What are your thoughts about the world today?

Actually, everything is fine.

As the population expands, new technologies will emerge allowing innovation in farming beyond what we can even imagine now. The idea that were crowding the earth is ludicrous. There is so much space available for people to live on that it's ridiculous. And, the food supply will be fine. It is not finite.

The main innovation is going to have to be eliminating imaginary boundaries that we have created. As humans, we will have to begin coming together, like the Beatles suggested years ago. We already have. We are very tightly tied by economics with several countries, and while some see this as negative, I am optimistic that it's a start of good things in the future. We HAVE to work things out with these countries now. We can no longer villinize them. They are part of our fabric now. As this continues to develop, and the old school people die, and the new school people will have more optimistic views about creating partnerships with other countries which could lead to melding together. Ultimately, this could lead to less or no war. Less or no hate toward other systems and beliefs and more understanding. It could be several powerful countries helping to rid of war by joining forces and not allowing the atrocities that occur today.

The fake boundaries humans have created with brute force is a major component that keep the human race from progressing more than it has, IMO.

Whilst I admire your optimism, I cannot share it. As long as there is religion, there will be war, and that is not a poke at religion. Religion is the single greatest cause of war and tension in the whole of history. Humans are just too cmpetative and dominating to live in perfect harmony, so even without the religios angle I cannot see your utopia.

Its a short life and I would like to enjoy it without the social pressures that we have engineered for ourselves - but being realistic there is a fat chance of that! As a race we are just too materialistic and must have the best we can get as fast as we can get it! Not a great quality!

I don't disagree, but i feel economics will force us to understand and empathize. That was my point. The borders are beginning to blur. Not in a real governmental way, but in a softer realistic way. For instance, India runs most of the USA's IT infrastructure. GM outsources more than it manufactures in the US. Import companies have set up shop in the US and they actually hire and manufacture more in the US than US manufacturers. We import more products from China than we make here. These situations point to a swift change that is occurring without anyone really noticing. The tides are shifting and like it or not, the financial infrastructure is no longer the USA being dependent on the USA, but we are dependent on other nations for support, and they also depend on us. So, economically speaking, we are learning to accept differences. Those economic variables are turning social, as we the people, are dealing with other nations living with us.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it will happen in my lifetime. I'm just saying its moving in that direction. It's just starting.

I see what you are saying, I think we are coming at it from different angles. If you look back to my original post (on the first page) I talk about how we as a society have made fantastic progress in many respects, but that ultimately it detracts from our quality of life, both in terms of social pressure and the environment we live in. You are right, we do live in a more global society where there are smaller countries rapidly developing (you cite China, and that is a perfect example). China is rapidly leaving it's past behind and buldozing it under a glitzy facade to keep up with the Jones's. China has a lot of social inequality to deal with, but the pressure to perfom and have the latest gadget, be the biggest and the best will eclipse what China is about now, in a similar way to how the Euro Zone has changed Greece for ever. The causes of these situations are completely different save for a desire to be top of the pile through percieved progress, but many Greeks want to go back. I hope that China has better fortunes, and that the people enjoy their new lifestyle. As I say, not all progress is good!

Change is certain. Adaption is required for survival. While we may want the good old days, that will never be. If you look at progress from a macro socio-economic point of view, progress is always better, because, it's progress. A valueless society/country will never survive. China is steeped in deep tradition and history. While their new world change is painful for some, I am confident they will find balance. Of all the countries, the USA is the most at risk for failure. We do not have a long history compared to India, Europe or China. Again, the shared values are key. While the USA is strong, it does have less deep history and a large population of immigrants, who might not hold allegience when we need it.

Actually, everything is fine.

As the population expands, new technologies will emerge allowing innovation in farming beyond what we can even imagine now. The idea that were crowding the earth is ludicrous. There is so much space available for people to live on that it's ridiculous. And, the food supply will be fine. It is not finite.

