Everyone knows the story of the four horsemen of the apocalypse: war, famine, plague, and death. While the latter instills the same animal fear in our souls, war, plague, and famine pose less and less danger to us today. Of course, there are still pandemics that take many lives. Likewise, many countries today are consumed by bloody wars. At the same time, many people in third-world countries are suffering from hunger.

Be that as it may, today, these calamities are embracing smaller and smaller territories. We have learned to resist them. Countries join together in alliances and create international organizations that make many efforts to promote and maintain peace. They also provide humanitarian aid to the poor, trying to save as many people as possible from hunger and disease. In addition, humanity is evolving, and innovations allow us to save lives from pandemics by preventing them from spreading.

We can look at any country and find that it has experienced famines or wars at specific times in its history. For example, once upon a time, the population of China was starving. However, the government took the proper measures by developing the economy and increasing the Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Today, China is one of the most developed countries in the world, and starvation is no longer a problem.

On the other hand, America is facing the exact opposite issue to hunger. This problem is called overeating. Obesity is a dangerous disease that can and, in fact, does kill many more people today than hunger.

Think about your great-great-grandfather. If he was not from a privileged background, his main concerns were probably how to feed his five children, buy a cow, and survive the winter. You may not think about yourself as a privileged person today, either. But do you have the same concerns? Very unlikely. Maybe, you are thinking about how to get a promotion to fulfill your career ambitions, how to please your child on his birthday, and where to spend your vacation.

The new times have sent the old calamities into the background. However, development does not only bring benefits; we also have to face the new challenges of modernity.