Every time someone tells you to "be realistic" they are asking you to compromise your ideals

When I take the long-term view, I can see both material and social progress. But it's a struggle with pessimism in the near-term -- as globally, material progress is slow and tedious -- and social progress is just stagnant. Maybe because we've achieved so much in such a short period of time -- both materially and socially -- that it's a struggle to make the incremental progress. What served the few well to make the leap in the last few centuries, was the backs of the many -- and along the way, the many rode the tail of progress. Now however, a new mechanism of progress is needed. We can't keep doing it on the backs of the many. They won't let us. We haven't discovered the new way forward yet -- and the tools of the past are simply barbaric and shouldn't be used.

What's next?

in reference to:

"In the rich world the idea of progress has become impoverished. Through complacency and bitter experience, the scope of progress has narrowed. The popular view is that, although technology and GDP advance, morals and society are treading water or, depending on your choice of newspaper, sinking back into decadence and barbarism. On the left of politics these days, “progress” comes with a pair of ironic quotation marks attached; on the right, “progressive” is a term of abuse."
- The idea of progress: Onwards and upwards | The Economist (view on Google Sidewiki)