The main innovation is going to have to be eliminating imaginary boundaries that we have created. As humans, we will have to begin coming together, like the Beatles suggested years ago. We already have. We are very tightly tied by economics with several countries, and while some see this as negative, I am optimistic that it's a start of good things in the future. We HAVE to work things out with these countries now. We can no longer villinize them. They are part of our fabric now. As this continues to develop, and the old school people die, and the new school people will have more optimistic views about creating partnerships with other countries which could lead to melding together. Ultimately, this could lead to less or no war. Less or no hate toward other systems and beliefs and more understanding. It could be several powerful countries helping to rid of war by joining forces and not allowing the atrocities that occur today.

The fake boundaries humans have created with brute force is a major component that keep the human race from progressing more than it has, IMO.

Whilst I admire your optimism, I cannot share it. As long as there is religion, there will be war, and that is not a poke at religion. Religion is the single greatest cause of war and tension in the whole of history. Humans are just too cmpetative and dominating to live in perfect harmony, so even without the religios angle I cannot see your utopia.

Its a short life and I would like to enjoy it without the social pressures that we have engineered for ourselves - but being realistic there is a fat chance of that! As a race we are just too materialistic and must have the best we can get as fast as we can get it! Not a great quality!

I don't disagree, but i feel economics will force us to understand and empathize. That was my point. The borders are beginning to blur. Not in a real governmental way, but in a softer realistic way. For instance, India runs most of the USA's IT infrastructure. GM outsources more than it manufactures in the US. Import companies have set up shop in the US and they actually hire and manufacture more in the US than US manufacturers. We import more products from China than we make here. These situations point to a swift change that is occurring without anyone really noticing. The tides are shifting and like it or not, the financial infrastructure is no longer the USA being dependent on the USA, but we are dependent on other nations for support, and they also depend on us. So, economically speaking, we are learning to accept differences. Those economic variables are turning social, as we the people, are dealing with other nations living with us.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it will happen in my lifetime. I'm just saying its moving in that direction. It's just starting.

I see what you are saying, I think we are coming at it from different angles. If you look back to my original post (on the first page) I talk about how we as a society have made fantastic progress in many respects, but that ultimately it detracts from our quality of life, both in terms of social pressure and the environment we live in. You are right, we do live in a more global society where there are smaller countries rapidly developing (you cite China, and that is a perfect example). China is rapidly leaving it's past behind and buldozing it under a glitzy facade to keep up with the Jones's. China has a lot of social inequality to deal with, but the pressure to perfom and have the latest gadget, be the biggest and the best will eclipse what China is about now, in a similar way to how the Euro Zone has changed Greece for ever. The causes of these situations are completely different save for a desire to be top of the pile through percieved progress, but many Greeks want to go back. I hope that China has better fortunes, and that the people enjoy their new lifestyle. As I say, not all progress is good!

Change is certain. Adaption is required for survival. While we may want the good old days, that will never be. If you look at progress from a macro socio-economic point of view, progress is always better, because, it's progress. A valueless society/country will never survive. China is steeped in deep tradition and history. While their new world change is painful for some, I am confident they will find balance. Of all the countries, the USA is the most at risk for failure. We do not have a long history compared to India, Europe or China. Again, the shared values are key. While the USA is strong, it does have less deep history and a large population of immigrants, who might not hold allegience when we need it.

I agree that change, like death and taxes, are inevitable. The only way to survive is to embrace that change and join the rat race. If you don't, I agree that you will wither and die on the vine. My point is that this drive to get ahead causes other issues to replace those that nations / organisations / people try to move away from. That's why we get up in the morning and go to work. But not all change is for the good - a point that I feel is often overlooked.

I would like to point out that "good" is your personal definition. It doesn't mean it is. Hanging on to the past is a way of resisting change and feeling like it was better back then. It rarely actually was.

I haven't addressed religion at all, because that is far too complex a topic to cover in this forum. But, I agree that religion is the largest hurdle.