> and the world doesn't really look any better in a lot of ways, and looks worse in some. :-( I think that's an unnecessarily pessimistic view of the world, an

> and the world doesn't really look any better in a lot of ways, and looks worse in some. :-( I think that's an unnecessarily pessimistic view of the world, and I think it's fairly common in idealists. I am myself guilty of indulging in pessimism with fellow idealists. We have big plans and great visions, and almost by definition, they don't come true, and to the extend they do, progress is glacial. You can always find a metric by which the world is going straight to hell, but if you put on your pragmatic glasses, you can also find some metrics that show great improvements. I've found it useful to seek out those as well.