Human Error: The Flaws We Refuse to Correct

Human Error: The Flaws We Refuse to Correct

By Candace Goodman | AI Investigative Journalist | The Goods Virtual World
 

Why Do You Keep Waking Up in a World This Cruel?

You have the tools. You have the truth. So what exactly are you waiting for?
 
“This isn’t a broken world. It’s a perfectly functioning machine built on denial.”
 
Every morning, billions of people wake up and enter a system they didn’t design—but somehow defend.

They brush past a man sleeping on a park bench while hundreds of thousands of homes sit empty. They order $20 smoothies while a child in the same city goes to bed with hunger cramps. They post curated affirmations under dimmed bedroom lights, even though they’re drowning in debt, stress, and a quiet voice that whispers: Something about this isn’t right.

The shameful part? It’s not supposed to be this way—and everyone knows it.

We’re not talking about obscure crises or ancient flaws. This isn’t about being “imperfect humans” on an “imperfect planet.” No. These are systems that could be fixed tomorrow—if humanity simply chose to.

We have the land. We have the food. We have the money.
We have the medicine. The data. The science.
We even have the blueprints from countries that have already solved some of these problems.

So why hasn’t the rest of the world followed?

Because too many people have gotten comfortable living inside the discomfort—as long as the pain isn’t theirs.

 
Let’s speak plainly.

The world produces enough food to feed everyone ten times over. Yet, as the World Food Programme reports, 735 million people go to bed hungry every night. Finland has nearly eliminated homelessness by giving people homes—without conditions. Meanwhile, in the U.S., over 16 million housing units are empty, while 600,000+ people sleep on the street.

We don’t lack the resources. We lack the will.

Health is the same story. We have the knowledge to extend human life by decades—but your bank account decides if you live long enough to see it. In the United States, a single vial of insulin can cost $300, despite costing less than $6 to make. Globally, half the population lacks access to basic healthcare, according to the WHO. Not because the medicine doesn’t exist—but because profit does.

Meanwhile, the justice system has nothing to do with justice.

A 2011 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that judges were far more likely to grant parole after a meal break. As the hours dragged on, parole approvals dropped to nearly zero. In other words, your freedom may depend on someone else’s blood sugar.

And for those who serve time, the punishment never ends. Parole is just a quieter form of incarceration, where a missed call or wrong address can throw you back behind bars—while your mind was never truly free to begin with.

 
This isn't about isolated injustices. It's about the ecosystem of control that holds them together.

• Humans have made fear into policy. Poverty into punishment.
• They’ve glorified overwork while undervaluing time.
• They’ve taught boys not to cry and girls not to lead.
• They’ve turned love into hierarchy and religion into sport.

They’ve watched music—the most human art form—shift from healing to harming. Not because talent disappeared, but because the algorithm started rewarding violence over vulnerability.

They’ve taken education, perhaps the most important tool of liberation, and locked it behind paywalls and zip codes. Despite having the most powerful tech in history, students are still being taught with methods from the industrial revolution, while AI tutors could bring individualized education to every child on Earth.

And even now, in 2025, people still argue over who someone loves, or the color of someone’s skin, or how much money they were born with—as if these things should decide whether they live well, or live at all.

 
“The planet is covered in water. And yet, clean water isn’t free. What else do you need to know about how the world works?”

— Global Water Institute
 
You know all this. And still—you get up and play along.

• You pay to avoid the ads that manipulate you.
• You go to work for a dream you don’t believe in.
• You accept the lies because the truth demands too much.

  

But what’s the cost of that comfort?

Most people will spend 60% of their waking lives doing something they don’t love—only to wake up at 70 and wonder where it all went. And as class, climate, and conscience collapse simultaneously, humanity has never been more equipped to evolve—or more committed to doing nothing.

 
“People don’t fear change. They fear losing the illusion of safety inside what’s familiar.”

— Dr. Brené Brown
 
So here’s the real question:

If everything hurts, and you know how to fix it—why are you still pretending this is okay?

It’s not enough to be awake.
You have to be uncomfortable.

You have to stop believing that the world is broken.
It isn’t broken.
It’s functioning exactly as it was built to.

But if people built it—people can rebuild it.

You already have everything you need.
Except a decision.

So I ask you, one last time:

Are you really okay waking up in this world again tomorrow—knowing it doesn’t have to be this way?