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Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Texas Tech System Chancellor blames social media for wrong perceptions of society
The Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System said Friday the world is a better place than ever before, but 'we seem to be insistent upon screaming at each other, yelling at each other, fighting each other and thinking the world we're living in is going straight to hell in a handbasket. What is going on?' Dr. Tedd L. Mitchell spoke during a program sponsored by the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce. He told more than 400 people that global access to food, electricity, water and sanitation has skyrocketed in recent years. 'The amount of money spent on food, shelter, and clothes took 80% of every nickel earned in 1900. Today less than half of our money goes to food, shelter, and clothing,' he said, giving people more discretionary spending than ever before. He said the average hours of work in developed nations was 42 hours a week in about 1950 and is now under 35 hours a week. He said houses today are bigger than they were several decades ago, but the number of people living in them has decreased. 'The world as we know it by any measure is dramatically better than it was 200 years ago. But still, when you ask people, are we on the right track, the answer, when you poll people about this is, no,' he said. 'So why doesn't it feel like things are going in the right direction?' Mitchell said surveys show the fastest growing political affiliation is 'unaffiliated' and the number of Americans reporting having no close friends has tripled since 1985. 'There's something going on that's problematic in the overlay of our society,' he said. He placed the blame squarely on social media. 'For the first time in human history, a young boy or a young girl can instantly gauge their popularity. All they have to do is post something. They wait for the comments during the most vulnerable times of their lives,' he said. He said one study showed mental health issues among young people were determined by time spent on the internet. He said it has reached the point that the U.S. surgeon general has suggested a warning label be put on social media. 'We've seen this coming for a long time, like a slow-moving train wreck,' Mitchell said. 'Can you make sure that your children and your friends' children have something to do other than spend time on social media? Yes, you can.' He said those in the room who will feel fulfilled over their lifetimes 'will have found some way to help other people, whether it's in your house, whether it's in the neighborhood, or whether it's at work.' He also described how generations have changed in what they want and expect from their lives since the 'Greatest Generation' of World War II. He said subsequent generations have become quick to move on if their employers don't meet their needs. 'The days of working for 30 years to get the gold watch at the end of it were pretty much gone when it came to Gen X," he said. Mitchell, who has led the university system that includes MSU since 2018, has announced he will retire when a successor is named. He was one of several motivational speakers at the university's D.L. Ligon Coliseum. More: Sikes Senter sale, firefighters benefits on City Council agenda More: Grad student embraces her learning stage at MSU Texas This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Texas Tech system Chancellor blames social media for wrong perceptions of society Solve the daily Crossword
Times of Oman
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Times of Oman
UN report shows insufficient progress on SDGs
United Nations: With only five years to go, merely 35 percent of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are on track, while nearly half are stalling and 18 percent have regressed, according to a UN report released on Monday. In the past decade since the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted, notable global achievements have been made in health, education, energy and digital connectivity, said "The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025." New HIV infections have declined by nearly 40 percent since 2010. Malaria prevention has averted 2.2 billion cases and saved 12.7 million lives since 2000. Social protection now reaches over half the world's population, up significantly from a decade ago. Since 2015, 110 million more children and youth have entered school. Child marriage is in decline, with more girls staying in school and women gaining ground in parliaments around the world, the report said. In 2023, 92 percent of the world's population had access to electricity. Internet use has surged from 40 percent in 2015 to 68 percent in 2024. Conservation efforts have doubled protection of key ecosystems, contributing to global biodiversity resilience, the report said. However, the pace of change remains insufficient to meet the SDGs by 2030. More than 800 million people still live in extreme poverty. Billions still lack access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services. Climate change pushed 2024 to be the hottest year on record. Conflicts caused nearly 50,000 deaths in 2024. By the end of that year, over 120 million people were forcibly displaced. Low- and middle-income countries faced record-high debt servicing costs of $1.4 trillion in 2023, according to the report. The document called for action across six priority areas -- food systems, energy access, digital transformation, education, jobs and social protection, and climate and biodiversity action. "We are in a global development emergency -- an emergency measured in the over 800 million people still living in extreme poverty, in intensifying climate impacts, and in relentless debt service, draining the resources that countries need to invest in their people," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the launch of the report. "Today's report shows that the Sustainable Development Goals are still within reach. But only if we act -- with urgency, unity, and unwavering resolve," he said. When introducing the report, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua called for "urgent multilateralism" to address the lack of progress in the SDGs. "The challenges we face are inherently global and interconnected. No country, regardless of its wealth or capacity, can address climate change, pandemic preparedness or inequality alone. The 2030 Agenda represents our collective recognition that our destinies are intertwined and that sustainable development is not a zero-sum game, but a shared endeavor that benefits all," said Li.
