Practically, it will take majorities of electorates in key countries or collections of countries enforcing their will on governments so as to wrest control of policy making away from self-interested financial elites and re-directing it in the interests of the whole population and maximizing the survivability of that population. The sign that this is actually occurring will be that large numbers of very rich people go to jail and have much of their ill-gotten wealth confiscated as restitution for the damage they have inflicted on society. Needless to say, accomplishing the above will be an extremely daunting task, but any thing less will be "just kicking the can down the road".

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."