A lot of the issues that we see today can be boiled down to competition. Companies are competing against each other and so have to make sure that they have the lowest costs, and so are inclined to ignore damage to the environment. Even in government the parties are more concerned with getting their particular party in power than in making sure that the country runs effectively and efficiently. I read recently that the house leader for the Republican party in the US is not concerned with getting people working, he is more concerned with getting Obama out of office, and getting a Republican in as president.
People are too concerned with getting the most they can for themselves and not what is best for society as a whole. If there was a change in mindset of the people so that they were more concerned about how society is working rather than just making sure that they were going to come out on top, there would be a lot less strife in the world. There needs to be a change in the way that corporations and government are run, so that cooperation is the driving force. If there was cooperation between companies, there would be a lot less duplication of effort in research and development, as each company would share the research that they have done. There could also be more efficient use of equipment, as when one company was under utilizing a piece of equipment, another company could use that free equipment to produce their products. They would pay for the use of the equipment, and so both companies would win, the owner of the equipment would get some money for the free time on the equipment that would otherwise sit idle, and the other company would be able to increase their production without having to invest in equipment that would likely not be fully utilized.
Greed is also a result of competition. Some people will do anything to make sure that they have more than everyone else, and as a result they are the only ones that win. If there was cooperation, then the group could work together to raise all their standard of living. An example of this is the health care system in the US. The main reason that I can see that people are opposed to public health care is that they are concerned that their money is being used to treat other people. If they would look at the public health care in other countries closely, they would find that due to a reduction in bureaucracy, the health care system produces better results for lower costs, lower than they are currently spending for a system that leaves some people without any health care at all, and leaves others bankrupt due to health care bills. If they used the cooperative model, and all worked together for everyone to have access, the costs would be lower and all citizens would have access.
Cooperation will lead to a more sustainable society, and the sooner that is realized and implemented, the easier it will be to create that sustainable society.