Waking Up

There will no progress until the mass of humanity are no longer walking around in an artificial reality.  That reality, generated by our institutions and media, does not reflect the true nature of the world around us.  It doesn't have to be accurate.  A skewed approximation is more than adequate to get people through their structured lives.  It is not adequate to make the advances we will need to live secure, peaceful lives on a planet with 8 or nine billion people.  We have made great strides in solving material problems, no era before can match us in material comfort (Third World excluded).  We have also made some progress in our social evolution.  Education is more widespread, children aren't farm and factory labor (Third World excluded).  However, we still fight wars, distribute wealth inequitably, have a sizable per cent of the population unwilling to accept the social contract, and generally act in a short-sighted manner.  We have to wake up.  We have to see the world as it is and make a conscious effort to evolve our social institutions in such a manner that will leave us the possibility of a better place to live.