The world has three fundamental issues: population, politics, and economics. Population is the primary concern. Earth is approaching 8.3 billion people, with 30.23 million births and 14.24 million deaths recorded this year alone, yet the population continues to grow. This year's mortality causes include: infectious diseases leading at 3 million deaths. Cancer follows with 1.87 million deaths. Child mortality under 5 years old accounts for 1.73 million deaths. Smoking-related deaths total 1.14 million.

From a historical cyclical perspective, population decline has historically been caused less often by warfare and more often by disease. However, as medical standards improve, diseases become less insurmountable. Today, infectious diseases remain a leading cause of death, particularly in poor countries (vaccine and medical facility shortages), while wealthy nations face chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer as primary causes (vaccine overuse, food safety issues).