Colin Beavan (“No Impact Man”) discusses progress:

2009 had cooler cell phones than 2008. 2010 has cooler cell phones than 2009. 2011 will have even cooler cell phones than 2010.

That won’t be progress. Year in, year out, we have cooler cell phones. If it’s the same year in, year out, how can it be progress? Because it’s not actually progress. It’s more of the same . . .

Far away from us, one billion people in the world have no access to clean drinking water. Because of this, far away from us, a child dies of diarrhea every 15 seconds . . .

Ask the average person: Do you want to watch TV on your cell phone or save the world’s children from dying of diarrhea? I know what they’d say. People are good . . .

What would be real progress? . . .

When we find a way to concentrate on bringing clean drinking water to the billion people who don’t have it instead of looking for a way to bring better TV reception to our cell phones.