Submitted by Nateno24 t3_116udqw in Futurology
Apologies ahead of time for the rant, but this is something I've needed to get out of my head for some time now. I consider myself to be a generally hopeful person when it comes to the future. I genuinely think and hope that humans will become a great intergalactic civilization one day, and that when that day comes we could finally create a utopia. But every time I turn on the news, or open social media, or fucking wake up I can't help but think our current system will never allow for such advancement. Rising tensions between the east and the west once again. The war in Ukraine. Prices going up for everything, while wages stagnate. Corporate greed. Have we not learned anything in the ~7000 years civilization has existed? How backwards are the people in charge of our society? It is estimated that the construction of a lunar base would cost roughly 50 billion dollars. The U.S. spent ~1 trillion dollars on defense in 2022, which would be enough to build 20 lunar bases.
Why do we live in a world where profit comes above all? Why do we continue to fight, kill, enslave, and oppress our own species? Why can't we just love our fellow humans? I find it mind boggling how hunters and gatherers managed to construct a more equal society than the one we exist in today. Does advancement really only come packaged with corruption and evil? All I dream of is a world where we can forget these stupid petty disagreements and turn our collective efforts towards the advancement of the human race, but every day we seem to stray further from that goal. I feel like we, as a species, have pushed important things to the side in the name of the dollar, if that makes sense. It makes me angry, knowing what could be, but it seems like there is no real way for the average person to make a change big enough to set us on a better trajectory. It seems that if the world keeps going the way it is right now, we'll never even make it off this planet.
What can the average Joe do to change this? I honestly can't see anything short of a full scale revolution working to set our priorities straight, but I'm interested to hear thoughts and advice on how we can save our world. Apologies for the rant, but it really does make me so mad knowing the great things we could be doing if we just treated each other like human beings and focus on the actual important things.