But how much are people themselves changing?
There has perhaps never before been a time when the call to respect diversity has been stronger and more insistent.
This is a good thing — nobody who has a strong sense of moral compass could argue against the advantages to humankind of becoming more tolerant of one another.
Yet this also seems to be a time when more and more people appear only interested in what something means for them, and what they can get out of it.
It is the rise of the "me, me, me" generation, one defined by an attitude of "looking after number one", and that "I’m all right, Jack" and that is all that matters.
This kind of selfishness and being wrapped up in one’s own self-importance is, ironically, quite at odds with the move towards greater tolerance and respect of diversity.
For that we have to put ourselves second, not first, and see the world through the eyes of others.
An unpleasant side-effect of such arrogant thinking is losing respect for the law, thinking the rules and accepted conventions are meant for everyone else, but don’t apply to you.
Let’s travel across the world to London where, in the past week, there have been two good illustrations of this.
As the London plane trees turn green along The Mall leading to Buckingham Palace, preparations are moving into full-speed ahead mode for the Queen’s platinum jubilee, the series of events starting in early June to mark her 70 years on the throne.
Just a kilometre or so as the crow flies from the palace, across St James’s Park, lies Downing St, imprisoned behind its black terrorist-proof gates and the home of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The Queen, just turned 96, has had a long life of wealth and privilege which pretty much none of us could ever imagine. The payoff for that has been absolute dedication to improving the lot of Great Britain and the Commonwealth, an exhausting round of visits, meetings and tea parties in which duty always comes first.
Mr Johnson, however, with his carefully messed-up mop of blonde hair, his Basset hound-like face and his cultivated jolly old bounder personality, has spent a great deal of time shoring up his own legacy and attempting to look as Churchillian as possible. For one it has been a life of service; the other, a servicing of lifestyle.
Mr Johnson appears to be one of those people who think the rules are just for others. Last week he apologised to the British House of Commons after being fined by police for breaking Covid-19 lockdown rules.
He says it never occurred to him that his birthday gathering during the worst of the pandemic was in breach of the rules his government introduced. Yet somehow millions of British people managed to stick to them, despite incredible hardship and being prohibited from visiting the sick and dying, and attending funerals. Mr Johnson accepted the public deserved better, and Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer encouraged him to resign.
Egos have also been out of control among visitors to the royal household, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex popping in for tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle on their way to the Invictus Games in the Netherlands. Incredibly, Prince Harry told media he did so because he wanted to make sure she "has the right people around her".
The California-based couple seem to think they are more important than they really are, keeping the world guessing about whether they will attend the platinum jubilee celebrations. Who really cares? Boris, Harry and plenty of others who think the sun revolves around them need to realise it isn’t all about them.
It would be a much, much better world if we all put other people first.
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Meanwhile in New Zealand, our Government this week tells us that democracy as we know it has had its day and called it the tyranny of the majority. Yet we think the Boris party is a bigger concern.