It’s not rare to hear middle-aged people go on about the technology we have now; the cell phones, and the video games, and everybody’s busy lives. But for all the talk about how advanced we are and how everything’s getting so uncontrollably complicated, there’s not enough talk about the truth of the situation.

The fact is, as a country, America is pretty advanced, but in the age of the world wide web, there’s a lot of that web still missing from the picture. The internet has the ability to transform commerce, transform communication, and transcend boundaries. It could be argued that it’s the most important thing missing throughout the world.

The internet has means of education, means of trade, and opportunity. Food and water sent from a rich country can save a life, but it cannot sustain it.

For all the talk about how advanced we are, I think it’s time we start realizing that the rest of the world is still very far behind. When we think about “our” situation, we need to think about it from the perspective of the world as a community, because in reality, and even more so in the future, we are all connected.

I am undoubtedly a huge advocate for more innovation and more technology, but in these circumstances, I would readily support a stand still of all progress in developed countries, in order to catch under-developed countries up at least to America’s standards, which are certainly not the highest, but would still be great for the world.

This stand still would never happen, but I am hoping that with the coming technologies to emerge out of the developed countries in the years to come, a solution to this problem can be found that brings, if nothing else, widespread internet access and computers to the world.

America, Europe, and parts of Asia may be relatively advanced, but in many parts of the world, there’s still not much difference between now and 200 years ago. We tend to make a huge separation between us and ancient people, or even the victorians, but as a whole, we are not much different, and as a world community, we still have a long ways to go.

Written by: Dante Cullari Founder & President Beat-Play, LLC