Reading the all too often sensationalized headlines churned out on a daily basis by major media outlets around the world, one could be forgiven for hiding in a fully stocked bunker in anticipation of a cataclysmic worst-case scenario.
But despite all of the negativity that captures the attention of global headlines, let’s also remember that never before in human history has civilization been so wealthy; not only in terms of capital but especially knowledge and technology.
Even the least fortunate among us — at least in developed nations — live better than the rulers of old; kings and emperors who would never in a million years have ever been able to conceive in their wildest fantasies of the technological and medical marvels that we get to enjoy on a daily basis.
Many of the most powerful people in centuries past succumbed to diseases that today are cured with a simple treatment of penicillin. What most of us take for granted, they would likely have traded their entire fortunes in a flash for an extended chance of a longer life.
However, despite unprecedented growth and prosperity, many millions of people around the world and at home are left behind by a system that has allowed the vast majority of that wealth to end up in the hands of a few.
Working salaries have in recent decades largely stagnated or seen frankly abysmal growth when compared with the world’s top-paid CEOs, whose salaries and compensations by comparison have skyrocketed into orbit. Some would argue every new billionaire is indicative of a failing, shortsighted system that could not care less about the long term.
Technological leaps and bounds have also yielded levels of automation that titans of industry like Henry Ford could only have dreamed of, costing millions of jobs, and counting.
So one of the main problems we face is ensuring that wealth does not continue to pool into the hands of a few at the expense of the many, who often despite working for billionaires still need welfare assistance just to eat and live. When wealth inequality reaches drastic levels, history has taught us time and again — from the French Revolution to the Great Depression — that major social upheaval and change is essentially inevitable.
Equally as important, perhaps arguably even more so, is taking more seriously the need to address the amount of pollution and resource depletion driven by convenience consumer culture that is more preoccupied with instant gratification than ensuring future generations inherit a livable planet.
But while the coming years and decades will unmistakably have many challenging hurdles in store for us and the generations to come, we should nevertheless be able to find solace in the knowledge that we were lucky enough to live during an era of previously unparalleled scientific progress.
