I would say global warming, which has the potential to cause massive starvation and deplete fresh water resources all around the world. Next would be our financial institutions (which can be linked to capitalism but I do not believe capitalism to be an enemy). They have too much power and control over the policy making in the US, which means our government is not working for the benefit of the people but the benefit of those at the top. Ebola is overblown in my opinion, but I believe a pandemic situation is entirely possible in the next few decades due to diseases evolving and becoming invincible against our vaccines and antibiotics. ISIS, and the possibility of a merger between ISIS and their mother group, Al Queida pose a huge threat. ISIS has been able to do what Al Queida has not, which is appeal to broad segments of Muslim society in many countries via effective social media campaigning and major victories in the battlefield. ISIS can provide its members with real salaries in a region of the world that lacks the kind of resources that have made countries in Europe and the US so rich. With the appeal of making a decent living, and the fact that they have been very successful, ISIS and groups like it will continue to destabilize the Middle East. I see this being the cause of some form of World War in the coming decade. Politics is cyclical and in a constant battle of tug of war. It usually evens itself out if one side has control for too long. Television, dependency, etc to me are all signs of an apathetic society that hasn't had to deal with the hardships our grandparents did. It's not a coincidence that voter turnout increases the higher gas prices rise, American's only care when they are personally effected by something like war and high gas. Not necessarily the worst thing in the world, but we will continue to keep electing idiots on both sides of the spectrum until people start caring about what is going on in this country and our communities.
Despite internet, which has opened rooms for direct contact between the source of information and the general public, television is still a great trouble, since it's a real mean of mass conditioning and mass disinformation. Today we are passing through the post-industrialized societies to the post-modernist world of information, total and holistic information. The quality of this information is pivotal to be a post-modern citizen and unfortunately, internet is still far from avoiding the damages that television can do ...
That depends on what you mean by currently, biggest, threat and world. Seriously, it's a question so open to interpretation as to be meaningless. A threat to the physical structure of the planet is different to a threat to life on the planet and different again to a threat to human society on the planet. Something like Ebola is a much more immediate threat but something like the collapse of the Sun much more significant. So basically, I think the biggest threat is people asking the wrong questions.
The world is probably under the least threat it has ever been. We have, for the first time, an understanding of what really threatens us and the resources to deal with most of them. What we seem to lack is the wisdom to apply the resources properly, before problems get out of hand. Conservatism is, therefore, our greatest threat, since it enjoins us to do nothing in the face of adversity except to return to the old ways that have probably caused the problem to begin with.
I couldn't vote for any of the choices because, in my opinion, the biggest threat that every country in the world faces now is the control of all the economies of the world by Central Banks, like the Federal Reserve System, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central bank, etc., etc. They have labored hard for 100 years to enslave all people everywhere, first through manipulation of economies, then through the politics and the politicians that economies dictate. My favorite political cartoon, illustrating perfectly the state of things in the United States right before the presidential election in 2012:
Asteroids. No question in my mind, this poses the most realistic threat in terms of literally wiping life off of the face of the planet. A large enough rock hitting Earth at velocities approaching 22,000 mph could extinguish all life...and this is a probable event given a celestial time scale.
Globalized neo feudalism. For it will create the conditions for social upheaval, disorder, chaos, which historically doesn't always lead to an improvement. You cannot separate the economic conditions for the majority of people in this world from the way the world is in chaos. FDR saved capitalism, but there are no FDRs around these days, that I know of. Economic models are so important, for they greatly affect everything, as they should. Bad economic times and suffering always creates conflicts and leads to wars. So when an economic model no longer serves the masses, as the current one we have no longer does, we already know historically what comes from that. But who reads history? Perhaps just those that teach it in schools.
They have first dibs. Or could get first dibs with all the congressmen they own. Trust me on this, it won't be long until the capitalists have gobbled up all the rights to fresh water and will be bringing it in from the South Pole aboard the SS Condoleeza Rice and selling it for $4.49/plastic liter bottle. Fresh air is second on the list.
I'm afraid I have to teach you the meaning of the word 'facetious'. But I do hate capitalism, the Destroyer of Markets. You know, market economics, that old supply/demand thang we've all grown so fond of.
Amazing how it has given mankind the highest standard of living in human history, but then that is probably what you are tilting at windmills for.
