Our World: Getting Better or Worse?
There seems to be a sense among many that we are on a certain path toward destruction - the war in Iraq, terrorism, the economy - there is a sense that we are on a downward spiral, both domestically and internationally. This article in the January 24th issue of The Economist argues otherwise. Indeed, by several impressive metrics our world is a significantly improved place over the last few decades. It is sometimes hard to gain the proper perspective, especially given our pressing problems as United States citizens, but the world as a whole is by many measures, despite all the doom and gloom, becoming an increasingly better place in which to live.
3 comments:
funny...this is the debate I engage my family members in at every Thanksgiving. This year my uncle jumped over to my side (the world is getting worse).
I always point out to Rachel that my father (b. 1915) had two sisters, one of whom died at 2 due to scarlet fever, the other a lifelong invalid due to scarlet fever, and who died at 40. It would be unheard of for children today to die of trivial diseases such as measles or scarlet fever. So on this one criteria alone, childhood mortality, antibiotics have made the the world a better place. Many people throughout history have assumed they were living in end times; it's almost a form of vane solipsism. I believed in my 20s that things were terrible, now in my 50s I realize that on the continuum of time, things are different, but on the whole, people are moving towards the better. The great problem is that we know more now about the depth and breadth of problems, social and environmental--due to communications. We'd be better off psychically if we weren't bombarded by bad news constantly.
@Rachel: Ah yes, I recalled you blogging about this on several occasions. That was actually in the back of my mind when I read the article. Curious as to why you think this (aside from the demise of the Ivory Cat).
@Kiwi: I agree. And I think that especially Americans tend to focus on problems that are dwarfed by the daily problems of people worldwide.
And you're right about being constantly bombarded with the wrong kind of news. We rarely hear of declining infant mortality, falling birth rates, and increasing literacy rates. We just hear about the war and the economy.
Although recently, the election, which is shaping up to be pretty good news, actually!
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