I understand your doubts about progress. I have similar doubts which wax and wane by the day. However, what I WILL say is that I truly believe that a growing number of people are REALLY TRYING to work together to make positive change. As a "realist" I am NOT convinced that we are ascending into some magical "golden age", as many people have faith in. BUT if we can SHIFT the balance between positive versus negative forces to a MORE HEALTHY one then I think that will be a commendable amount of progress. I mean, lets face it, the MAJORITY of humans are NOT of the "advanced-minded" variety. That's just the nature of life, arising from the sheer DIFFICULTY of raising humans to such a high level. But if the SIZE of that "higher level" group can increase significantly, AND THEN utilize the power of these revolutionary technologies like blockchain, and it's derivatives, then I am still holding on to some hope that a COMMENDABLE amount of positive change can be made in various institutions and aspects of society/civilization. What I DO know is that I strive to wake up each morning with the goal ACTIVELY working towards SOME SORT of positive - whether that be writing an informative Steemit post which helps some people, or sharing some of my experiential wisdom with other (as I have with YOU on one specific occassion). I also see OTHER people doing this consistently here, and so I AT LEAST get the sense that there is some movement in the right direction. I think that's the best we can do at this point.