Commentary Planet Earth, for worse and occasionally better, is a world of neighborhood existence—many neighborhoods at peace, many (most?) neighborhoods uneasy and facing tenuous circumstances, too many neighborhoods experiencing outright anarchy and war. Blame the level of perception, of easy aggregation, for missing this truth. I’ll illustrate with an anecdote. Six years ago, an obstreperous type saw me at a private reception. From across the room, he bellowed: “Austin Bay! Is there any hope for Africa?” My reply to the bellower—and the 15 or 20 so others present, who were surprised by the bellowing and puzzled by the question: “Which Africa? There are 6,000 Africas. Some Africas are doing quite well.” The bellower blinked—an encouraging response. By George, he got it. The 6,000 figure was meant to indicate I thought he had framed his question rater poorly. I could have replied 30,000 Africas and, given airtime and footnotes, defended the …