h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I think your article poses an important question, JTG. Do you think we will ever learn from past mistakes? When will we accept that we can't correct the wrongs of the past by committing another wrong? I think this is further demonstrated by the events within Zimbabwe.

We do seem doomed to repeat cycles of destruction and despair; but I am optimistic that we are gradually, painfully, spiralling upwards... with the occassional slip backwards. A hundred years ago, few would have questioned the right of the mighty to exploit the weak; nowadays, most people at least pay lip service to the ideal of the universality of human rights. The Internet is a powerful tool for the good (as well as a lot of cheap thrills) that enables those who want to see a better world to work together towards that end. There are some huge hurdles to overcome: tyranical regimes like the despots presently in control of China and the poverty of African nations chief among them; but, on the whole, I share the Dalai Lama and the Queen Mother's (hey, haven't we had this discussion before?) belief that the world at the start of the 21st Century is a much more humane place than the world at the start of the 20th. We should take heart from this and use it to press the cause of freedom and justice. Hooray!

JTG