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As human beings, we feel like we are progressing, but only technologically. As long as we have wars and war industries, we are no different than 400 years ago.
Good point. America is doing quite well at the moment, buoyed by surprisingly high consumer confidence. And that's a good thing for China, too, because American consumers go hand in hand with Chinese exporters.
Your video stood out to me simply for being positive. And I don't tend to even watch negative videos, RU-vid is just inundated with them . Thanks for a good start of my day.
I generally agree with you that many things have gotten better, but the problem we have today is the mis-allocation of resources and the stress that some people have just maintaining a life of dignity with a basic guarantee on things like housing, education, health care, and something often forgot but RETIREMENT. The freedom to not have to work and collect a real pension that can sustain you. We have a lot of challenges on many of these other fronts. This is where the modern emphasis on "the 99%" being a real issue, not just a complaint. Many of us work long hours, into death, and we have little ability to just enjoy life. It comes back to a mis-allocation of the riches and wealth that does exist. So few people own too much wealth, and that has to change. I don't see this as a negative, but just a reality to deal with. And some older economic concepts have to go out with the wind and be replaced, and that's scary for some people.
@@weisong3917 I would say that a billionaire capitalist who gave the richest in the US tax cuts and cut other services and programs to be the opposite of what is needed. This is not even to mention Trump's nationalism and racism, such as the Muslim ban. And this is no endorsement for Biden, who expands swiss cheese-like private health care at high cost (and dubious coverages) for people as he spends on endless war in Ukraine and Palestine. Both political parties in the US are the problem. Western countries need to start looking outside these old structures and systems, IMO. Whether its the Republicans that lie and then pursue a corporate wealth agenda, or the Democrats that lie and then pursue a corporate wealth agenda, it does not matter. Sure, there are some differences on these parties on a few social issues, but in general they are working on behalf of wealth and corporate power, not the people. Republicans and Democrats AND Trump alike. Trump's claim to fame was firing people for entertainment on TV, he is no supporter of the working class and working people. He does play one on TV, however. Its time Americans learn the difference and stop voting for these inept movements. The first lesson I'd give to many Americans is to stop blaming government for all the problems in society. When your primary course of action is to use the government to enact policies to reign in these abuses, you can't blame the only avenue (public services) to reign in industry abuse. Its illogical. When Americans start to do this, they'll only begin to regain their democracy away from the oligarchs. I'm an American expat, I know what it was like to grow up in 1980's/90''s America. The country has been propagandized and was raised to blame the government for all problems. When government is your only means to fix a lot of these problems, its the perfect propaganda storyline to hold the American people back and allow the oligarchs to rule the roost. That's the main problem in the US today, IMO. This is why China is running 10x around the US in terms of development, growth, and planning for a better future. In China, most of the new electric vehicle plants were funded by public finance and many operate under public enterprise framework. It isn't all capitalist, not nearly as much as people in the US think. LASTLY, Americans need to realize there is no such thing as the middle class. Its a completely made up fantasy. There is the ownership class and there is the rest of us. There is the working class and there is the owner class (not small business, but real owners, the top 1%). The "Middle Class" is a myth used to sell the system that has harmed the American working class. The 'middle class' has been a propaganda tool to ignore what they are really referencing is the petit bourgeois class, which is not exactly the real ownership class... So many Americans have no idea of these concepts, and this is a problem. You have to be able to identify problems and recognize problems before a problem can be solved, and therein lies the rub: people in the US are so propagandized they don't realize the rug under their own feet when it gets tugged out from under them. I would write for hours on this, even things as simple as making electric energy grids profitable, private enterprise so that electric rates in the US are sky high, people are getting bamboozled at every turn. Yet even liberal Democrats often think these privatization schemes are "good" as I've been lectured by them over the years. You can't solve a problem if you can't recognize or identify the problem. Privatization and profitization of everything is a huge problem. Profit enterprise doesn't have solutions on many core industries: utilities, health care, etc. I can't for the life of me understand why the American people accept - and keep voting for - politicians that create private profit transfer payment programs to very rich oligarch companies to perform services instead of creating publicly administered and delivered services through public service directly on a non-profit basis. Its the scam that keeps on delivering. All I can do is bring this up in everyday conversation and hope that the general public wakes up someday.
I've always been [cautiously] optimistic about things in general, but lately things are not looking so great. I've gleaned a little wisdom in my 69 years and today, I categorize myself as just plain cautious! 🌴😎
If we really define "WE", white, yellow, brown, black, red and so on as ONE family, then, so of we are doing things that not really helpping "we". We really should be helpping each other, the we are finally the "WE".
