Those were social problems solved by activists. Sorry if this doesn't jive with your techno triumphalism, but the technology makers were the ones who brought us child labor, crappy mass processed food, and smog. Since you mentioned segregation, you might want to read the MLK speech you haven't heard about, Beyond Vietnam : http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documen.... "When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered." Unfortunately, the people who give a damn and are pointing out the problems wtih say, government surveliance, are being drowned out by people like you. So I'm not optimistic.