English Essay ⑤

The article I read today was about depopulation. Depopulation has been one of the gravest social problems in many parts of the world. To tackle this demographic issue, governments and politicians the world over have relentlessly implemented countermeasures such as encouraging women to participate in society, introducing maternity leave into companies and improving working conditions. Nonetheless, there is no sign of improving the issue of depopulation. Such a grim situation tempts us to attribute this serious problem to half-hearted measures taken by governmental officials, but I personally feel that the main cause of shrinking population lies in young people's ever-changing viewpoints.

In this contemporary society, the last decades have witnessed a sea change in youngsters' attitudes towards marriage. The idea of prioritising individual private lives and hobbies has entrenched among young people, thereby diminishing their desire to look for partners. The rapid development of social media applications like Twitter and Instagram has also discouraged young people from mingling with friends and lovers.  These platforms have enabled us to communicate with each other whenever and wherever is convenient. Additionally, featuring "Konkatsu" on media has become the norm, which allows all of the public citizens to witness this activity. As a result, this public exposure of spouse hunting garners attention and interests, potentially prompting some people to post defamations and abusive words. Not only are these social trends a part of contributing factors in accelerating a gradual decline in population but they serve as a major hurdle for us to seek our spouses.

If something grave happens in our daily lives, we tend to blame these problems on governmental failures. However, I firmly believe that we should attach importance to other potential causes that underlie ongoing issues.
To conclude my argument, equipping us with abilities to ferret out underlying sources which exacerbate social issues will be one of the indispensable skills we should acquire in future society. In other words, navigating this increasingly unpredictable time requires us to have a bird's eye view.