Cautious Optimism

From SolSeed

Progress can be defined in many different ways, but by most measures we as a species have achieved much, and are on the verge of achieving even more. But to climb farther or even maintain our place on the "ladder" of progress, we must make certain that the rungs of the ladder do not rot and snap beneath the ever-increasing weight of our vast civilization.

As many people of widely differing politics have said, freedom isn't free. Currently, the two major threats to our freedom to "stay the course" of upward progress are nuclear war and ecological catastrophes. It would be an understatement to say that truly effective preventive measures against these threats will be extremely difficult to invent and enormously expensive to carry out (although on the environmental front, the strategy of Natural Capitalism can help mitigate the monetary expense). But the consequences of not spending that time, effort, and money will be still more costly in the long run--that is, the next several decades, which will be the most dangerous period in humanity's history.

This may sound like we've left the thread of "optimism" behind, but consider this: even if it turns out that these global disasters cannot be prevented in time, we may be cautiously optimistic that civilization can recover from them, wiser and stronger and ready to get it right the second time.