TOPIC: Governments should focus on solving the immediate problems of today rather than on trying to solve the anticipated problems of the future.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons or examples that could be used to challenge your position.
Below, I am sharing my writing on the topic. It is my second practice with the Analytical Writing section. (English is not my first language.)
This topic raises the controversial issue of whether governments should make plans based on the country’s current problems or invest their time and resources trying to solve the problems that the country is likely to face in the future. Elected government officials tend to spend their term trying to keep promises that they made in their campaigns. This is mainly because keeping their voters pleased would help them get reelected. Then the issue in question comes to what promises people want to hear from a presidential candidate. Although not all, some people might be concerned about the country’s problems that, maybe not today, but are likely to become overwhelming for the country in the future. Climate change or drug addiction of youth can be given as examples of such problems based on the fact that in the beginning they may not draw immediate attention from unemployment or an economic crisis. Today, almost all credible scientist signal that the climate has started to change in a way that maybe the next generation will certainly experience the effects of. It is likely that in decades the soil that grows certain crops in certain regions might become infertile because of the dramatic drop in raining or never-ending flooding. If we are to examine drug addiction in youth, similar to climate change, researchers are warning that drug use among young people will become an unsolvable problem in the future if governments don’t start focusing on solutions today. It is not just drug use that is becoming more common among the youth, but also doctors who are more willing than ever to prescribe drugs to young people that are struggling to cope with daily life.
In some countries, like my home country Turkey, people tend to invest their energy to solve problems like unemployment. It is mostly because its effects are seen very rapidly. Therefore, almost every presidential candidate focuses on today’s problems in their campaign rather than bringing up the issues of climate change or overuse of drugs to get elected. However, the ignorance towards climate change has started showing itself. The congress and government’s failure to legislate or force laws against businesses that harm the environment now affects farmers. It is very common complaint among farmers that the soil that they used to farm has now become infertile because of the chemicals that nearby businesses irresponsibly dump into the rivers. However, more developed countries like the United States are legislating to prevent such an act before it becomes an overwhelming problem for the country in the future.
Similarly, Turkey ignores the research that shows that young people are becoming addicted to drugs that they first happened to use because of a doctor’s prescription. Doctors in Turkey are likely to look to ease their patients suffering with drugs without trying other options such as therapy. Now it has become a very worrisome problem that the drugs offered on the black market are commonly purchased by the young. Nevertheless, doctors in the United States are bound by laws that bans prescribing drugs without going over certain procedures first or even bans the use of certain drugs that are prescribed commonly by Turkish doctors.
Although some might defend that elected officials should use their means to respond to the people’s immediate demands, a government should acknowledge that there are some problems that the people are ignorant about today but will become unstoppable in the future unless they act now.
