Ocean-liners that bridged continents and railroads that conquered the old West gave way to inexpensive and widely available jet travel that reduced the world to a global village. Electric power brought automation, which quickly relegated manual labor to menial jobs at the low end. Agricultural advances quickly produced a surplus and farms today only employ a small percentage of the population in most advanced countries. The age of electricity and radio rapidly switched to TV, electronics, computers and the Internet - electronic consciousness.

Startling new developments emerged from bioengineering as scientists played with DNA, altering chromosomes, adding and subtracting genes, mining the results of a new understanding of the human genome. Through consistent conquering of disease, medical advances succeeded in extending the normal span of human life to almost a century. And the trend continues.

During the latter part of the 20th century, communism collapsed; democracy and capitalism seemed to emerge as the clear paths to follow. In the developed world, the stock markets had risen to unprecedented heights, making many juvenile dot.commers into instant millionaires. The harnessing of technology by capitalism seemed an unconquerable combination.

At the turn of the century, satellite communications connected the world for simultaneous viewing and some six billion souls on this planet went through the countdown together, excitedly and anxiously, as time ushered in a new year, a new century and a new millennium. For a brief shining moment, it seemed that humankind was close-knit and indomitable, looking positively for a powerful extrapolation of past success.

But, in year one of the new century, on a date equivalent to an emergency telephone number that will remain forever etched in our minds, the dream of a capitalistic Camelot had a sudden and rude awakening. More than anything else, September 11, 2001 represents a benchmark, a transition to a new century where the old solutions are no longer applicable. New, hard problems have arisen, which defy the hard technology solutions of the past. Our warships, cruise missiles and F-16 jets now look like obsolete, lumbering things. Indeed, the low-tech box cutters served to demonstrate the exposed vulnerabilities of an open democracy. The subsequent widespread cutbacks and the efforts to provide relief through government aid, demonstrate the fragility and inadequacy of capitalistic enterprise with a short-term profit motive.

Please do NOT mistake my rhetoric as an argument against capitalism or democracy - I am a staunch and an ardent believer in both. Here, I am simply seeking solutions to the hard problems that have been exposed. My purpose is to point out that both capitalism and democracy will need to adapt to the realities of the new age. It is clear that the problems we face are hard and cannot be solved by the old hard solutions that might have been effective in the past. New, soft solutions are needed. The coming century is a century of soft things.

The fathers of the new world described capitalism as "enlightened self-interest". The instinct for survival is hard-wired into our genes. The vital soft element is "enlightened". Unbridled, self-interested capitalism simply makes the rich richer; in the closely interconnected global village of a new century we must recognize that perhaps it is equally important to make the poor less poor. We need to find ways and means to sell the softness of capitalism.

During the next few decades, most experts agree that population in developed nations will begin a serious decline, while continuing to surge ahead in underdeveloped nations. In a democratic world, made ever smaller by the instant access of media and information, the more populous nations should, by the definition of democracy, be in control. In any event, their very numbers will inevitably lead to conflicts and splintering. In some parts of the world, the education and environment generates beliefs and values that are diametrically opposed to ours and, if unchecked, will fester and spread like some awful, virulent disease that will try to destroy everything in its path. Unlike physical bio-terrorism, this is a spiritual disease - a sickness of the soul.

As we enter an age that professes to eschew race, color and creed, it is indeed disappointing that ethnic and religious conflagrations continue. But, amidst the hard realities of the new century, we cannot continue to be disappointed from a distance - we are intimately and inextricably involved. A new, enlightened, global community must find soft ways to eliminate hatred and prejudice.

Here are some hard problems, with possible soft solutions:

• The global village exacerbates the gap between rich and poor; vast populations view our excesses while they subsist. Let's educate the less fortunate so that, rather than see the seedy side, they are exposed to the freedoms and warmth of our culture.
• We espouse democracy, but if the world were truly democratic (beyond artificial boundaries) things would be very different. Supporting democracy in some developing countries has been called "too messy" - so, under the guise of non-interference, we prop up and placate dictatorships. To be true to our democratic principles we should withdraw our support for non-democratic governments.
• Science-based society is highly vulnerable to destruction by high-concept-low-tech terrorism with opposing values. Beyond just guarding against terrorism, let's work to correct the causes.
• Capitalism is still the best way to make money, but does not generate value beyond self-enrichment for a few, with trickle-down benefits for the rest. Capitalism cannot succeed through ME-ism - we must find more ways to foster US-ism.
• Corporations crumble easily under even short-term stress. Employee-ownership has already broadened participation in the fruits of success. Let us find more ways to encourage longer-term perspectives on a broader front.

eSpeak to me: Jim@JimPinto.com