As an engineering graduate, one of the core things we got taught is to solve a difficult problem, break it down into smaller, easier chunks. This is why most engineers don’t become politicians. Angela Merkel was an exception. She broke the code.

The world and its problems are so interconnected that solutions to problems in one field cause unintended consequences in another that lead to cyclical problems.

Take housing for example. The main complaint of the current generations is that the ratio between house costs and salaries have increased dramatically. Well, the population in the 1970s was about 3.75 billion. Today it is more than double that at 7.75 billion. Demand for housing has technically doubled while supply, particularly in the most lucrative locations has not kept up.

So why not build more houses? Because right now, only certain locations have very high demand for housing. If you build more houses in those locations, the demand won’t go down, it will just get replaced. Why? Because unavailability and high prices reduce demand. Increasing availability fulfils some of the demand for housing but also increases the demand by reducing prices/slowing price increases. The overall effect on demand is cancelled out but the problem grows.

And even if building more houses was a viable long-term solution…To build more houses, you need more infrastructure – like roads and hospitals. You need to ensure the current infrastructure will be able to cater for the higher population. To do that you need more builders and engineers for construction, nurses, teachers, doctors etc… To get those you need a bigger population, a bigger population means even more demand for houses. Cyclical.

This is just one of thousands of cyclical problems. Building more houses increases the population capacity while often destroying nature. This leads to pollution and climate change. This leads to some people moving out of urban cities to be in ‘cleaner’ areas near nature. This leads to more houses being built in rural areas, leading to more nature being destroyed. Cyclical.

People want to work less and have more freedom to enjoy their lives. A very normal thing to want and I of everyone definitely try to embrace this. But we don’t have robots that can replace all jobs yet. No matter how much more efficient we become, we can’t all be influencers and TikTok stars. All the lower paid, manual jobs are struggling to recruit. There are two quick fix solutions – raise salaries for these jobs or immigration. Immigration brings in cheaper labour and… further increases demand for housing in richer countries.

Wars are horrible and for many of us in the west, we are lucky that we don’t feel the effects of war directly. But they are still very real. Many benefits richer countries have had are based on wars fought decades and hundreds of years in the past. You may want your government to control the price of gas and electricity but there’s no magic pump. It’s not that war is the answer, it’s that if you want a fairer world, we all need to make sacrifices with our luxuries. But when people are freezing to death in the winter because they can’t afford their bills and the media are splashing their front pages with it… How easy it is to look the other way when another oil rich country gets pillaged?

And when that happens, the refugees from those wars, where do you think they can go? Because humans, as evil as we are, we also have a kind heart. And some of those refugees will come to your countries, and your population will yet again grow, and that demand for housing? You guessed it – it’s only going up.

This post is harsh but it’s a reality check. Humans have a long way to go but things are better than they were before and, in my view, will continue to get better. Unfortunately, it will take a long time before a bigger % of the world yields these benefits and many will unfairly face dire consequences. That’s why it’s good to keep shouting for a fairer world. But don’t get consumed by the negatives. We shouldn’t feel guilty for striving for a good life. For it may be that our imperfec world is what pushes us to become better. So if you are in a lucky position, enjoy life. Focus on positives but be willing and open to new ideas, particularly on personal growth – to help make the world a better place, one tiny step a time.