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Comment by vtlynch | Hacker News Reader

When the only thing you can conceive of is how another product can fulfill a "need", than I guess yes, what an amazing future. But if you consider the fact that a large majority of americans are living lives that are fundamentally as bad as they were 40 years ago, then no, its a pathetic future.

Discrimination of all kinds - racism, sexism, homophobia - are still extremely prevalent. People are killed because of the color of their skin. These are not just problems in "third world" countries, but problems in the biggest cities in America. These are just problems of "intraracial crime", but perpetrated by government officials who are supposed to protect the very innocents they are killing.

So no, I dont think this is an amazing time. But maybe the next consumer product can solve some of those problems.

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Violence is trending downward, in the US and worldwide.

Racism, sexism and homophobia are also trending downward, at least in the US (we just barely legalized same-sex marriage, a significant step forward).

Concerns about these things have spiked the last few years, but that doesn't mean that these problems have spiked.

And having products that solve my problems isn't just materialism, it does matter - It matters that I have products that save me time and let me focus on more important things. It matters that I have better products. It matters that my child is safer than 40 years ago from better playgrounds. It matters that my son's mom has an app that can send me her location with a tap of a button when she's having a seizure. It matters that I can take cheap online courses to improve my career. It even matters that I have more music in my car, because that makes me happier.

Edit: Adding this because it's awesome: http://www.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly...

>It matters that my child is safer than 40 years ago from better playgrounds.

thats so great. we made the playground equipment safer so your kids can play on it, meanwhile, a black child is gunned down by police on that playground.

All of your points of reference only seem to reveal that you have no perspective into the actual big problems that still plague all our societies, problems that consumer problems dont even attempt to solve and probably cant solve. But im glad you have more music in your car.

Life in most places has improved dramatically - literacy, healthcare and life expectancy, human rights, access to food... Nearly nobody is living lives that are "fundamentally as bad as they were 40 years ago".

There are literally millions of people worldwide, who are healthy, or married, or well nourished, or spending more time with their families, for whom it could not have been possible 40 years ago. I don't think that warrants a flippant, self-righteous attitude.

There are more people living in slavery today than ever before in human history.

These things are not binary.

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