Will I too lose the ability to write, read, cook, drive, speak and live independently?

Baby boomers are aging. The first boomers turned sixty-five in 2011. Every single day another 10,000 celebrate the big six-five and it won’t slow down until 2030. One out of eight Americans aged sixty-five and older has Alzheimer’s. Down the road, nearly half of people aged eighty-five and older have the disease. The graying of America means the bankrupting of America and Alzheimer’s is a major reason.

Alzheimer’s Disease impacts entire families. It’s a thief. As the disease progresses, your loved one is transformed. Your big, bold mother or funny, wise grandfather slowly disappears. They are replaced with a pale facsimile, confused, fearful and withdrawn. Spouses, children and grandchildren are robbed of someone they love.

Diane MacKinnon: Childhood hunger. Especially in the United States. With the wealth in this country, I find it incredible that we have such a huge childhood hunger problem. I read a statistic that said, in 40 states and Washington, DC, 20% of the children live in “food insecure” households. That means 1 in 5 children don’t know if they are going to have supper that night–or breakfast the next morning. I’ve worked in soup kitchens over the years, and a few dollars can go a long way to feeding a family. To find out more about this issue, click here. To donate to Feeding America, click here.

.

Lisa J. Jackson: Loving families for all children. I wish I could bequeath all children with nurturing parents or make it so that only those who will respect and care for their children are able to have children (their own or adopted).  And at the other end of the spectrum, that all elderly are loved and respectfully cared for until they move on from this world.

.

Jamie Wallace: Wow, this is a tough one. There are so many problems I’d like to solve. I suppose the easy answer is world peace, since that would mean that everyone was happy. I’m also a huge advocate for animal rights and protection – whether we’re talking about the wild wolves, whales, or domestic cats, dogs, and horses. But if I had to choose just one problem to solve, it would be the problem of girls and women who are abused, demeaned, and oppressed. This is a problem that spans the globe – all countries, all cultures, and all ages of girls and women. Whether we’re talking about the lack of women’s rights in the third world or the media’s manipulation of girls’ minds in the first world, crimes against women are crimes against everyone. I believe that if girls and women were given more respect and a greater influence over their own lives and the lives of their families, villages, towns, cities, and countries – this whole world would be a better place. When girls can grow up healthy, strong, confident, and free of prejudice, oppression, and the self-defeating thoughts that so much of our culture promotes, our world will have a wealth of resources to draw on to create a safer, more loving, more sustainable future.