My initial reaction to this image is just to laugh and not really take it seriously. It is obviously meant to be lighthearted and joking but it also poses opinions on serious issues in today’s political sphere. With three simple words, “Legalize gay marijuana,” this bumper sticker offers an opinion on both gay marriage and marijuana legalization. This message is meant to be somewhat satirical. This is done in order to point out the irony that while these are two very different issues, most people are on either one side or the other. Typical liberals feel that both recreational marijuana and gay marriage should be legalized, however typical conservatives feel that both of these things should remain illegal. The message of this bumper sticker is to point out that the government is restricting these two very prevalent activities and that while not everyone may feel too strongly about either of them, the government should at least listen to the concerns of the people. It also came across my mind however, that this might be a sarcastic bumper sticker posed by someone who does not agree with legalization of either of these things. It kind of implies the attitude that if we legalize gay marriage, we may as well legalize marijuana which are both completely ridiculous. Overall, though I think this sticker poses the more liberal opinion and shows support for both gay marriage and marijuana legalization. The fact that this sticker is kind of unclear probably shows that it is not the most effective logical argument. It does not really offer any logical appeal for either of the claims it makes and instead just shouts an opinion on multiple issues which may be confusing at first glance. Despite the fact that it is not too good at making an argument, this sticker does provide humor and I think that is the reason why it may be at least somewhat effective in bringing attention to the issues. People may not initially understand what is being stated here but at least it may make them rethink their opinions.
In our changing world, there are many different trends and patterns visible on global, regional, and even national levels. These patterns are noticeable by simply looking at particular statistics of various countries, such as birth and death rates, life expectancy, health, population, and more. These numbers allow us to adjust to accommodate different trends at the present and plan for trends in the near, and also distant, future.
One trend that is noticeable on a global level is that a vast majority of people live in poorer, less developed countries than do in more developed countries. In fact, about 82 percent of the entire population lives in less developed countries while only about 18 percent live in more developed countries. These numbers will only become more and more drastic. In less developed countries, people have many more children on average and therefore these countries will continue to grow at a shocking rate while more developed countries grow much slower.
Another pattern that can be seen on a more regional level is the correlation between life expectancy and the average annual earnings of a person. It seems that in places where people make less money, they have a significantly shorter life expectancy. For example, in a place like Mozambique where people make only 880 dollars per year, people are only expected to live to about 52 years old. The opposite can be seen in a place such as Norway. The average annual earnings are 55,420 dollars, the second most in the entire world. The average life expectancy for people of Norway is 81 years old which is quite high. This pattern occurs probably because people who make a lot less money do not have access to proper food, shelter, and especially medical care which is essential for them to survive.
Patterns also occur quite frequently on national levels. For example, there is a surprising pattern that can be seen with the growing populations in India and China. These countries are the two most populous in the entire world. Currently China has more people than India however by the time we reach 2050, India is expected to have over 300,000,000 than China. Something surprising about these populations is that while India is expected to continue growing rapidly, China is actually expected to experience a decrease between the years 2025 and 2050 from 1,404.2 million people to 1,312.6 million people. This is quite a significant drop in size, considering China has been growing for so long.
All of these are only a small few of the many patterns and trends that can be seen relating to the world’s population. These trends are very crucial to recognize and study because they can give us so much insight on various issues going on in the world. They also allow us to predict what the population will be like in the future and how potential issues may arise from this.