The World is Getting Better, No Seriously....
Every four years in America, one party seeking power in the USA presidency, proclaims that the sky is falling and only 'they' can fix it. In 1960 as a newspaper boy for the Florence, South Carolina Morning News, I often was late on my rounds as I would at 6 a.m. open the bundle of papers and veraciously read the front page trying to understand how young Jack Kennedy was going to get 'America moving again'. Decades on, the rhetoric of the never-ending election cycle of this nation's federal political system is enough to make confirmed pessimists of us all, regardless of party affiliation.
According to Norberg, quite the reverse. He delivers a flood of evidence that life on this planet in our time is, well, getting better. In fact much better! Here are his reasons:
1. In 1820, 94% of humanity existed on less than $2 a day, adjusted for inflation. In 1990, 37% lived on this amount and in 2015, only 10%.
2. Almost all cultures are living longer thanks to better and more accessible health care, and the rise of technologies that provide clean water and indoor plumbing. Louis XIV would be very envious.
3. I.Q. points are increasing, at least in the USA from 100 in 1946 to 118 most recently. Why? More education and better nutrition.
4. Society is growing more tolerant of persons who look, dress and speak differently than the mainstream (yes, really for most part). Acceptance of differing expressions of sexual identity has increased. And the caste system in India, which affects tens of millions, is decaying.
5. The world is safer. No world wars since 1945, although lots of local wars. Terrorism you say? Norberg states an European is much more likely, ten times more likely, to die falling down stairs than to be done away with by a terrorist.
So there you have half the takeaways of 'Reasons to Look Forward'. Yes, we have climate change that our higher I.Q. points need to address. Yes, the inhabitants of this small globe must reduce religious fanaticism and local civil wars. And so on, but....
This sounds like a cheerful read, and in this USA presidential election cycle, I need all the cheering I can get. - GNH
Comments anyone?
From a retired law school dean in Pennsylvania....
Encouraging book review, and I’m certain the book is as well. The following entry by Garrison Keillor is also excellent, and explains (at least in part) why things appear so awful: it’s the Internet.
From a business man in the Union of South Africa....
Initial thoughts.
My statistical bent. 2 Dollars living wage. Adjusted for real monetary value ? (yes)
My emotional response. The good old days are more a result of selective memory then
a true comparison of living conditions today and sometime in the perfect past. I still believe
that the 1950' s was an era of good vibes and worldwide prosperity and unity but that comment
can be pulled apart as Racism was still rife and woman were still regarded as good accessories.
Maybe not a bad concept.
Cheers for now.
From an European diplomat in serving in the Balkans....
Thank you for your uplifting message today. It is nice to read of the positive writings of a Sweden. Although the international security situation is far from steady at the moment, this article was a positive reminder of progress.
From a retired English professor at the University of Tennessee....
(My husband) agrees about The Economist. It's the only magazine (not about fishing) that he reads regularly and thoroughly.
Yes, comment ... I'm wiping the mud and dust off my face as I crawl up out of my hole of political depression.
Thanks for the breath of fresh air!!!!!!!!!
Maybe Anne Frank was right ... you suppose?!
From a Cousin in Georgia, USA....
Glenn,
Interesting and refreshing. I have friends reminiscing about their halcyon times of the 1950's and 1960's,and wishing for the return of "The Good Ole Days". "The Good Ole Days"? I think, no, not really, they certainly weren't for everybody (see Viet Nam, social injustice, etc) Hindsight is always viewed through rose-colored glasses, or with 20-20 vision.
Much like the author, I contend that right now, at this moment in history, these are the TRUE "Good Ole Days". As an striving eternal optimist (though challenged on a daily basis) I believe things are not so bad as they seem. To paraphrase Dickens, we are seeing some "worst times", but ALL things considered, we are seeing much more of the "best" of times, and they are pretty good.
I give Donald Trump credit for all these improvements!
I have read quite a lot of this man's data and seen him lecture. It s an excellent example of the delusion of living only by reference to historic data.
ReplyDeleteto illustrate, Imagine for a moment that you have driven your car out of the garage after a full service. All the measurable attributes would show better performance than before the service, and off you go, driving along the road from the point you stopped at when you took the car for service.
Unfortunately, prior to service you were rolling along at 100 mph directly towards the edge of the Grand Canyon. After the service, you recommence driving at 100 miles an hour towards the Grand Canyon.
Sitting next to you, this demented Swedish professor of partial information tells you how much better everything about your experience in the car is.
But that does not stop you hurtling over the cliff-edge to an untimely end.
And as you fall, you ask why the experience does not correspond to the professor's observations, and the sunny anticipation it engendered.
'Ah', he says,' that is because I was not concerned with forward projections, and I did not concern myself with questions such as resource depletion, climate change, destruction of species, over-population, psychiatric disturbance of a majority of the human population of the globe, etc, etc, etc'.
And just before you hit the floor of the Canyon, he remarks ' Goodness, the engine is SO quiet after the service!'