I'd like to draw from DU's collective wisdom to answer this question...

[ChisolmTrailDem]

What is happening to the world and where is this all going?

[tularetom]

1. I want some of what you're smoking

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. Best of luck. n/t

[The_Commonist]

3. There are too many people for the systems we have built to support.

I don't think there are necessarily too many people, just too many to sustain using the institutions we have now.

Where is it going? We are either going to eliminate a whole bunch of people, or we are going to change our systems. There are really no other choices.

[7wo7rees]

4. Nice request on this day. Hope you receive many good

responses.

We made a trip earlier today to Dealey Plaza. It was a somber time, lots of travelers from everywhere. Lovely and sad Sunday afternoon.

Wish we had some insight on where this is going. Right now in a very wrong direction round the world.

Peace.

[sarisataka]

5. A Master said it best

Some are just starting, some have reached the destination but much of the world is walking on the same path.

[xocet]

6. Large Tupperware bowls of grape jello make excellent shock absorbers when wrapped in duct tape. n/t

[hatrack]

7. Too many people who want too much from a world that's too small . . . .

Other than that, 42.

[Eleanors38]

8. There is little opposition to the U.S. Far Right...

... and there is no home for liberal/progressive politics; the Democratic Party is hostile to them, MSM is hostile to them. Politically/economically we are pre-Teddy Roosevelt. All that was done from that time forward will have to be done again. Review the histories and films of those times: lots of conflict, violence, even deaths.

We are on our own.

This is a limited and measured analysis.

[No Vested Interest]

9. A tall order. Too much to bite off and swallow in one gulp.

The world is made up of several billion souls.
Each person has limited time, energy and resources.
Most of us can only influence the small space and time around us.
By acting together we can influence more and for a longer time period.

Our challenge is to make the outcome positive, in the best sense.
Getting consensus on the goals is the hard part.

Having a good, strong leader helps, but that leader or leaders is hard to find.
Some want to lead for less than pure purposes.

Some persons confuse short time good for long time good.
The two are not the same.

[GeorgeGist]

10. End of the World

[NobodyHere]

11. The same thing that has always happened here

And where we're going is the future.

[H2O Man]

13. Interesting question.

Hopefully, it is okay for a dull-witted DU community member like myself to respond to the OP. Although I’m not in any way associated with “wisdom” -- nor have I played a wise guy on TV or stage -- I have had the pleasure of knowing some very intelligent people, including a Haudenosaunee Wisdom Keeper.

Today is a direct consequence of yesterday. Likewise, tomorrow will be a consequence of today. All of organic life upon the living Earth follows such cycles of consequence -- either growing or decaying. I’d venture that most people are a bit more concerned about the current rate of decay, both domestically and internationally, than the growth that is also taking place in various avenues.

The only thing that can actually “change” -- and thus cause change beyond the cycles of growth and decay -- are individual human beings. And, obviously, I’m not making reference to becoming taller, heavier, or even more educated. Rather, I am talking about human evolution, or the evolution of human consciousness.

Human consciousness cannot evolve unconsciously -- for the unconscious, mechanical “growth” is always and only part of that cycle of consequences, with yesterday causing today, and today creating tomorrow. But true human evolution is the disciplined growth that each individual has the potential to experience. Not to become “more,” but to become new, and indeed, better.

If people do not begin to evolve consciously, than the unconscious, mechanical decay that we witness daily -- in our lives, our communities, in the media -- will continue to build in momentum. It really is as simple as that.

But if we take responsibility, and work to make real change, we can turn the tide.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

16. Everyone seems to have misinterpreted my question. First, H2O Man, ...

...thank you for responding. You possess the wisdom that I seek in response to my question.

The subject line in my OP was misworded. What I meant by "what's left of DU's collective wisdom" was a reference to the good DUers we've lost and my belief that attrition has not replaced that wisdom. I probably should have made no such reference. I have edited my subject line to exclude that language.

[H2O Man]

19. Thank you.

When I was reading other responses, I was questioning if I had erred in my understanding of the question. By no coincidence, my response would have been about the same .....because just as the mechanical is dictating world events, we see thoughtless arguments taking place on DU. It is most often found in the "primary" forum, but the toxicity has impacted other parts of the community.

[CJCRANE]

14. I disagree with some of the other posts. I think there's enough to go round

it's just that 1% of the population have nearly everything.

They just need to loosen their grip a little.

[JVS]

15. Remember when we bombed the moon?

We're still getting payback for that.

[darkangel218]

17. The world is a mess right now.

Where is it going? Where it has been before: complete (self) destruction. Life will eventually flourish again, hopefully more intelligent and compassionate.

[Old Codger]

18. My view of it

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[alphafemale]

20. Where are we going? Why are we in a basket? nt