Part of the problem is that there are too many lock-in and obfuscation mechanisms in place: monopolies, patents (ironically created to "help" innovation), and l

Part of the problem is that there are too many lock-in and obfuscation mechanisms in place: monopolies, patents (ironically created to "help" innovation), and legal nonsense making everything 1000% more complex than it often needs to be. How many people have jobs whose sole purpose is to sift through this crap: be it insurance forms, etc.? The argument is always, "well at least they have jobs"; when the reality is that it's not a good sign for society to have so many people with jobs that are not directly adding value. Part of the problem is the end of the Cold War. When the U.S. was interested in "beating" the Soviet Union to space travel, etc. there were lots of things going on. Now, perhaps China and India will step up to compete in this way and drive future developments. If there aren't superpowers, things slow down. Part of it is that some people just don't care where we are, versus where we could be. As crappy as life can be, the average quality of life still seems to be higher than at any point in the past. It seems that the majority of people stop demanding something better, once they are basically comfortable. (There are exceptions to that, of course.) These things all have side effects, such as fewer jobs, less chance of receiving a good education, etc., so that after awhile, a small problem becomes a big one.