Nakama Britannica

On Friday I had my geography exam. Geography is often called the study of Earth, but perhaps it is better to call it the study of humanity and its interaction with the planet. It made me think about how ‘The World’ will come to terms with the issues of tomorrow and the future.

One of the questions was about a major world issue. That issue is resource consumption. Resource consumption naturally increases as the global population increases. On Saturday it was announced that the price of oil has increased to $139 per barrel (around £85) which will only serve to cause more problems with the current global food crisis.

These are huge problems in countries that are Less Economically Developed (LEDC) and industrially developed. Conversely the More Economically Developed Countries (MEDC) are going to suffer from under-population, too many resources and too many jobs needed to fill in order to support an increasingly heavy welfare burden. For example, in Japan the current ratio of 6 working aged people to 1 retiree is fine, by 2025 it is projected to fall to 2 workers to 1 retiree.

Japan is the latter, an MEDC, a country whose population is greying faster than Germany’s. Germany has one of Europe’s lowest fertility rates (around 1.4) and the population is becoming older at alarming rate. Japan’s situation is worse: 1.26, well below the 2.1 replacement level.

How is Japan, and also The World, going to deal with the issue of population and sustaining that number with just the right amount of natural resources? This is the ideal of optimum population which is a nice balance between population and the possessing the correct amount of natural resources to sustain that population.

The World needs to take a good look at the spread of global resources and how individual countries are using them. Japan and other MEDCs are taking too many resources. Indeed Japan has over 2000 varieties of rice, and a strong store of those varieties, but unfortunately for Japan global food security (and come to that resource security) is increasingly worrying. Japan imports a lot of rice to sustain their 124th position in terms of global food security. The price of rice will rise as the price of oil rises. Japan, and of course, other MEDCs, should be worried.

But it’s not just governments who should be worried, the issue of resource consumption on the environment is a local one and involves decisions made by all us. The Japanese government is trying to persuade its people not to throw quality food just for having a small blemish. Also choosing food that is both cheap but has consideration for the environment is important. The five year ban on American meat in South Korea is an example of the population trying to encourage more sustainability. Now that that has been lifted protests have ensued.

In conclusion, Japan’s population is not getting any younger! This will impact on it being a global player in the future. Also its current food security is poor, it needs to be assessed and a self-sustainable strategy developed in order that rising global prices will not have an adverse impact on it. Japan is a fantastic country, The World is a fantastic place, and it needs to be protected for the future. People are greedy and that should not get in the way of the future.

Wow! What a rant! I hope this is not too depressing. The outcome of the Rome Food Conference has been a UN pledge for $1.2 billion on developing the ability to grow more food. It has also brought The World’s focus back to Zimbabwe: a country that deserves so much better but has a ruler who deserves little, or no, power to govern them.

After the 18th June I will be freer to peruse a greater breadth of research in regards to NB posts. I would love some comments regarding the sort of things you want to read. I have some interesting projects I wish to do, but I also want you to be reading what you want to read. This is your opportunity to ask a question which you do not have time to answer or a chance to explore my views on a subject. It must be to do with Japan in someway, so whether that be anime, manga, history, religion, philosophy, sports etc. I want your feedback so that I can write posts about the sort of things you want to read. Wish me luck with the rest of my exams! Thanks for reading.