Agreed, too many still see it has "Us" vs "Them" and not really "We". If more people/governments said all of us (humans) then things might start to improve even more!
I remember back in the 80, when I was doing my undergraduate course, we were asked to read book such as Limit To Growth. We were told the issues on the problems with growth, I am not sure about this now, after so many decades later....
Try to watch prof michael hudson, he's american prof of economic and historian. As economic graduate myself,he's opening new perspective of how economics is all about. He's also teaching in china.
The World is not Ending but the American Empire the last of the Imperial West Empires that spanned in total for about 500 years is definitely in its terminal phase. The World will henceforth evolve into another phase with a substantial change that happens once in a hundred years
The end may be near, but as a software engineer and a lowkey mental masochist, I wish it was nearer. Things don't suck enough. When will the barbarians that are coming (it's a saying coming from the roman empire by an emperor consolidating power and they actually arrived about 350 years later) finally come?
The conflicts with modern warfare technology will make its impact and casualties much more dire looking than before recorded numbers, both in magnitude and severity. Positive mindset by reading this book may help us realign and reconcile the glass half of full scenario in the world. But sadly, it's not those ppl writing and reading books like this to decide and create atrocities and wars. Thanks for letting me feel a little better, at least we know we are not alone.
Thank you for another great video. I was inspired by Swedish Statistician Hans Rosling who wrote the book “Factfulness”. It’s brilliant book about how to view the world in facts. Things are getting better for everyone.
Pure pessimism isn't good. It's pretty normal to be pessimistic or be more aware of issues because we don't like to have them. There is nothing wrong with being pessimistic but staying in pessimism isn't good because it literally will never solve anything and you should care about the things you can't change but the things you can change because you are able to more effectively use your energy. Being optimistic is just making a foul out of yourself rather than dealing with things. Just don't care about the bad things you can't change!
@@profe3330 The sky hasn't fallen over here just yet (unless your very poor), but I see the warning signs and I'm not staying on a sinking ship. Funnily enough, I was from an east coast city not too far from baltimore, and was already glad I escaped the toxic usa culture 10 years ago by coming here.
@@AZ-rg3rf You sound like a very sensible person. I'm still on the East Coast of the USA, watching expat videos about visas and street food. (Trip Britton is definitely my favorite - largely because of his extraordinary fashion sense.)
I'm in a book group and someone suggested it. With a lot of financial changes currently happening in my life, I thought it would be interesting to read and I was not disappointed.
I think some things will get re adjusted. Read the long emergency. Cheap oil is getting worse, and depletion. But I don’t think it will end, but it will have to adjust. Ie happy motoring all over the place without a thought.
There is something else that has gone up and to the right. It is global energy usage. In fact, if you look at the relationship between worldwide GDP and energy usage you will find about a 98% correlation. The optimists say that the world will move to green renewable energy. The realists point to the following facts: 1. The amount of effort required to switch the world to renewable energy is 1000s of times more than the biggest public works projects ever attempted. 2. The physics of renewable energy (energy density) does not support the level of complexity (economic output) that the people of the advanced countries have become accustomed to. So the real question in my mind is: When will we as a species not be able to continue the up and to the right progression of: 1. Energy usage 2. Natural resource extraction 3. Destruction of the natural world. Sorry to be a nay Sayer, but I truly do not think that the current "up and to the right" progression will be able to continue much longer.
*The Universe including the human species is just a STORY, a little bit like "1st Person Gaming Software", displayed as "Virtual Reality" in a very, very small Display Register of "The Processing System of LIFE" while "LIFE The Real Self" or "AWARENESS" being Nom-Dimensional resides outside the Display Register...*
Lovely top, interesting video, but your definition of progress is restrictive. Regarding travel: we travel differently. I enjoy slow travel, because of all the opportunities it gives me to see things and meet people, and this was the way people travelled. Your viewpoint is all about speed, and you are not giving a thought to all the areas you could have also seen on your journey. You have not addressed the ennvironmental challenges by the way. So, kudos for making people think about not focussing on the negative news, especially as they are not on the ground to check...Sounds like you have read Steve Pinker's "The Better ngels of our nature". And the way, today's wars in Ukraine and Israel are very much like the wars of the past. As for the book "Around the world in 80 days", written by French science-fiction and adventure writer Jules Verne. Turn of the 19th/20th century.
