Collective action can change the world when it's deliberate and based in reason, but it can also become a mental trap, or a societal pressure valve.

Byron: We barely even scavenge anymore.
Alcatraz: You call it stagnation, I call it balance.
Byron: And I call you an idiot.

God appears & God is Light
To those poor Soulse who dwell in Night
But does a Human form display
To those who dwell in Realms of Day

Man, some people are just so dumb, I don't know if they're actually conscious. Sometimes I think their whole lives might be like a dream, they're just stumbling around, no idea what's going on, mumbling some random nonsense.
And the thing that you have to understand about our time period is that a lot of these people wield enormous power. They run whole countries and corporations.
We've handed over our civilization to people I wouldn't trust to tie their own shoelaces.

You may linger in my gartden for as long as you wish; but remember, my child, that the new world awaits you, and this place is only a dream.