There are most likely more people now with sufficient critical skills than ever before as their existence is predicated on the opportunity for self education. The problem currently is that unbalanced aggregations of personal and corporate wealth are capable of yoking the zeitgeist to their ends so that most untethered minds are functionally insane when it comes to ‘political’ considerations. It may seem like there are less cognisant minds out there but the reality is that they are being drowned out more than ever by cynical manipulation.