"Basically, we like progress - whether in technology, economy or culture - but we fear the three historically most powerful generators of such progress. A common response to this conundrum is the idea of balance of power. If we need powerful forces in society, then they should be balanced - either each force balanced within itself (eg. competition between companies), or between each other, or ideally both. Historically, much of this balance would come automatically: there are natural diseconomies of scale that arise as a result of distance, or the need to coordinate very large numbers of people to do global-scale tasks. In this century, however, this is an assumption that no longer holds true: all of the above forces are getting much stronger at the same time, and can no longer avoid frequently interacting."

Top comment by @Spencer420