By Sam Posey-Goodrich High School Senior
“What new challenges will America face as we move forward into the future?”
Every day, our nation’s leaders are working towards improving all aspects of the American society. Our technology becomes more advanced, defense programs are improved, our population is increasing, etc. However, as with any new change, there are things we must be careful of and prepare for. The future is coming one way or another and we must be ready for any challenges that may arise.
One big change that is inevitable for any country wishing to improve its future is a population increase. There comes a logistical problem with trying to house more people in our country than we can hold. We have seen examples of this issue in other countries such as India. People live too close to each other, they live in refugee camps, or some even are forced to live on the streets. We are seeing this problem in larger cities Such as New York and Los Angeles. With a growing population we must devise a plan to hold more people. It’s a guarantee that as we continue to improve as a country our population will be directly related. The more we prepare for it today, the more ready we will be for it tomorrow.
Another challenge facing a future America is technology. It may seem backwards that technology could pose as a challenge. But as technology advances, so do people who attempt to use that technology for unethical reasons. As cliché as it sounds, Uncle Ben was spot-on in Spiderman when he said “With great power, comes great responsibility.” The more advanced we get the more we need to be able to control the technology we create. Technology presents a real issue in today’s society as we see the problem with items a simple as drones and as complex as a new super-computer. Even the new, self-driving Tesla cars are at risk for hacking. It’s a hard pill to swallow, that technology may actually be hindering society in some ways, but the sooner we realize what we need to be regulating, the more prepared we will be for our future.
One other problem that is not as debated and discussed as much as the aforementioned, is the fact that our wild nature is depleting rapidly. An article has just recently been published by CBS News stating that America’s wildlife population has decreased by sixty percent since 1970. If we are not careful and sell off our country’s National and State Forests we may end up losing another sixty percent in much less time. It may not seem as much a dire need as regulating crime or the economy or politics, but once all our natural resources are used up, they are gone. Yes, protecting our natural resource may hinder a plan to hold an increased population, but it must be done in order to improve our future.
These three challenges don’t come close to including every new challenge approaching America in the future. America must be prepared for new challenges that haven’t even been conceived. We will keep progressing, becoming even stronger than the day before. There are inevitable challenges along path of progression and it’s up to us, the American people, to face these challenges and overcome them. We have done it before and we will do it again and again.

Sam Posey was the winner of the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award