Nurturing the Roots

A very interesting thought was brought to my attention today, by a rather great, wise man:

"as a society/a world with so many problems should we fix one problem at a time starting from the root cause or should we try and fix them all at once(ie 3rd world countries, animal cruelty etc)

if we fix all of them at once we may have no impact, if we focus on one and work through them we may neglect animals or starving people for a period but ultimately wouldn't we fix the problem?"

My initial response to this:

"the idea of starting from the root cause has merit though; dealing with the base issues to prevent the actual problems worsening, or others developing in the future. You're right - trying to focus on all at once may have no impact - would probably be slightly chaotic, could even make things worse."

And to continue from this:

Yes, eventually, if we were consistent with trying to resolve issues bit by bit, ultimately we probably would fix the problems. Unfortunately, for a great deal of progress it would require a change in attitude by a large portion of the world's population.. or at least that of developed nations. In saying that, I definitely believe it's possible for one person to inspire a crowd that can have huge influence - as has been done repeatedly throughout history. The problem that comes to mind with this is - while there are people creating positive progress with these problems, a larger part of the population continues to act counter-effectively, by consuming products that perhaps aren't ethically produced (such as free trade) or consuming the products of animals kept in caged or otherwise intensive farming systems.

To work on one problem at a time - would we experience guilt at the thought of perhaps neglecting the other creatures suffering, whether they be human or other animal? Or would concentration on one problem result in increased difficulties for the other issues?

In general, I think there is a lot to be said for dealing with the root cause of any issue - whether that be the emotional difficulties experienced by an individual, or the poverty experienced by a nationwide population; if you nurture the foundations, then surely the stem and branches will be better nourished.