in Around us are many complaining people. Complaining about how everything is much worse than years ago. Or how nothing is working.
It’s not true.
Don’t listen to them.
We live in perfect time. Definitely, it could be better, and there are many places which are not good at all. But if you live in a developed part of the world, there is hardly much to complain about.
Extreme poverty dropped from 94% in 1820 to less than 10% in 2015. Global child mortality dropped from 43% in 1800 to less than 5% in 2015. The literate world population increased from 12% in 1800 to 85% in 2015. World population getting primary education increased from 17% in 1820 to 86% in 2015. Democracy could enjoy only 1% of the people in 1820, in 2015 it was 56%!
That’s amazing! In just two centuries, we have achieved a lot. We have plenty of food, we have warm houses, and we are not dying because of some illness, so we are living longer lives.
Don’t believe me? Check Our World in Data. It’s a project founded in 2011 by Max Roses. It “aims to give a global overview and to show changes over the very long run, so that we can see where we are coming from and where we are today.” The site gathers many useful databases and shows them in user-friendly graphs with explanations.
I also recommend following their blog. There are many interesting topics that I even wouldn’t think to look at.
It’s vital to know those facts as news focus on single events. Mostly sad ones. “Those who know more about how the world is changing are more optimistic about the world.”
The last sentence is from Max’s presentation to the United Nations. I dug a bit more and found out that the United Nations have Sustainable Development Goals. To have no poverty, zero hunger, good health, quality education, gender equality, clean water, and eleven more goals by 2030 to make the world a better place.
Actually, they’re not first goals. In 2000 have been established Millennium Development Goals for the year 2015. The biggest problem with them was the lack of analytical power and justification. To not have the same problem with SDG, the team behind Our World in Data, also created SDG tracker.
In case you want to influence those graphs in a good way, you can, for example, turn off the light when you don’t need them. Use public transport instead of a car. Shop local funny-shaped fruit. Any action from The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World. :-)
So, yes, we live in an amazing world. We should realize that. We should know that. We should share this information. I’m sad only about one thing that I didn’t know about Our World in Data, SDG, MDG, or more about what the UN does before.
And if you still don’t think we live in a fantastic world, watch the following video. Because you are sitting in the chair in the sky. Give it a damn minute!
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