For some bizarre reason, people seem convinced that this is as good as it gets. That the consumer-capitalism of today is to be with us for the rest of eternity. I strongly disagree with this. The purpose of ideals is therefore to ensure that our future more closely resembles a utopia rather than a dystopia.
But there is no point in ideals if they cannot be realised. And usually they can be - you just have to figure out how.
For more, see my dissertation plan