A few years back I watched a lot of videos on nuclear tests (one can find them at archive.org - the video and audio quality is terrible, and the resolution is tiny, but it is well worth the time), and I was struck by the same thought - if only we could spend that much effort, money, time and creativity into building a better society, ending hunger and disease, what would the world look like today?

It is really depressing to think about this for too long.