“But after four centuries of continuous effort [Modern Man’s] mythic powers are still illusory. Despite his machines he starves in the midst of plenty: despite his knowledge of distant stars and ultra-atomic worlds, the civilization he has created has given rise to a barbarism that now has swept across the planet. In a series of world wars and world revolutions Modern Man has in fact been painfully committing suicide.” These words were written by Lewis Mumford in The Condition of Man seven decades ago. They could have been written this morning — with perhaps some slight change of wording.