While I appreciate all the mournful "We're not better than this" articles, I'd like to point out that being better than this remains a choice anyone can make.
It involves risk and sacrifice for any better intention to mean anything. Without risk and sacrifice, all the mournful takes in the world mean nothing.
We can decide at any time to be better than this. There will be a price, just as there has always been, for any real progress. But we absolutely can and should be better than this.