Population: Control Yourself
Discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, this first "true" antibiotic was mass-produced by the 1940s to treat bacterial infections.
What is Penicillin?
This proposed geological epoch, meaning "the age of humankind," refers to the period where human activity significantly altered Earth's ecosystems.
What is the Anthropocene?
Brands like Coca-Cola or Apple represent these entities that maintain global reach and organize production across various national borders.
What are Multinational Corporations (MNCs)?
This 1948 UN document established a rights-based dialogue for the global community to protect women, children, and refugees.
What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
The global spread of these types of brands has created a synchronized "consumer culture" visible in cities from New York to Beijing.
What are global brands (or McDonald's/Starbucks)?
In the UN, this body includes all 193 member nations, while a smaller 15-member body is responsible for international peace.
What are the General Assembly and the Security Council?
This 20th-century agricultural movement utilized high-yield seeds and fertilizers to increase global food production but also forced rural populations into urban centers.
What is the Green Revolution?
Scientists argue these emissions must fall to net zero by 2050 to prevent catastrophic warming, as levels currently sit at roughly 421 ppm.
What are greenhouse gases (specifically CO2)?
In the 1970s, many cities in the Global North reinvented themselves as hubs for these two sectors as manufacturing moved to the Global South.
What are education and healthcare?
This political right was legally recognized for women in the US in 1920, Turkey in 1934, and Japan in 1945.
What is suffrage?
2012's "Gangnam Style" by Psy represents this phenomenon where musical tastes become synchronized worldwide via digital platforms.
What is globalized music?
These five nations—the US, China, France, Russia, and the UK—hold this controversial power to block any Security Council resolution.
Who are the "Big Five" (and what is Veto Power)?
First utilized in 1895 and significantly refined through CT and MRI developments in the 1970s and 80s, these allowed for non-invasive internal diagnosis.
What is medical imaging (or X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs)?
This 1952 environmental disaster involved industrial coal emissions and fog that killed between 10,000 and 12,000 people in London.
What is the Great Smog?
This agreement involves the CCP providing material growth and stability in exchange for the public's acceptance of authoritarian rule.
What is the Social Contract?
This literary movement among french-speaking artists elevated "Blackness" as a positive force in response to the racial legacy of colonialism.
What is the Negritude movement?
These digital tools were essential for organizing 21st-century movements such as the Arab Spring and BlackLivesMatter.
What is social media?
These two UN-related organizations focus on social welfare for children and the management of global health crises.
What are UNICEF and the WHO?
These two social and medical factors, particularly in the industrial world, contributed to a slowing of global birth rates toward the end of the century.
What are birth control and women’s education (or careers)?
The Earth’s rapidly increasing population has created a rising demand for this specific portion of the planet's water, which is the only 3% usable by humans.
What is the freshwater supply?
An iPhone serves as the primary example of this system, utilizing over 700 different suppliers from roughly 30 different countries.
What is a global supply chain?
This Latin American religious movement re-envisioned the Catholic Church's role to emphasize solidarity with the poor and the marginalized.
What is Liberation Theology?
Resistance to Western culture has taken many forms, from 1950s rock and roll opposition to this nation's late 20th-century pushback against secularism.
What is Iran?
UN peacekeepers successfully negotiated a ceasefire in this West African nation in 2003, contrasting with their 1994 failure in Rwanda.
What is Liberia?
While the 1918 influenza was deadlier due to a lack of treatment, these two modern crises were uniquely prolonged by mistrust and misinformation.
What are COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS?
While Western environmentalism often focuses on "Deep Ecology" and conservation, the Global South’s movement is primarily concerned with these two issues.
What are social justice and basic survival (or food security)?
These two organizations provide low-interest loans to the developing world but are frequently criticized for their "many strings attached" policies.
What are the IMF and the World Bank?
India implemented this system to reserve a percentage of government jobs and educational seats for historically marginalized groups.
What is the Caste Reservation System?
This term describes the gap in internet access, while this specific Chinese system represents the use of the web for state surveillance and censorship.
What are the Digital Divide and the Great Firewall?
Entities like Greenpeace or the World Fair Trade Organization are examples of these, which advocate for reform outside of government channels.
What are Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)?