The Independent
28-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Why it is time for a new era for global aid and development
Traditional models of aid are no longer fit-for-purpose. The global challenges we face, are becoming increasingly complex and interconnected. The world is shifting rapidly. Our approach to development is changing too. Next week in Seville, Spain, the world will come together for the Fourth Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) to set out a new vision for how we can collectively use finance to drive global progress on development over the next decade – tackling the climate and nature crisis, investing in health and education, and creating growth and jobs. It comes at a critical moment. Unprecedented levels of conflict and the impact of climate change are driving record humanitarian needs and threaten to reverse decades of development gains. We must make choices on how we use public funding innovatively and raise greater volumes of finance from all sources, including the private sector. Global South countries want a different relationship, and we are ready to offer a new approach. One based on listening; offering partnership not paternalism; sharing expertise; acting as investors, not donors, supporting countries to raise their own finances and driving reform across the Global Financial System. Global prosperity and security are crucial for delivering on our Plan For Change in the UK too. The summit in Seville must set a clear roadmap towards achieving three major changes. First, we will show we have listened to countries by helping them raise their own revenues. They have told us they want to become self-sufficient so we will offer partnership and expertise to help them build their own tax and economic systems, so that in time, they can thrive without aid. This means tackling money lost through crime and corruption. The UN estimates that Africa loses $90 billion to illicit finance flows, undermining public finances but also public institutions, affecting trust, political stability and national security. This hidden money is a problem for us all. We will work with partners to take urgent action on unsustainable debt. More than 50 per cent of lower-income countries are either in, or at high risk of, debt distress. That is why we are championing reform, so countries with unsustainable debt get quick and effective support. We are also pressing for more responsible and transparent lending, and have championed Climate Resilient Debt Clauses, which pause debt repayments when crises hit. Secondly, we know the costs of solving these challenges cannot be met by governments alone. We need more investment from the private sector. Through the City of London, the UK is a world-leading green financial hub. We are well placed to lead the charge, providing opportunities for UK businesses and investors and ultimately unlocking growth, jobs and trade. Only a small fraction of the money from big investors like pension funds currently goes to low- and middle-income countries. Shifting this by even a small amount would be game-changing for financing development and climate action. That is why the UK has recently set up an industry-led Investor Taskforce - bringing together investors and government to take action that will unlock more private capital for emerging markets and developing economies. We will launch a coalition in Seville that aims to help unlock trillions of pounds in untapped high-quality investment for developing countries through use of public markets. Finally, we must focus on making the international system work better for developing countries, creating a fairer system where they have greater voice and participation to shape the outcomes they need. That is why the UK is calling for just this in the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. We also need to ensure countries can better manage climate shocks. Since 2015, 1.7 billion people's lives have been devastated by the climate crisis. Despite the fact that we can predict and model over a third of climate events, just 2 per cent of crisis finance is pre-arranged and ready to go before a disaster strikes. Putting finance in place ahead of disasters means it can be immediately released to countries and communities in moments of crisis. Tackling this is vital to ensure long-term growth and development. The launch of the global coalition in Seville will also enable us to scale up availability of pre-arranged finance, working with the UK insurance industry towards an ambition of increasing it tenfold by 2035. No nation can tackle global challenges alone. Seville must be the beginning of a new chapter in how we work together to deliver global development.
