You bring up something interesting we haven't previously touched on with this discussion... the differing stages of development in different parts of the world.

For example, I was born and raised in Denmark, which tends to be a world leader in things like organics, sustainability, alternative energy and such. It's also a "welfare state." Now I live in the USA, which is also a wealthy nation, but the philosophical approach to life here is different... the emphasis on ME rather than WE is stronger here, which creates a different dynamic.

Many parts of western Europe are "old" nations now-- they are not "developing" anymore, so the lessons learned from strong growth are far in the past; in parts of Asia that are now growing quickly, the same lessons of the consequences of rapid growth without "taking care" are perhaps yet to be learned... take China which became suddenly industrialized and "suddenly" had to deal with the consequences of pollution... and now has a very large "green" industry. It's probably a learning phase for ALL.