The Risks of Societal Success
The United States, and more generally the developed world, has achieved massive success in the past 100 years. The strength of the capitalistic market, government action, international cooperation, and individual determination has led to stability and massive prosperity for more human beings than any time in history. Overall, this is a good thing. This leads to greater lifespans, access to education, luxuries, art, cultural development, and a speeding of technological achievement in areas other than war (memes mostly). But as with every development, it also brings some drawbacks for society. In this instance, it is the level of prosperity itself that is insulating groups so much it allows for divisive actions that would otherwise be problematic. It is primarily on display in a few areas of society: healthcare, political extremism, and broader social cooperation. The most immediately dangerous effect of...