Yeah but here in lies the rub right, people are irresponsible pieces of shit... Aldous Huxley who all but directly predicted this outcome (where the state supplants parents) in A Brave New World (and has already been brought up in the comments) also held the opinion that LSD, which he loved and didn't want to give up, was ultimately unfit for the general public. He saw the mind blowing potential of LSD when used with care but knew full well that society was not a reflection of himself and that acid in the hands of the masses was a disaster. Ultimately he advocated that it should be restricted to be used only academics and artists such as himself. Technology is just the same, right now only a handful of very thoughtful and methodical people have the knowledge to do truly dangerous things with it but it gets easier every day, the technology's choatic potential grows stronger and stronger and access gets easier and easier in accordance with Moore's Law. Furthermore technology gives the powerful direct control over the weak, in the same way that soma (the addictive/pacifying drug in BNW) did. Even if used responsibly by the masses (which it won't be) the powerful will abuse it to gain/maintain control and once one highly controlled and efficient society exists on a large scale and can exert power and influence (*cough* China *cough*) the evolutionary arms race will push every other nation into taking the same horrific path. The same way the cold war pushed the US into federalization, bureaucracy and espionage, so too will the Chinese cold war be the death of individualism, freedom and humanity. I hate to say it but I think Ted was right, we are in a progress trap and technological advancement has given the elite around the world the tool set to actually succeed in enslaving humanity in near perpetuity, if not directly destroy it. It's not an if but a when and for how long the resources last to facilitate such a reality.