Excellent article.

It seems that no matter what the society is, it is wrought with problems. It's unavoidable because all societal systems have their faults owing to the fact that individual human beings are faulty.

It is almost inconceivable to most people that what we assume to be ideal is just a belief, and this belief is colored by other beliefs and all sorts of conditions, such as societal norms, fads, popular opinions, scientific findings, and so on. In societies that are based on capitalism there is a common belief that there's a trickle down benefit when you buy and consume material goods. And, yes, it works like a Ponzi scheme where the goal is to pass along the onus to someone else, whether other people, the environment, government, other companies, or some or all of the above.

There has always been, and always will be greed and indifference to others, but some systems, like capitalism, exploits greed while excuses are made to assuage any guilt or damage that results from thoughtless consumerism, materialism, and climbing the social ladder.