Steven Pinker put it better then I could have when he wrote: No one has ever recruited activists to a cause by announcing that things are getting better, and b

Steven Pinker put it better then I could have when he wrote: No one has ever recruited activists to a cause by announcing that things are getting better, and bearers of good news are often advised to keep their mouths shut lest they lull people into complacency. Also, a large swath of our intellectual culture is loath to admit that there could be anything good about civilization, modernity, and Western society. My favourite example is this that in Australia we have no nuclear electricity generation large as a result of the good intentions of Greenpeace and The Wilderness Society, the later of which is largely responsible for there being no new hydro electric power stations in Australia after they were success in blocking the Franklin River dam project. That and there being pretty much no good sites left. That realisation and my ensuing confusion resulted in me withdrawal from the whole debate with the hope that greater minds will work toward improving the situation.