Using a sponge and a bucket to solve a sinking

Serious issues require serious, comprehensive solutions

Dec 09, 2023

Last broadcast’s Coherence Metric score was 2.809,placing it #16 overall! To understand what the Coherence Metric score is, check it out here, while last week’s broadcast can be found at the bottom of this one :)

Hello everyone, today’s broadcast is about when humanity uses terrible, short term gap methods to solve a long, complex problem. The allure of short term fix is always too appealing for governments or people of authority, with stop-gap solutions have often being used throughout history, but rarely have these been of net benefit long term. Akin to trying to save the Titanic with a trusty bucket and a sponge, it looks like you are trying to solve the issue, technically you are, but the end result is the same if you just listened to the string orchestra for the last time.

Overpopulation? No more kids

In the 1970’s, there were Malthusian fears of overpopulation, and the Chinese government decided to act, by implementing the one child policy, forcing families to only have one child per family (although there were exemptions for certain ethnic minorities and situations). Rather than looking at the context of this higher, apparently unsustainable, population, such as the rapid industrialization of China, leading to high economic growth, rising birth rates and falling death rates.

Arguably, one could say that rather than interfering in the sizes of families directly, the government could have opted for other, less restrictive methods which would not have led to the darker aspects of the one child policy, such as infanticide and forced sterilizations. As countries develop, children become more of an economic burden than a sure return, birth control becomes more readily accessible and lifestyle choices leading to fewer children, and therefore the fertility rates of countries tend to decline with development.

Therefore, the dual impact of the one child policy and ongoing development has led to a rapid drop in fertility rates. However, this merely traded in one problem for another, overpopulation to an aging and even population, where overpopulation was a potential problem in the future, while an aging and declining population has real drawbacks and issues.

So much so, that the one child policy became the two child policy in October 2015, and then a three child policy in 2021. However, China’s fertility rate has continued to drop, to 1.09 in 2022. For reference, to maintain a relatively stable population one needs a fertility rate of 2.1. (Now this is a gross simplification of a complex topic, but I think it proves the point of my main argument, i may return to the topic of population in a future broadcast)

Shootings? Make it harder

Sadly, one of the most prolific aspects of the USA are the frequent, almost daily, mass shootings occurring across the country. Rather than limiting the use of firearms (such as an outright ban, limit on cross-state carry, using actual, digital, centralized documentation or database of guns), improving mental health facilities (often a touted reason for the number of shootings) or any other suggestion, one ‘solution’ being carried out is anti-shooting architecture.

Using inspiration from the zig-zagging trenches used in the world wars, a new school in Michigan has designs of curved hallways, barriers, buckets and cat litter (for pro-longed shoot-out scenarios) and "shadow zones". Metal detectors and higher security are now commonplace in schools. All of this done to:

“dampen the killing potential of a mass shooter”

One of the more jarring lines I have read recently, just a resignation to disaster, opting for mitigation rather than prevention.

Homelessness? Not here

This one is perhaps the inspiration for this broadcast, as the issue is as old as time yet the latest ‘solution’ has a particularly malevolent angle to it - anti-homeless architecture. This issue is prevalent in many countries across the globe, and you have probably seen it whilst outside. One will rarely find any public benches or seating areas that one could lie down on, by design.

Sometimes this is done by installing hand-rests in the middle, low enough so that one could not lie through it. However, sometimes any pretense of comfort is dropped and metal bulbs are installed at parts of the seating area, just to disrupt the space. In open areas or areas under bridges, buildings, concrete spikes are placed to dissuade the homeless from sleeping or setting up tents.

Another striking aspect of this is that these can be seen even in university areas: often bastions of liberalism and activism, an issue such as homelessness is dealt with the same tact as anyone else.

This broadcast has had some heavy topics, let me try spin today’s theme to a more positive story:

Senescence- A new perspective?

While the emperor of maladies may be cancer, all illnesses ultimately bow down to ageing and senescence (decline in biological performance over time). While humanity’s average lifespan has increased over history, due to technological advancements, greater knowledge and more investment in curing ailments, we all eventually succumb to Father Time.

We often see smaller ailments, such as coughs or fever as symptoms of a more dangerous illness, but I rarely see these illnesses being described as symptoms themselves. Seeing these illnesses as the final mountain to be climbed, diverts a majority of resources into solving these issues.

However, I’d argue that this simultaneously takes away resources from the ultimate goal of finding a solution for ageing and senescence. Sometimes a ‘cure’ for one illness carries with it such debilitating side-effects that one’s life expectancy does not show a significant net improvement. I am not arguing that such medicine is a distraction or not worth it, but I believe that tackling the fundamental challenge would provide health dividends, as prevention is always better than cure in almost every scenario- admittedly, not economically, but that’s a discussion for another time.

Overall, I know that these criticisms are simple to say- anyone can ridicule or criticize ideas or solutions, the real skill is in suggesting and implementing the right ones. But still surely we can do better than some of these ‘solutions’. Architectural solutions are particularly dangerous, as architecture is meant to build things that last, and if these issues are ingrained into our architecture, our culture, our life, that is a mark on our history that will be hard to rub off. Serious issues require serious, comprehensive solutions, not stop gaps that serve as window dressing at best.

Make sure to give this broadcast a coherence score!

That’s all from me for now, but stay tuned for future broadcasts,

This has been Kunga’s Written Radio,