I literally think that some cults are formed for exactly this purpose. "If I could only get people to do what I want, then the world would be a better place!"

I literally think that some cults are formed for exactly this purpose. "If I could only get people to do what I want, then the world would be a better place!" How do you get people to do what you want? Convince them that there is a higher power that compels them to do that. It's that benevolent dictatorship kind of thing. If you have a very smart, very selfless and very altruistic leader, then everybody marching to the same drum is a good thing, right? Everyone knows that humans are fallible, so this is the incentive to have an infallible god that knows how to do everything correctly and who is willing to tell your leader what to do. Why have just one leader? Well, it's a matter of trust, of course. If anyone could speak directly to the infallible god, how would we know the tricksters from the true prophets? (I suppose we could ask the infallible god, but it's possible the god is too busy to respond to every request). Better to have only one true prophet, if possible. Even better if they are a god themselves (might as well cut out the middle man). But even being sarcastic, I think it's really true. It's hard to sway people's opinions because especially in this day and age there are so many opinions vying for your attention. If you are absolutely certain that you could do good in the world, if only people would listen and you were willing to do anything... I seriously think that there would be no more effective strategy than to start your own religion/cult. Of course, these things get corrupted. Maybe you even start out doing good, but then someone drugs you and stuffs you in your bedroom for years on end and uses you as a puppet figure head because the cult is a good money making opportunity. Maybe, some influential and charismatic person takes your flock away from you (splitters!). Maybe you're not as smart as you thought you were. Maybe after you die, your appointed leaders become more and more corrupt until the organisation you built is just a mockery of what it was supposed to be. So I think you can't really go that way in the long run. "Just do as I say and believe that it is right", can only lead to corruption because it focuses power too much and there is a limit to what one person can accomplish. Instead, I think you have to create a culture of good. A small post like this is too small to describe how to do it (and besides I have to get some sleep because I have to fight a dual tomorrow -- err just joking... it's really because I don't know how to do it). Anyway, I'm convinced it's about building a culture with a small network of people and growing that culture so that treating people well is a kind of common sense. Strangely, despite the challenges in today's world of instant communications, I think there is more opportunity to build that kind of global common sense than there ever was. YMMV.