That is all very good stuff CarolC. But it ain't working on the scale it needs to work in the so-called Western democracies. The reason why it isn't is because the robber barons are the governments, and the governments are the robber barons.

At some point, people have to accept that the problems we face are almost exclusively the result of political graft and corruption. These things are somewhat cyclical, but we are living in a very bad patch of it, and have been since WWII. The ascendancy of Reagan/Bush robber barons in the 80s pretty much nailed the coffin shut. And those robber barons own our fifth estate--the media. The media conglomerates, which also obtain incredible free privleges, like free access and control over the government regulated airwaves, are also robber barons, working in collusion with the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about, who now own all the corrupt politicians from local planning councils to the White House.

Organized religion is in cahoots with them as well, as the recent Catholic Church scandal showed. Not too many sermons being preached about political corruption from the Western democracies' churches, synagogues, temples etc. are there?

What is going to be required, and required on a global scale (which is why I am so hopeful about the ways the internet can still be used to organize against political and business and religious corruption), is mass non-cooperation by the citizens in the democracies of the world. If we don't stand up for ourselves, and our fellow human beings in countries where such political activities would result in mass arrests and murders, than there truly is no hope for the future beyond some of the Blade Runner sorts of dire futurist scenarios.

Think it can't happen here? Well, it won't for now, but how does the future look right now for our grandchildren, when fossil fuels run out in about 2050-2100?