At 8/20/09 11:03 PM, SorgensKammer wrote:
Or maybe I'm too optimistic. I don't know.
Humanity as a whole has made SOME progress. But there are still so many groups out there that just hate indifference. (KKK anyone?) Not to mention that Bigotry and Rascism are at all time highs in this century. We are Devolving as a race.
The KKK is actually not that strong. They're considered simply another ridiculous radical group. They were strong in the 19th century, but not so much in modern day.
Industrialized society has actually made a lot of progress. Women, minority races, atheists, and other minorities have had their situations drastically improved. Bigotry and racism are at an all time low in our society today. Hate crimes are illegal, women and minority races have the right to vote, homosexuality isn't - like sen said - treated as a mental disorder in the medical community, atheism isn't socially shunned, there's no more apartheid in our society, etc.
There will always be hate groups as long as people have their freedom of speech. However, these groups are by no means a reflection of societal progress unless they've devoured the society all together, which they haven't.
There are certain places where the situation is worse than others, but certainly not worse that it used to be. For example, the bible belt hasn't made too much progress within the last 40 years, but it's definitely not devolving. It and other radical zones will catch up to the rest of western society as time passes.